Pops Program Notes - Sci-Fi Spectacular, January 23 & 24, 2009

Pops Program Notes - Sci-Fi Spectacular, January 23 & 24, 2009

Sci-Fi Spectacular
Friday, January 23, 2009 - 8 pm
Saturday, January 24, 2009 - 8 pm

Jack Everly, conductor
George Takei, narrator
Mike Eldred, vocalist
Kristen Plumley, vocalist
The Sci-Fi-Ettes, vocal ensemble
Mike Runyan, synthesizer
Kozmic Lazer Show

Prizes awarded for the best sci-fi costumes!

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WILLIAMS
Star Wars IV - A New Hope: Main Title

VARIOUS
Lost in Syndication (Arr Everly)

WILLIAMS
E.T. - Adventures on Earth

WILLIAMS
"Can You Read My Mind?" (from Superman)

DAVID ARNOLD
Suite from Independence Day

VARIOUS
Star Trek Through the Years (Arr Custer)

INTERMISSION

R STRAUSS
Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey (Arr Everly)

WILLIAMS
Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind

WARREN/BARKER
"Where My Heart Will Take Me" (from Star Trek: Enterprise) (Arr Everly)

WILLIAMS
Hedwig's Theme (from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)

BARRY
Suite from Somewhere in Time

HERRMANN
Suite from The Day the Earth Stood Still (Arr Everly)

WILLIAMS
Star Wars I - The Phantom Menace: Duel of the Fates

WILLIAMS
Star Wars IV - A New Hope: Throne Room and End Title

A North American leader in symphonic pops, Jack Everly is Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.  In addition to his Indianapolis position, Maestro Everly is also Principal Pops Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Principal Pops Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as Music Director.  In addition to his ABT tenure, he has teamed with Marvin Hamlisch in Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored, and conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

In 1998, Jack Everly created the Symphonic Pops Consortium serving as Music Director.  The Consortium, based in Indianapolis and made up of five orchestras, produces a new theatrical pops program each season providing a superior quality artistic program for all.  In the past seven years, more than 206 performances of SPC programs have taken place in 22 cities across the U.S. and Canada . This season’s world premiere will be a celebration of music of the 1970s in May 2008.  When not on the podium or arranging, Maestro Everly indulges in his love for films, Häagen-Dazs, and a pooch named Max.

Recognized worldwide as a member of the original Star Trek cast, George Takei received a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1986. He is a recurring character on NBC-TV's Heroes. George returns as Sulu in "World Enough and Time," an episode of the Star Trek New Voyages internet series. His distinctive voice is featured in Walt Disney Pictures' full-length animated features, Mulan and Mulan II, Star Trek audio novel recordings, Fox Television's The Simpsons, Futurama, and in numerous voice-overs and narrations. Widely recognized for his vocal talents, Mr. Takei has been a guest narrator for several symphony orchestras. He has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony, the Long Island Philharmonic, Denver Symphony Orchestra, Orange County California Wind Orchestra, and the Imperial Symphony Orchestra of Lakeland, Florida.

George Takei's acting career began between his freshman and sophomore years at the University of California at Berkeley. Later, he transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of arts in theater in 1960 and a master of arts in theater in 1964. George's professional acting debut occurred on live television in the pioneering drama series, Playhouse 90. His motion picture debut was in Ice Palace in 1959. Films include six Star Trek motion pictures, and dozens of others. In addition to his role in the original Star Trek series, television roles include over 100 guest-starring appearances.

As told in his autobiography, To the Stars, published by Pocket Books in 1994, Mr. Takei was born in Los Angeles. With the outbreak of World War II, he and his family were placed behind the barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps. He spent most of his childhood at Camp Rohwer in the swamps of Arkansas and at wind-swept Camp Tule Lake in northern California.

A community activist, George Takei serves as a member of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political organization, George is a spokesman for HRC's Coming Out Project. George was appointed by President Clinton to the board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, where he served two terms. The Government of Japan recognized George's contribution to the Japan-United States relationship by giving him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. The decoration was conferred by His Majesty, Emperor Akihito, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in November 2004. George and his husband, Brad Altman, are residents of Los Angeles.