From its very start, the Boston Pops was an innovation. Henry Lee Higginson founded the Boston Pops to provide European his musicians with summer income. Sales of food and drink and a relaxed atmosphere created distinct audience. Arthur Fiedler’s repertoire choices brought symphonic players in touch with Duke Ellington, The Beatles, disco, and film scores, and “America’s Orchestra” became a recording and TV mainstay. That spirit of innovation remains the core the Boston Pops.
Dennis Alves
- Biographical Information
Dennis Alves is Director of Artistic Planning for the Boston Pops, a post he has held for more than thirty years. Dennis oversees all aspects of Pops program planning at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, private corporate programs and fund-raising events, tours, and television and recording projects.
Since taking his role at the Pops he has overseen well over 2,100 concerts, 43 national and four international tours. Of the 12 CDs recorded during his tenure, two have been nominated for Grammy Awards. And in his role as Executive Producer of the annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, he has won two New England regional Emmy Awards. Also, during his tenure, the Pops have made appearances at Super Bowl XXXVI, numerous appearances at Red Sox World Series games and championship ring ceremonies, and the NBA Finals.
Before taking on Arts Administration, Dennis was a professional musician, performing as principal trumpet with the New Japan Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, and the Harvard Chamber Orchestra, more than twenty years performing with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler, Harry Ellis Dickson, John Williams and Keith Lockhart, as well as performing as an extra player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
As Vice President of Partnership Development for Hal Leonard Corporation, Paul Lavender directs the product development and marketing of Hal Leonard’s extensive catalog of performance publications for orchestra, concert band, marching band, and jazz ensemble, as well as instrumental books, collections and methods.
Paul supervises the creative work of many of the industry’s most respected composers and arrangers, publishing over 600 new instrumental publications each year.
His longtime association with renowned film composer John Williams has produced the prestigious John Williams Signature Series, featuring Williams’ authentic film scores and concert music for professional orchestras. In addition, Paul has served as music supervisor and arranger for several of Williams’ concerts and special events, including the 2003 and 2008 Marine Band Anniversary Concerts, the 2004 Rose Bowl, and the 2004 Kennedy Center Honors program (televised on CBS).
Also a prolific writer, Paul has contributed more than 1,200 arrangements and compositions to the educational and concert repertoire, and he continues to be one of the most widely played writers today. Most recently, he has received international acclaim with two notable transcriptions for symphonic band: Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky and Maurice Ravel. Both works were written for and recorded by the world-renowned United States Marine Band, and performed on national tours under the direction of Colonel Michael J. Colburn.