Last Saturday, Oct. 14, Monterey County Pops, long associated with American patriotic and pops concerts, played a show that may foretell the group’s future.
The event was a free family concert, part of a fundraiser dinner/silent auction/show for the 30th anniversary of Alisal Center for the Fine Arts. It happened at the 90-year-old and newly renovated Salinas Armory, a giant Quonset hut-like venue with a high ceiling and an inset bandstand that has hosted Johnny Cash and Tina Turner.
The program hopped genres and countries – movie composer Alan Silvestri’s songs from The Avengers to Forrest Gump, “Sabre Dance” by Soviet composer Aram Khachaturian – but there was a savvy ear to the Latino audience and setting with the Mexican national dance tune “Jarabe Tapatio” (aka “The Mexican Hat Dance”), and the “other” Mexican anthem, “Zacatecas March.” In the middle of the program, there was a zylophone medley.
Earlier this year, the Monterey Symphony retreated out of Salinas, citing low attendance and ticket sales. Monterey County Pops is stepping into that vacuum per their mission: “bringing pops and patriotic music by professional musicians to Monterey County, free-of-charge, and to engage underserved youth.”
They do this by serving up bite-sized chunks of classical and modern music in a comfortable setting, free of formal airs, welcoming to families and diverse audiences, subsidized by grants and donations.
In 2010, then-Monterey Pops changed its name to Monterey County Pops and roamed the county. The orchestra has been playing at Stanton Theater in King City for over four years; they sent a brass group to Spreckels on the Fourth of July.
Music Director and Conductor Carl Christensen speaks Spanish, played and taught trombone in Mexico for 10 years. Later, he taught music at Hartnell College for 31 years.
He’s been meeting with community groups to form partnerships – Vista Verde Middle School in Greenfield, Sol Treasures in King City, Palenke Arts in Seaside. He says their big-tent formula is classical hits, familiar and modern music, Broadway tunes, Americana folk and spirituals, jazz standards – stuff that zips along.
At their Oct. 14 concert they were not abandoning their patriotic roots – “There will be a big dose of it this Sunday,” Christensen says – they were reinforcing their mission.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.