Heidi Dallin shares a reminder about the free spectacle July 28, 2023 and a message from Cape Ann Symphony:
“We’re constantly being asked: How did pops concerts begin and why are they called Pops?
According to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Henry Lee Higginson founder of the BSO, proposed a new series of concerts which would “re-create the ambiance of summer evenings in Viennese concert gardens.” Such a series also would provide summer employment for the members of the Boston Symphony, who at that time, had to search for other work over the non-BSO season.
They began as the “Promenade Concerts,” soon became known as “Popular Concerts,” which became “Pops,” with the name officially adopted in 1900. The whole point being to bring to audiences shorter, well known, pieces from the normal classical repertoire together with new popular music of the current age. They are concerts that invariably leave the audience with huge smiles as they exit the concert venue.
On Friday, July 28 at 8pm Yoichi Udagawa and some 70 musicians of the Cape Ann Symphony will continue the tradition, playing outdoors to several thousand folks celebrating Gloucester’s 400th at fabulous Stage Fort Park.
They’ll be on a stage in right field of the ball field left of the large tree and playing shorter pieces by traditional composers such as Tchaikovsky, Copland, Rossini, and hugely popular current musicians including Williams, Anderson and Gloucester’s own Rob Bradshaw.
An audience of thousands is expected to fill the ball park and grass all the way up to the gazebo.
We expect thousands because
It’s so much fun! And it’s free!
For full information, including free parking instructions, please click the POPS INFORMATION button.
For this Marquee Gloucester 400+ celebration event of the year: Pack a picnic dinner, bring a lawn chair, your family and friends to Gloucester’s Stage Fort Park for a spectacular evening of pops music from the professional musicians of the Cape Ann Symphony.
Save the date, share, and see you there!”
Cape Ann Symphony
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Stage Fort Park looks great. Thank you for all the hard work making this park look so beautiful. On Tuesday I am at the visitors’ center from 3 til 6. It is lots of fun and enjoy meeting visitors from all over.
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One month away- mark your calendars! Countdown to Cape Ann Symphony’s very own Pops concert–a preeminent 400+ celebration– at Stage Fort Park is July 28, 2023. Classical and popular music for all in a spectacular setting!
For Gloucester’s Tablet Rock dedication in 1907, momentous Gloucester Day celebrations, and the city’s 300th, the natural open air ampitheatre of Stage Fort Park and its sweeping vistas beckoned and accomodated thousands for sheer casual delight, open and accessible to all. The Cape Ann Symphony Pops in the Park event echoes this history! On a smaller scale, the city hosts the popular free Antonio Gentile Bandstand Summer Concert Series at Stage Fort Park.
20161907201719071909Stage Fort Fisherman’s Field plaque honoring all actions. My attribution is Harriet Hyatt_plaque refers to restoration of area 1930 by DAR
Heidi Dallin shares the details from Cape Ann Symphony:
CAPE ANN SYMPHONY RETURNS TO STAGE FORT PARK
Celebrate Gloucester’s 400+ at
POPS IN THE PARK
FREE ORCHESTRA CONCERT SET FOR JULY 28 at 8 PM
Cape Ann Symphony has partnered with the Gloucester 400+ to bring Cape Ann’s 70-member professional orchestra to Stage Fort Park for Pops in The Park, a special concert to celebrate Gloucester’s 400+, on Friday, July 28 at 8 PM.
“Over the last 6 months we’ve been raising the funds needed to put the symphony on stage and I am delighted to share that we just reached our goal. We are so appreciative of our corporate sponsors and all the individual donors who contributed to make this marquee event of the 400th celebration a reality! So, save the date of July 28th on your calendar and come join us at Pops in the Park, a glorious evening of symphonic music free to the public.”
Jodi Nedrow-Counihan, CAS board member and coordinator of the Pops event
Set against the majestic backdrop of Gloucester Harbor, this FREE outdoor all ages event will be a special evening of music. The program includes Rossini’s Barber of Seville Overture; Anderson’s Selections from Irish Suite; Copland’s Hoedown; William’s Adventures on Earth; A Tribute to Henry Mancini; Tchaikovsky’s Finale of The 1812 Overture and the world premiere of Celebration Overture by acclaimed Gloucester composer Robert J Bradshaw.
