The park will be poppin' on Sunday.
Each year, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra kicks off its season with a free mega-concert at Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park. The audience can be as big as the great outdoors, fans of live music can spread out on picnic blankets and nestle into lawn chairs, and the orchestra can show the whole city what they are in for during the coming year.
This will be a special edition of Pops In The Park because conductor Michael Hall is new to Prince George. It's the first time he will pick up the baton as the PGSO's artistic director. He will stand between a set of musicians with whom he is only beginning to become familiar, and a crowd of people who have yet to meet the new leader of the city's biggest band.
"We are going to perform a set of Broadway favourites, at this year's Pops In The Park show," Hall said, a grin of anticipation spreading across his face.
"There is something really special about playing outdoors, in a free setting, so folks can come to see us who maybe don't get to come out to a lot of our mainstage performances throughout the year, or maybe they've never seen the symphony before and this is their chance. It's always a better experience when there's that familiarity to work with, and so many people know these Broadway numbers."
It won't be all instrumental music. The PGSO has called on some special vocal help. Well known local singers Jon Russell and Catherine Hansen McCarthy will join them on stage, and there are some other special guests and soloists who will make appearances as well.
"We aren't just playing the old favourites. We found some really topnotch arrangements, so the musicians will really flatter the music, it'll be great stuff," said Hall.
Especially pleasing is the number of import players on the PGSO roster for this show. Typically the PGSO uses a mix of local professional and pro-am players alongside professionals they fly in from other cities to round out the orchestra.
"We are only having to use three import players for this concert," said PGSO general manager Teresa Saunders. "We have a great deal of talent right here in Prince George, some of these players haven't worked with us in awhile, but there is a sense of renewal at the PGSO, Michael is injecting a lot of new energy into our organization, and the community support has been just tremendous to start the new season off."
New this year at Pops In The Park is the addition of food trucks to impress the taste palate as the orchestra zests the sonic one.
There will also be a number of tents and tables at the event to help promote other artists and agencies within the region.
It's the PGSO's way to shine some light on their peers in other sectors of the arts community.
"What I'm already starting to discover about this city is the open collaboration and cross-pollination between arts groups and cultural organizations," said Hall, that grin returning to its familiar place. "So this is Pops In The Park and it is not just about the PGSO, it is about the people in the community, the area's arts scene, and the amazing outdoor opportunity we all get to share with music at the middle of it all."
Hall was, until attaining the PGSO post, the music director of the Kennett Symphony in Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he was the music director of the Southwest Florida Symphony from 2007 to 2012.
The free concert happens at Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park's Kiwanis bandshell starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
In case of bad weather, the concert will move to St. Michael's Anglican Church (Fifth Avenue and Victoria Street) at 1:30 p.m.
