The First Bemus Bay Pops started on September 6, 1998.
For information on Bemus Bay Pops 2002 check here.
Bemus Bay Pops Orchestra
Director - Bruce Morton Wright
The Bemus Bay Pops was a creation of Dan and Sue Dalpra,
who are the owners of
the Italian Fisherman Restaurant located at Bemus Bay Chautauqua, New York.
His thought was to have a celebration on Labor Day by having the Bemus
Bay Pops Orchestra perform a concert from the roof top of his restaurant.
The conductor 
for
the concert was Bruce Morton Wright, who is the director of the Erie Chamber
Orchestra, Erie Opera theatre and Music Director of Gannon University,
Erie, Pennsylvania.
“Bemus Bay Pops: A Symphony in the Chautauqua Sky”
was held on the rooftop of the Italian Fishman restaurant at Bemus Point
Chautauqua, New York. This free Pops Concent featured the Bemus Pops Orchestra
under
thr direction of Bruce Morton Wright. Conductor Wright is also the director
of the Erie Chamber Orchestra, Erie Opera Theatre and the Music Director
of Gannon University, all in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Featured soloist for that evening event were Trombonist
- John Marcellus, 
who is head
of the winds and percussion at the Chautauqua School of Music and principal
trombonist of the Chautauquaqua and Rochester Symphony Orchestras and Saxophonist
- Bruce Johnstone 
who
performed with the Maynard Ferguson Band, and the Woody Herman Band. Other
soloists included local celebrity vocalist - Steve Swanson, 
who
recently played with Smokey Robinson at the Chautauqua Institution and
has a newly released CD titled "Somethin's Cookin."
The final soloist was the "sweetheart vocalist" of the Bemus
Point area, 
Miriam
Maysonet.
The Chautaqua Lake area is an ideal setting for such
a concert. 
There is
such a concertration of musical talent in this area which makes it possible
to bring together the Bemus Bay Pops Orchestra.
Patrons were encouraged to enjoy the concert of diverse
music from Gerchwin, Strauss , and Sousa to the Beatles
from their boats, lawn chairs, or the outdoor decks
and restaurants along the
shore
of Lake Chautauqua. Some 150 boats and a total audience of approximately
4,000 people 
attended this “Labor Day Celebration.”
The concert was sponsored
by:
C&E Communications, Arthur R. Gren, Tops
Friendly Markets, ALLTEL, Bush Industries, Jamestown Electro Plating, Maple
Springs Lake Side Inn B&B, Mayshark Realty, Acu-Rite, Angel & Earth
Shoppe, Surf Club, Italian Fisherman, Key Bank, Time Warner, P S Sullivan,
Sysco Foods, Skillman & Wight, Ed Shults Auto Group, Chase, Phoenix
Metal, American Phoenix Ins.
If you would like to become a sponsor of the “Bemus Bay Pops” or would like further information, you can contact Dan Dalpra at (716) 386-7000/ e-mail airpasta@ibm.net/ or you can contact Bruce Morton Wright at (814) 871-7755/ e-mail wright002@gannon.edu.
Program
September 6, 1998
An Evening at the Pops
Russlan and Ludmila Overture
Melody for Trombone and Orchestra
Vergugungzug - (Pleasure Train) Polka
Sumertime from Porgy and Bess
Swanne Rose
Lonely Street
Fiddler on the Roof
Remembering the Beatles
Barber of Seville Overture
Body and Soul
Duke Ellington Fantasy
Someone To Watch Over Me
Amazing Grace
Stara and Stripes Forever
or further information please contact the following
web sites:
Bruce
Morton Wright, Director of Erie Chamber Orchestra/ Erie Opera
Theatre.
Clarence
E. Beyers, Supporter of the Erie Chamber Orchestra/ Erie Opera
Theatre.
Gannon
University, Residency of the Erie Chamber Orchestra/ Mr. Wright-Faculty
Member.
Erie
Chamber Orchestra, Home Page
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