HYANNIS – Morning clouds and mist gave way to sunshine Sunday afternoon just in time for the 32nd Annual Pops By the Sea Concert on the Hyannis Village Green.
Conductor Keith Lockhart led the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in a show dedicated to legendary music composer John Williams and his decades of work.
The show opened with the Liberty Fanfare, followed by the main title from the Towering Inferno and the theme from Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone.
“It’s so thrilling to be with you in this wonderful, truly community-spirited event on behalf of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod and the great work they do in your community,” Lockhart said at the beginning of the show.
He delighted the crowd with the theme from Star Wars to end the first half of the show.
The second half opened with the ominous theme from Jaws, an appropriate lead in to celebrity guest conductor Dr. Greg Skomal, the state’s shark expert and lead researcher with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
The organization is in the fourth year of a five-year white shark population study on Cape Cod.
Skomal took the baton from Lockhart to conduct the orchestra is a stirring rendition of Under the Sea from the movie The Little Mermaid.
He showed no signs of the nervousness he told the crowd he had before the show, enthusiastically leading the musicians through the song as easily as he tags great white sharks.
He joked that he only trained for 14 seconds before taking the stage.
“Water is my element and I am out of my element, believe me. But when Wendy and Julie (Arts Foundation officials) called me, I was deeply honored and it is a such an amazing pleasure,” said Skomal.
Following Skomal’s appearance, Ashley Brown sang a collection of jazz-infused selections, which were followed a 70’s sing-a-long.
The concert, produced by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, is the largest fundraiser for the arts community in the region each year.
By MATT PITTA, CapeCod.com News Director
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