COURT HOUSE – Linda Gentille & The Jersey Shore Pops performed their first out of state concert to rave reviews this past Jan. 11, 2014 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The popular Cape May County based orchestra was invited by the historic Lansdale Community Concert Association to perform during their 67th Season. Lansdale Community Concerts, Inc. is a volunteer organization that has been bringing live professional musical performances to the North Penn area since 1947.
The concert association has brought the top orchestra’s in the world to perform for their audiences including: The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cincinnati Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony with Andre Watts Pianist, The Baltimore Symphony, The Bolshoi Symphony, The Hungarian Symphony, The New Orleans Philharmonic, The Rochester Philharmonic, The Budapest Symphony, The Deutsche Philharmonic, The Russian National Symphony Orchestra, The Czech Symphony Orchestra , The Capetown Philharmonic, The Nordwest Deutsche Philharmonic, The Warsaw Symphony and The Boston Pops with Keith Lockhart.
The orchestra’s conductor and music director Linda Gentille comments, “We were thrilled to be invited to perform for the Lansdale Community Concert Association. It was quite an honor considering the association has invited the top pop orchestra’s in the US to perform for them including The Boston Pops and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. This concert was the highlight of our career so far.”
The President of the Lansdale Community Concerts, Don Souder, first met Gentille at a music conference 5 years ago in Nashville, TN. The conference is a networking opportunity for music venues and presenters to find talent for their concert series or venues. Souder was so impressed with Gentille’s talent and entertainment skills, but explained that their season ticket subscription series of 1800 patrons wanted large scale shows only. The following year at another conference, Gentille began discussing her new orchestra with Souder and he immediately knew that the large 28 member pops orchestra would appeal to his patrons.
The sold out concert of 1800 people were thrilled with the variety of music and the amazing soloists that the orchestra featured. One of the highlights of the concert was with the orchestra’s Concert Mistress Susan Elsayed who performed a rendition of music from Fiddler on the Roof while roaming through the audience. Other highlights included Clifford Buggs on the trumpet, Walt Palmer and Paul Butler on the clarinet. Vocalist Jacklyn Buckingham stunned the audience with her gorgeous rendition of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina. But the night clearly belonged to the conductor and star of the show, Linda Gentille. She was a combination of Liberace and Victor Borge and displayed both her comedic and musical skills. Dr. Nick Holland, president of the orchestra commented, “Many people left the theater commenting this was the best concert they had ever seen. The orchestra and Linda were at the top of their game. We know that many of the audience that attended tonight’s show will be soon becoming season ticket holders for our season as well. Luckily the Lansdale Community Concert Association is a winter season, and ours is a summer season so there is no competition to worry about. We complement each others organizations.”
2014 will be an impressive year for the 4 year old pops orchestra with 10 other concerts planned for 2014. They have been invited by the Borough of Stone Harbor to be the featured orchestra for their Centennial Celebration this summer. In addition to those 4 concerts, they will make their debut on Memorial Weekend with a concert at The Ocean City Music Pier. They will continue their 4 concert Summer Concert Series at the PAC beginning July 12, 2014 with Mark Preston, formerly of The Lettermen.
The Jersey Shore Pops 2014 concerts which are ticketed events will be as follows.
Ocean City Music Pier Concert Series
May 24, 2014: 7:00 p.m.: America starring Linda Gentille & The Jersey Shore Pops
July 26, 2014: 2:00 p.m.: Country Divas starring Jacklyn Buckingham
Middle Pac Concert Series:
July 12 at 7:00 p.m.: Mark Preston formerly of The Lettermen
July 19 at 7:00 p.m.: Sinatra Sizzles
Aug. 9, at 7:00 p.m.: Broadway Tap
Aug. 23 at 7:00 p.m.: Great Balls of Fire, Legends of Piano
This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The funds were administered by the Cape May County Culture and Heritage Commission, under the authority of the County Library Commission, for the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
To purchase tickets to the either The Ocean City Music Pier series, or The Middle Township Summer Concert Season, please call the JSP Ticket Office at 800-838-3006 or 609-628-4544. You can choose your own seats online by going to www.JerseyShorePops.org. Tickets are now going to be available once again at the PAC for walk up purchases for individual ticket sales only which begin on May 24, 2014. The Middle Township theater is located at 212 Bayberry Ave, off exit 10 off the Garden State Parkway. There is convenient and free parking at the facility and it is handicapped accessible. The Ocean City Music Pier is located at Moorlyn Terrace on the Boardwalk.
Upper Township – Again, kids drinking and being loud half the night near a local business. No matter how often authorities are called they say call the owner. Management does nothing except say; they do what they are…
