Kathleen Brett

Continuing a 125-year tradition of bringing the best American music to audiences in New England and across the country, the legendary Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart present a spring season brimming with a rich variety of American popular music and favorite light classics, May 11 - June 26, at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. A kaleidoscope of American musical styles, including jazz, bluegrass, Dixieland, country, gospel, pop, rhythm & blues, and the show-stopping songs of Broadway and Hollywood, will be featured during the 2011 Boston Pops Season, as the orchestra performs many of the most celebrated styles of our national musical legacy. The season showcases the phenomenal talents of musical theater greats Linda Eder, Julia Murney, and New York Pops conductor Steven Reineke; Boston Pops Gospel Night conductor Charles Floyd; film music master and Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams; jazz trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling; bluegrass king Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder; Ray Charles protégé Ellis Hall; pop music all-star Kenny Loggins; New Orleans jazz ambassadors Dukes of Dixieland; and the great interpreter of the American Songbook, Michael Feinstein.

The West Side Story Suite began this weekend and is presented by the National Ballet of Canada. It is part of Luminato, The Toronto Festival for the Arts and Creativity. While it is primarily dance - the show features vocals from seven performers, including up and comers Michael Hughes and Gabi Epstein who talk to BWW about what someone can expect if they venture out to the ballet.

For New Englanders, one of the best ways to ring in the New Year is to spend it at Symphony Hall with the world renowned Boston Pops. This year's program, which has been warming up for the big night in four sold-out weekend performances, will usher in 2008 with a swinging program called 'Gershwin and Friends.'