“The Pops in the Park Concert on July 28th is a celebration not only of the 400+ years of Gloucester history but of the 70+ years of the Cape Ann Symphony” adds Nedrow-Counihan. The Cape Ann Symphony began in 1952 as a volunteer group of thirty or so individuals calling themselves the “Gloucester Civic Symphony Orchestra”. On July 10th, 1952 the symphony performed their inaugural concert in the Gloucester High School auditorium and wowed the audience of over 800 concertgoers with their performance of Beethoven’s First Symphony.
Today, the Cape Ann Symphony has evolved into an all-professional orchestra of more than 70 members from throughout the New England area with a performance level to rival any regional Symphony in the country. For more than 20 years Maestro Yoichi Udagawa has been the CAS Music Director and Conductor and his artistry and passion have made him an audience favorite. Maestro Udagawa is at home in popular and contemporary music as well as the standard symphonic repertoire. He is known for his relaxed manner and ability to speak from the podium which has helped new audiences as well as enthusiasts gain a greater appreciation for symphonic music.
The Cape Ann Symphony’s Pops in the Park Concert, a preeminent event to celebrate Gloucester’s 400+, is Friday, July 28, 2023 at 8:00 pm in Stage Fort Park, 24 Hough Avenue, Gloucester, MA. Admission to this outdoor concert on the harbor is FREE. For information, call 978-281-0543 or visit pops.capeannsymphony.org
aBOUT Stage Fort Park Tablet Rock
*“In 1623, 14 English fishermen set up the first European colony on Cape Ann here in what was then Fisherman’s Field and is now Stage Fort Park. These ramparts overlook the harbor, first built during the Revolutionary War, renewed for the War of 1812, the Civil War and the Spanish American War.”
Alas, those first settlers, sent across the ocean by the Dorchester Company, were unable to live off the sea and these rock-bound fields. They moved a few miles south to what is now Salem in 1626. Then, within a decade, there were enough permanent settlers on Cape Ann to incorporate the town of Gloucester. The first meetinghouse was built on the Town Green in 1642 near what is now the Grant Circle rotary of Route 128. The City set this land aside as a public park in 1898 and its Tablet Rock was dedicated by Henry Cabot Lodge in 1907.“
James R. Pringle was designated to write the inscription for the bronze plaque. The execution of the design was by Eric Pape. “The nautical scheme of decorative framework and embellishment was the composite suggestion” of various committees dating as far back as the 1880s. Bronze tribute plaques embedded in Tablet Rock at Stage Fort Park detail the site’s history and were commissioned and unveiled at different times. The monumental and stunning Founders plaque from 1907 on Tablet Rock itself is in fantastic condition. Two DAR plaques were inlaid on the glacial outcroppings past half moon beach on the way to the cannons. The Fisherman’s Field (1934) which I attributed to Harriet Hyatt is so worn it’s nearly indecipherable, though that’s part of its charm**. The plaque compels close inspection, lingering and discovery. It’s a fun family activity for anyone who likes a challenge. For those who want help reading the content, I transcribed it back in 2010. Harriet Hyatt designed the Meeting House Plain plaque across from Cape Ann near Washington and Poplar. – 2015, 2027 **Update 2020: Cape Ann Museum acquired the original drawing for the plaque design in 2020!
Stage Fort Park after the rain on this atmospheric morning was formal and dreamy. Skies above felt like passages in paintings by Odilon Redon and Florine Stettheimer. May 21, 2023.
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Stage Park before noon 4/22/2023: Dog park clean up was active. Canon status as is. Kids breaking in the street hockey rink.
Link to prior GMG post BEFORE photos through the years of the cannons and site design (incl 1870, 1921, 1930, 1973, and 2019). The cannons were removed for restoration in 2019 from grounds that were restored and completed back in 1973 by the 187th Infantry Brigade– and in time for the city’s 350th celebration. That vision was hoped for over many decades and emulated how the fort looked in the 1700s.
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Gloucester 1/24/2023: Yellow and gray streaked sky, roads clear, and light accumulation from yesterday’s snowfall. Despite the sunny and warming up that’s forecast, there should be enough snow when school lets out suitable for building a snowman and slow sledding!
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Good Morning Gloucester 