How do the Pops prepare for the Fourth of July?
Let Keith Lockhart tell you.
Now in its 42nd year, the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is one of Boston’s most significant musical events and one of the biggest Fourth of July celebrations in the country. Pops conductor Keith Lockhart has been a part of the tradition since 1995, and has looked for ways to evolve it ever since.
“Part of the profile of the Pops has always been that we were the arm of classical music that reached out and made alliances–relationships with things that you wouldn’t expect to be with an orchestra,” Lockhart said. “I think that’s been true pretty much all during my tenure and before for that matter. It’s just been a matter of how far you reach in those directions.”
This year’s lineup boasts some of the best in pop and country: Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and Little Big Town. These artists join the ranks of Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, John Mellencamp, and others who have played the event, and will bridge a cultural institution with some of today’s top young talent.
“We’ve tried to do things that reach younger and younger listeners and obviously the Fourth of July, we collaborate with artists that are popular with that audience,” Lockhart said. “Who knows, maybe we will make some great new 18-year-old Pops fans out of it.”
The idea of experimentation and collaboration is nothing new to Lockhart, who has helped the Pops stretch their limbs since he first wielded the baton with the orchestra. This season especially, he has welcomed Brian Wilson to perform one of the great American rock albums in its entirety, teamed up with UConn’s Puppet Arts Program for visual accompaniment, and introduced Pops On Demand, which allows audience members to interact with and help select the program using their phones.
“We always have ideas that we can’t fulfill, but we’ll keep trying things, we’ll keep pushing the envelope,” Lockhart said. “The idea of having people vote live, getting people using their cellphones and being involved in the selection of the program—it’s really cutting edge. Nobody else I know is doing it. We try to make sure as the Boston Pops that we’re a leader as much as possible.”
The conductor brings some of this innovative spirit to the Hatch Shell stage every Fourth of July, and runs a tight operation in order to do so. Lockhart said that he won’t get to start preparing for the show until the afternoon of July 2, and even then, it’s only with the artists’ directors and band leaders. It’s not until July 3 that the Pops practice with the artists for a full dress rehearsal. Executing this program on such a tight schedule is no simple feat, but Lockhart’s extra attention to his collaboration with guest artists is balanced out by standards that come with the holiday, and that the Pops have been playing for decades.
“For the Fourth of July, there’s a lot more attached to it in and of itself,” Lockhart said. “It’s a patriotic celebration, there are certain things that are to be expected that we play ever since the tradition started in Boston in ‘74—’The 1812 Overture,’ ‘Stars and Stripes Forever,’ all those things.”
It’s the big names and fireworks that gets the audience there, but it’s the American sing-alongs that get the crowd engaged. Of course, the national anthem is included as well, but Lockhart’s best memories of that tune haven’t necessarily come from the Esplanade.
“My favorite single performance of it?” Lockhart said. “It was kind of cool when the Pops played it at the Super Bowl with Mariah Carey in 2002. Especially since the Pats won it, too.”
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