By Diane Peterson

The Press Democrat, November 4, 2005

Symphonic pops concerts tear a page from the American songbook, giving orchestras a chance to swing to Cole Porter, bounce to Irving Berlin and rock out to Billy Joel. They also help ensembles expand their audiences and sell out their halls, showcasing greatest hits from Rossini to Mancini.

For these reasons and more, almost every symphony in the nation offers a pops series, whether it's the New York Philharmonic or the Napa Valley Symphony. Starting this weekend, the Santa Rosa Symphony will get into the act as well.

The new Symphony Pops series, produced in conjunction with the Burbank Center for the Arts, premieres Sunday afternoon with "A Salute to Frank Sinatra," featuring singer Steve Lippia.

"We chose to do a Sunday matinee because it's family entertainment at its best," said Alan Silow, the symphony's executive director. "You can bring the grandparents and the kids."

The three-concert series continues Jan. 15 with "Bravo Broadway," featuring three singing stars of the New York stage, and concludes March 12 with "Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles."

The idea for the pops series came from Timothy Beswick, the symphony's new director of artistic operations, who joined the staff after working 20 years with the San Jose Symphony.

"They were a significant symphony for quite a while, and they had a very extensive pops series," Silow said of the South Bay orchestra, which declared bankruptcy in 2002 after 125 years of performing. "His background gave me the confidence that this was something that we'd be willing to explore."

At the Burbank Center, Executive Director David Fischer saw the Symphony Pops series as a way to continue the center's commitment to classical music.

"As we prepare to have the symphony move to the Green Center (at Sonoma State University), we wanted to continue to serve classical audiences here," Fischer said. "This is the perfect marriage: The symphony will be able to serve north county audiences at our venue, and we'll be able to continue to enjoy having the symphony here."

The Burbank Center also views the new series as a way to continue to serve fans of the Broadway genre. For the past four years, it has brought in at least one Broadway-based program a year, including a tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber in 2004.

Eventually, the center hopes to build a separate venue that could accommodate full-scale productions.

"One of the primary reasons we want to build a new theater is to bring in Broadway programs and ballet," Fischer said. "It requires an infrastructure that doesn't exist in the county right now."

According to Silow, more and more classical pops programs across the country are offering musical themes as an alternative to big-name acts, because those acts have become cost-prohibitive.

The Santa Rosa Symphony decided to go the musical theme route as well.

"A Salute to Frank Sinatra," which features Lippia singing in the style of Sinatra, will be led by well-known pops conductor Michael Berkowitz.

But those names are not the main draw of the program, Silow said. Instead, the audience will be coming to hear old favorites like "Strangers in the Night," "Fly Me to the Moon" and "That's Life."

"Bravo Broadway" will feature hits from shows like "Chicago" and "Evita" sung by a trio of Broadway veterans - including Doug LaBrecque of "Phantom of the Opera" - but it's the songs themselves that are the main attraction.

The "Classical Mystery Tour," performed by the original members of the Broadway hit "Beatlemania," will showcase golden oldies like "Penny Lane," accompanied by a live trumpet section, and the ballad "Yesterday," with an acoustic guitar and a string quartet.

"These are programs that, in the history of music and theater in this country, will never die," Fischer said. "These are artists that will be with us for generations and generations."