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Arthur Fiedler conducting @ the Hollywood Bowl July 4th, 1976 oue Bicentennial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-fGZzS2M1s

Last year, Keith Lockhart found a silver lining when CBS pulled the plug on the national broadcast of the Fourth of July Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular: creative control. This week, Lockhart is asserting that control with the first-ever Pops-directed webcast of the Independence Day extravaganza. Locally, WBZ will carry the TV broadcast; globally, fans can catch the live stream on bostonpopsjuly4th.org or cbsboston.com.

Richard Hayman went from harmonica player to music arranger to pops conductor, all without any formal musical training. Along the way, he made arranged the music for Hollywood movies, earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, did arrangements for the Boston Pops for more than 50 years, and founded and ran the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s pops concerts for three decades, while drawing on a seemingly endless collection of sequined jackets. Mr. Hayman died Wednesday (Feb. 5, 2014) in New York City, of natural causes. He was 93, and had recently entered hospice care.

(Boston Globe reader writes:) I WATCHED the Fourth of July Esplanade program and fireworks on TV. The last part of the program was broadcast across the United States, presumably as an example of what a true American celebration should look like. I searched in vain for more than a few faces in the crowd that weren’t Caucasian, and couldn’t imagine what people of color must have thought to see that huge group of white people. Even the representatives of the armed services and the Boston Pops itself were overwhelmingly white. I’m not sure what the reason is behind this lack...

The featured combatants in what is now known as the "Brawl at Symphony Hall" did not shake hands yesterday, but they did settle their differences. Michael J. Hallam and Matthew B. Ellinger, who gained national notoriety when they struggled with each other during a May 9 performance of the Boston Pops, both appeared in Boston Municipal Court, initially seeking criminal charges against each other. But after a 10-minute closed-door hearing, the two men and their lawyers emerged, and a court official later said they agreed not to pursue any charges against each other. The incident led to conductor Keith Lockhart...

BOSTON (Reuters) - A fistfight in the balcony stopped the music on opening night at the Boston Pops, drawing gasps from hundreds of well-heeled guests at one of the country's oldest and best-known city orchestras. Famous for light classical music and family pop tunes from decades past, the orchestra briefly halted its performance on Wednesday evening as two men wrestled in the side balcony of the 107-year-old Symphony Hall. Concert-goers looked up after a woman's scream interrupted a rendition of the Hollywood musical "Gigi" about 20 minutes into the performance. Shortly afterward, conductor Keith Lockhart stopped the orchestra with a...

BOSTON — Concert-goers, and even Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, were caught off-guard when a fight broke out on opening night at usually sedate Symphony Hall. Television video of the fight Wednesday night showed two men struggling in the balcony — one with his shirt pulled off — as several people stood around them. Lockhart briefly halted the performance, which featured singer-songwriter Ben Folds, while the men were escorted out. Boston police spokesman David Estrada said police officers on security detail at the hall escorted the men off the property, and no charges were filed... A Boston Symphony spokeswoman did...

Forgive the Vanity, is anyone else disappointed that the Boston Pops has gone to CBS and there show has been cut from 2 1/2 hours to one. Will A&E did a pretty good job with the NSO, even if they had a few cliches at the start. I also did mis the 105's during the 1812 overture.