Charlie Gibson, Connie Chung and Maury Povich to Make Hyannis Appearance
In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Citizens Bank Pops by the Sea concert, this year’s event will feature not one, but three Celebrity Guest Conductors, one for each decade of the annual Hyannis event. Renowned journalists and broadcasters, Charlie Gibson, Connie Chung and Maury Povich will be the Celebrity Guest Conductors for the 30th Annual Pops by the Sea concert presented by The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. They will join the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, led by maestro Keith Lockhart, on the Hyannis Village Green on Sunday, August 9, 2015. Maury Povich and Connie Chung have been married since 1984, and all three of the Celebrity Guest Conductors have strong ties to the Cape and own vacation homes here.
Charles Gibson is one of the most distinguished journalists in television with more than forty years’ experience, thirty-three of those at ABC News. In 2010 he retired from the anchor desk of ABC’s flagship broadcast ABC’s World News, in 2010 as well as the network’s principal anchor for breaking news, election coverage and special events. He was named anchor of World News in May 2006, and has reported from around the country and the world. Before being named anchor Gibson was co-anchor of Good Morning America. He returned to GMA to re-launch the broadcast with Diane Sawyer in January 1999, having previously co-anchored the morning program from 1987 to 1998.
Connie Chung was a Washington D.C.-based correspondent for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and began to make her name in the early 1970s, during the Watergate political scandal. She worked for CBS as an anchor in Southern California before moving to NBC to lead a new program, NBC News at Sunrise, which was scheduled right before the Today program. Later, NBC created American Almanac, which she co-hosted with Roger Mudd. Chung left NBC for CBS where she hosted Saturday Night with Connie Chung, and in June 1993 she became just the second woman to co-anchor a major network’s national news broadcast. While hosting the CBS Evening News, Chung also hosted a side project on CBS, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung. In 1995, Chung jumped to ABC News where she co-hosted the Monday edition of 20/20 with Charles Gibson and began independent interviews, a field which would soon become her trademark.
Maury Povich began his career in broadcasting in Washington, D.C.as a news reporter and sportscaster for D.C. television station WTTG-TV. In 1967, he became the original co-host of the station’s popular midday talk show, Panorama,which brought the rising star widespread acclaim and national recognition. From 1977 to 1983, he was a news anchor at stations in across America.
Povich was asked to host a new show, A Current Affair in late July 1986 featuring a mix of subjects that ranged from celebrity gossip to compelling human interest stories. Critics praised the show for trying to be both informative and entertaining, much like “a good afternoon newspaper”. Povich hosted A Current Affair until 1990. He also anchored newscasts at WNYW. Povich served two consecutive terms as president of the New York chapter of the National Television Academy. In September 1991, he left A Current Affair to host the nationally syndicated The Maury Povich Show. In November 2005, MSNBC announced Povich would co-host a weekend news program with his wife, Connie Chung. The program-titled Weekends with Maury and Connie-debuted in 2006.
Povich returns to television this September for his 18th season as host of NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution’s syndicated hit talk show “Maury.”
According to David Kaplan, Executive Director of the Arts Foundation, “We’re thrilled to have these three outstanding journalists as the Guest Conductor’s for this year’s 30th Anniversary Concert. Not only do they symbolize the three decades of this wonderful concert, but are also a tribute to the very first three Guest Conductors – Art Buchwald, Walter Cronkite, and Mike Wallace – and more recent journalist Guest Conductors Paula Zahn and last year’s Charlie Rose.”
The Pops by the Sea concert, viewed by an enthusiastic annual audience of thousands, is scheduled for August 9, 2015, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Hyannis Village Green, featuring the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, conducted by Keith Lockhart. Many levels of seating are available starting with General Admission Lawn Tickets at $20.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.popsbythesea.org or by calling the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod at 508-362-0066.
Proceeds from the August 9th Pops by the Sea concert enable the Arts Foundation to fulfill its mission to support, promote, and celebrate the arts and culture of Cape Cod year-round. The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Barnstable County’s regional arts agency, provides artistic, cultural, and educational programs in every town on Cape Cod, with an emphasis on supporting arts education initiatives, individual artists, and cultural organizations throughout the year.
