May 17, 2005

CSO BRINGS GREAT MUSIC TO THE GREAT OUTDOORS WITH
ANNUAL REGIONAL POPS SERIES

John Morris Russell leads four free outdoor concerts in Ohio and Indiana

CINCINNATI — The summer season is just around the corner and you might be thinking about vacations, family outings or romantic picnics under the stars. The Cincinnati Symphony Regional Pops Orchestra can be part of your summer plans with four opportunities to hear the orchestra led by CSO Associate Conductor John Morris Russell and guest artist Mary Elizabeth Southworth, soprano. The Regional Pops series dates and locations are as follows:

• June 11, 7:30 p.m., Kuliga Park, Green Township, Ohio
• June 15, 7:30 p.m., (Eastern Standard Time), Liberty Park, Batesville, Indiana
• June 30, 8 p.m., Prouty Plaza, Troy, Ohio
• July 27, 8 p.m., Fayette County Fair, Washington Court House, Ohio

“Our Regional Pops series is an annual summer tradition that brings the music outdoors to the people,” said CSO Associate Conductor John Morris Russell. “The musicians and I look forward to returning to Batesville, Troy and Washington Court House as well as entertaining folks in Green Township, which is a new location this year,” said Russell.

Mr. Russell has designed a program of marches, light classics and popular fare including orchestral selections from Bizet’s ever-popular opera, Carmen, Lennon/McCartney arrangements that appeal to all ages, and toe-tapping Sousa marches. Mary Elizabeth Southworth’s bright soprano voice will shine in selections from The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, My Fair Lady, and Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Also on the program is music by Leonard Bernstein and Barry Manilow, plus Irving Berlin’s beloved “God Bless America.”

The Regional Pops concerts are free to the public. For more information please call the CSO at 513.621.1919.