30th Pops Party concert is Sunday at Governor’s Mansion

The back lawn of the Governor’s Mansion is the site of the Carson City Symphony’s 30th annual Pops Party concert, an official Nevada 150 event, at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The program features the Carson City Symphony, Carson City Symphony Chorus, STRAZZ Youth Strings, and guest singers Sherre Carne and Cindee LeVal.

The symphony, directed by David Bugli, will play Scott Joplin’s “Searchlight Rag,” “A Richard Rodgers Portrait,” and Morton Gould’s “American Salute.” Cindee LeVal will sing a new arrangement of “Cow Cow Boogie” with the orchestra. The Carson City Symphony Chorus, directed by Michael Langham, will sing “In the Still of the Night,” “Blue Skies,” “Embraceable You,” and with instrumental accompaniment, “And All That Jazz.”

STRAZZ youth strings will join the symphony for the entire second half of the concert. They will play Carson Cooman’s “Sagebrush Celebration,” a work written to celebrate the symphony’s 30th season and Nevada’s sesquicentennial; “An American Symphony” from the movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus”; and “Highlights” from “Sophisticated Ladies.” With the Symphony Chorus, they will present Nevada’s state song, “Home Means Nevada,” in a new arrangement by David Bugli commissioned by the Reno Philharmonic through a grant from the E.L. Wiegand Foundation. Sherre Carnes will sing “Moon River,” and the concert will end with the rousing “Liberty Bell March” by John Philip Sousa.

Grounds open and pre-concert entertainment by the Yale-Worth strolling strings duo will start at 2 p.m. Admission is free. Seating is on the lawn; the audience is welcome to bring blankets or lawn chairs (some chairs will be provided) and food.

Snacks and beverages will be on sale before and during the concert. Proceeds from raffle, food, and beverage sales benefit the Carson City Symphony Association’s artistic and educational programs.

The concert is supported with public funding through the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Partnership Carson City, and the Nevada Commission on Tourism. For rain location, call the Symphony at 775-883-4154, or go to CCSymphony.com.