September 1, 2005
MSO POPS! BRINGS BACK THE BIG BAND ERA WITH “BRAVO BIG BAND”

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra (MSO) brings back the days of swing, saxophones and love songs on September 17th with the MSO Pops! concert, “Bravo Big Band.” Vocalists Lynn Roberts and Michael Maguire and instrumentalist Bill Holcombe join the MSO for romantic ballads such as The Lady Is a Tramp, Night and Day, Unforgettable, The Song Is You and Over the Rainbow, and Big Band standards including String of Pearls, In the Mood, Take the A Train, Stardust and more. The historic Maryland Theatre, located at 21 South Potomac Street, in Hagerstown, Maryland, is the setting for this 24th season opener, which begins at 8:00 p.m.

Soprano Lynn Roberts has the distinction of being the only “girl singer” to have sung with all of the superstar band leaders - Charlie Spivak, Vincent Lopez, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Harry James. She also shared the spotlight with Sammy Kay for a year and a half, on the ABC show Music from Manhattan. Ms. Roberts sang with the Pied Pipers for many years, and has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Israel. She recently completed her new CD, The Men In My Life, with the big band “Reunion,” made up of musicians from the “Air Men of Note” and the “US Navy Commanders.”

A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Michigan School of Music at Ann Arbor, tenor Michael Maguire is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Enjolras in the original Broadway company of Les Miserables, for which he won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Theater World Award and was featured on the cover of Newsweek. He repeated that performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London as a member of the “Dream Cast,” a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Les Miz that was broadcast on PBS. Mr. Maguire starred as Count Carl Magnus in A Little Night Music with the New York City Opera, and in the PBS broadcast of the show. He has sung extensively with over 120 symphony orchestras nationwide and has starred in the national tours of Carousel, Kismet, Brigadoon, Annie Get Your Gun, Side by Side, 110 in the Shade and Showboat. His solo CD with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops has sold over 250,000 copies. Mr. Maguire’s film credits include Where the Day Takes You, Cadillac and Deep End of the Ocean, and he has guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Nowhere Man, Hearts Afire and Star Trek: Voyager.

“Bravo Big Band” showcases instrumentalist, arranger and composer Bill Holcombe’s mastery of the flute, clarinet and saxophone. Mr. Holcombe majored in Composition Musicology at the University of Pennsylvania and Flute Performance at Julliard. He was a reed player and staff arranger for the Tommy Dorsey Band, and was a staff player for legendary arranger Sy Oliver at Decca Records, where he worked with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, Pearl Bailey, the Mills Brothers, Steve Allen, and Artie Shaw. He later played reeds with both Tex Beneke and Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, and flute, sax and clarinet at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s New York City radio station, WMGM. While there, he worked with many of the stars of the time, including Barbara Stanwick, Mickey Rooney, Edward Arnold, Judy Garland, Gene and June Lockhart, and Boris Karloff.

One of America's most prolific arrangers for concert band and orchestra, Mr. Holcombe owns and operates his own publishing company, “Musician’s Publications,” and has over 1,500 published arrangements and compositions to his credit. He has written more than 15 film scores and been commissioned to create arrangements for over 100 symphony orchestras.

Sponsors for “Bravo Big Band” are Fidelity Bank, Antietam Health Services, Inc., Hub Labels, Inc., WPS Office Equipment – Vince and Ann Dellaposta, and Charles and Jo Ann King.

Tickets for the MSO Pops! range from $20 to $72 for adults and $10 to $36 for full time students and children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased at the Maryland Symphony Orchestra Box Office located at 13 South Potomac Street, Hagerstown, by calling the Box Office at 301-797-4000, or via the website at www.marylandsymphony.org.

Led by Music Director and Conductor Elizabeth Schulze, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra is the area’s premiere professional orchestra, dedicated to providing musical performances and programs that educate and entertain while enhancing the cultural environment of Western Maryland and the surrounding region.