Did You Know...

A banker with music training named Henry Lee Higginson got the Boston Symphony Orchestra rolling in 1881 with a $1 million endowment, an incredible sum for the time. Immediately he announced that, as soon as possible, he would establish a summer concert series to evoke the essence of European summer concerts and keep the orchestra members from having to pound the pavement in search of summer income.

True to Higginson's word, the Promenade Concert debuted on July 11, 1885 under the direction of Adolf Neuendorff. Neuendorff established the format of a light piece, a heavier middle composition after an intermission, then a second intermission and a light finale. This approach was a very German way of presenting summer music to the more casual listener, and the idea was so engaging to the public of Boston that the Promenade Orchestra began to Americanize its program to stimulate further the sales of tickets. The biggest American composer included was John Philip Sousa, whose patriotic march 'The Stars and Stripes Forever!' was such a big hit that it became the traditional concert finale in 1899, two years after its composition.

In 1900, the series nickname, the 'Pops,' became its official name, and thus it was the Boston Pops Orchestra that performed from then on. Symphony Hall opened that year, and the Pops series was already so entrenched that the Hall's concert seating was removable so tables and chairs could be set up for the Pops.