California Pops Orchestra
3790 El Camino Real ms341
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 856-8432
www.californiapops.org
Media Contact: Vic Befera, Media and Public Relations
			(650) 328-3936


PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 15, 2010

CALIFORNIA POPS ORCHESTRA 
Big Broadcast of 2010 Musical Variety Show
Comedy, Adventure and Great Music in a tribute to those great '30s live radio shows.
February 21st, 2010
Sunday at 3:00pm
Venture Christian Church
16845 Hicks Road
Los Gatos, CA 95032

The great radio shows of the 1930s will be saluted in nostalgic live radio format in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 2010, at the Venture Christian Theatre on February 21, 2010 at 3:00 pm. Kim Venaas and the Pops will be joined by the California Pops Radio Players, Ms. Ann Gibson, impressionist Matt Helm (with his dead-on impressions of Dean Martin, Sean Connery, Jimmy Stewart and many more) British actor Alan Dale, wacky Whizzo products and a host of sound effects adding to this fun and timely tribute to live radio. 

Also on the bill are the continuing adventures of Detective Jack Hammer, CPOs' Zucchini Gulch Xylophone Trio and "Flight of the Bumblebee" featuring the Pops' incredible trumpets blazing away onstage at the 1,100-seat theater.  All this is in addition to lots of hit music from the Great American Songbook presented by a big, 60-piece orchestra.

One show only!

Future Pops Shows

MILLER, GOODMAN, DORSEY AND FRIENDS is the Pops' big-band show with the orchestra augmented by the Black Tie Jazz Big Band, an all-professional group also headed by Venaas plus star pianist Frederick Hodges. Many of the pieces featured are from the "Save the Music" collection, a Pops rescue project saving from destruction 2,500 musical arrangements from radio and theatre orchestras of the 1920s, '30s and '40s.

Performances will be on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 7:30 pm at Spangenberg Theatre in Palo Alto, and in Los Gatos 3:00 pm Sunday, April 11 at the Venture Christian Theatre. 

MAGICAL BROADWAY MOMENTS closes the season in May featuring wonderful music from "Guys and Dolls", "Oklahoma", "South Pacific" and "42nd Street" plus plenty of audience sing-a-longs. Performances will be on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 7:30 pm at Spangenberg Theatre and on Sunday, May 23rd at 3:00 pm at the Venture Christian Theatre. Also featured are tunes from "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers",  "The Pajama Game", "Slaughter on 10th Avenue", "Company" and many more vintage and contemporary Broadway smash hits. 

Individual Show Tickets
$30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students (with student ID) and $10 children (ages 10 and under with parent). 

* Discounted group tickets are available by contacting the Pops office. 
* Open and group seating. Groups of 10 or more people.
* Tickets may be purchased online at www.californiapopsorchestra.com or call the Pops Office at (650) 856-8432.

About the California Pops
The California Pops is unique in the Bay Area. "Nowhere else can people in our communities come year-round to experience the drama, romance and thrills of movie music, Broadway, jazz, pop and rock played by a big, live orchestra", said Venaas. The tall, debonair conductor brings a breezy, informal style to his shows, chatting with the audience and bringing laughter reeling off jokes and one-liners. 

If you have a wedding anniversary or birthday, he lets the audience know. "Some fans call us 'the Boston Pops meets Prairie Home Companion'", he laughs. The Pops includes musicians with training from distinguished conservatories including Julliard and Oberlin. In addition to the professional musicians in its ranks it also draws from scientists, engineers, educators and marketing professionals throughout Northern California who love this music and love playing to full houses of happy, laughing audiences. Venaas: "This diversity in background makes the Pops a delight to play with and a never-ending source of ideas, inspiration and humor." He adds that many of their musicians have become tired of playing only "classical" repertoire. The opportunity to explore popular music from the movies, Broadway, big bands and more is irresistible to these talented musicians. 

The Pops is building a musical library that includes light classics, jazz, Latin, movie, Broadway, TV, cartoons, circus, vaudeville and big band. Many of these orchestrations are long out of print and led to the Pops' urgent mission to Los Angeles to save countless musical scores from the dumpsters and led to the formation of their "Save the Music" crusade. 

Conductor Kim Venaas
Maestro Venaas has conducted, arranged and performed in all areas of popular, classical and commercial music, from recordings to radio/TV to the concert and musical stage, from Davies Symphony Hall to the St. Francis Hotel's Grand Ballroom. He was brought up on big band music and, in addition to the California Pops Orchestra, has served as Carol Channing's Music Director and leads the Black Tie Jazz Orchestra, a 19-piece professional '30s & '40s era society big band here on the West Coast. Herb Caen called BTJO, "that great swinging band"!

He has written and produced several Golden Age of Radio musical variety shows and works tirelessly to preserve popular music around the country, assisting orchestras and music libraries including the Paramount Theatre Library of Popular Music with a collection now exceeding 170,000 pieces of irreplaceable American musical history.

All Kim's musical experience in composing, arranging, conducting and recording has lead him back to the show stage where he brings a relaxed, interactive style in the Pops' shows; a style free of the usual formal separation between conductor and audience, a style where fun is the point.

For additional information please contact Vic Befera, California Pops Public/Media relations at (650) 328-3936

Pops debuts a new website www.californiapops.org including a press page for downloading hi-res photos, press releases, calendar listing and more.
										
Press page link: www.californiapops.org/cpopressroom.html. Clearing your browser's cache then refreshing the webpage may be necessary after initial connection to see the updated web pages.

Thank you for your support!

Vic Befera 
Media Relations


The California Pops Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) Community Non-Profit Corporation 
www.californiapops.org Phone (650) 856-8432