Welcome to the Louisville Orchestra Pops. We hope you enjoy the concert, and if the music moves you, you’re welcome to fly right out of your seats in eruptions of applause and spontaneous cheering.
Well, no — it’s not something you’d expect to find printed in the program of an orchestra concert. And it is not on the Louisville Orchestra Pops’. But Conductor Bob Bernhardt wouldn’t mind if it were. He’s all in favor of his audiences getting into the spirit of things.
“I think the Pops series is a little bit more come as you are,” said Bernhardt. “Usually in the Pops the selections are not very long, and the audience has a chance to express itself.”
And just fine if they do.
This is Bernhardt’s 35th year with the Louisville Orchestra, serving in many roles, including 20 as the principal conductor of the symphony’s Pops series — which presents six concerts this season, beginning with a tribute Sept. 17 to jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. All Pops concerts are staged on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center.
Bernhardt knows the Pops is popular because the music is popular — from familiar classics to beloved selections from the American Songbook. But the tunes, the soloists and the orchestra’s big symphonic sound really get brewing when the audience finds its way into the heart of the music: mesmerized by the playing, enchanted with an affectionate love song and ready to send up a hurrah when the orchestra unfurls “The National Emblem” march.
For Bernhardt, engaging the audience just seems natural.
And it is the opposite, he contends, of some of the stifling rules of a formal philharmonic. Such as no applause between movements of a symphony or concerto — with dedicated scolds ready to look down their noses when a beginning audience member makes the mistake of clapping at the wrong time. Please try not to get carried away.
Bernhardt thinks maybe we should rethink those rules.
“Say we play the Tchaikovsky ‘Piano Concerto,’” he suggested, for example. “The first movement ends with a gigantic explosion of sound. It’s just incredibly exciting … What are you supposed to do? Sit on your hands?”
Talk like that could earn Bernhardt a demerit from the Snooty Maestro’s Guild, but it wouldn’t bother Bernhardt’s loyal fans. Audiences love Bernhardt’s enthusiasm for the music, and they get into his self-deprecating emcee humor. In addition to Louisville, Bernhardt conducts pops groups in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and in Edmonton, Alberta. He also maintains a full schedule of guest conducting appearances in other cities.
But as for etiquette, Bernhardt said today’s all-quiet-on-the-concert-front standards extend back just to the mid-20th century. Before that, audiences were often more … participatory.
“At the debut of Brahm’s ‘Second Symphony,’ in Vienna, in 1877 the audience refused to let the orchestra continue into the final movement until it played the third movement again.”
Of course, Bernhardt isn’t advocating audience rebellion, or brash behavior. He just wishes to cement the bond between orchestra and audience. “I think what an audience wants to do today has more in common with the 19th century than the mid-20th,” he said. “There’s a desire to be more involved.”
Audiences will get that opportunity in the Pops season Bernhardt has lined up for 2016-17. Here’s a look:
“Ella and Louis: All that Jazz” (Sept. 17): Trumpeter Byron Stripling and vocalist Marva Hicks appear as jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, recreating the wonderful songs and personalities of an era in which they starred.
“Star Wars and More: Music of John Williams” (Nov. 5): Bernhardt is an unabashed fan of composer John Williams, calling Williams (87 and still writing) America’s greatest living composer. “It’s just staggering how long John Williams’ career has been, and it remains undimmed,” said Bernhardt. The concert is structured with two intermissions, with a chorus joining the orchestra in the middle section to perform the not-so-often heard songs “Duel of the Fates,” from the movie “The Phantom Menace,” “Dry Your Tears, Africa,” from “Amistad,” and “Hymn to the Fallen,” from “Saving Private Ryan.” Bernhardt will be honored this night for his 35th anniversary with the symphony.
“Cirque Musica Holiday Spectacular” (Nov. 26): A circus concert with aerialists and jugglers out front. Scheduled for the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend to kick off the Christmas season.
“Music of David Bowie” (Jan. 7): The late star’s musical legacy, arranged and conducted by Brent Davis.
“America” (Feb. 4): The group’s signature ‘70s California sound is reflected in “Ventura Highway” and other hits.
“Time for Three” (March 25): Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams introduces the new trio, Time for Three, with two violins and bass, who, Bernhardt said, haven’t met any style of music they don’t like.
