Every day is opening night.

Press Contacts:
Rick Miramontez / Gerilyn Shur
rick@omdkc.com / gerilyn@omdkc.com
212 695 7400

For the Boston Pops:
Jan Devereux / Matthew Erikson / Rena Cohen
jdevereux@bso.org / merikson@bso.org / rcohen@bso.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

BOSTON POPS TO PRESENT

“THE EYES OF THE WORLD:
FROM D-DAY TO VE DAY”

A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF THE FINAL MONTHS
OF WORLD WAR II IN EUROPE

TOP BROADWAY VOCALISTS JOIN FORCES WITH ESTEEMED
POPS CONDUCTOR KEITH LOCKHART AND HISTORIAN JOHN MONSKY
AT BOSTON SYMPHONY HALL, MAY 29 & 30

New York, NY (April 10, 2024) – Following sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Kennedy Center Opera House, historian John Monsky will make his Boston Pops debut with The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day on Wednesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Boston’s Symphony Hall (301 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02115).

In The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day, historian and writer John Monsky narrates the dramatic story of the final months of WWII in Europe through the words and images of Ernest Hemingway, Vogue-model-turned-photojournalist Lee Miller, daredevil war photographer Robert Capa, the heroic 761^st Tank Battalion and a young intelligence officer who lands on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944 with a manuscript in his knapsack – later revealed as one of America’s greatest novelists. The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day fuses music, meticulously researched history, and rare film and photographs sourced from the National Archives. Flags that were carried onto the beaches and paved the way to victory further illuminate stories often lost to history.

Boston Pops’ Keith Lockhart will conduct the famed orchestra and will lead top Broadway vocalists Stephanie Jae Park (Hamilton), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls), Nicholas Rodriguez (Company) and Daniel Yearwood (Hamilton, Sweeney Todd).

As Americans prepare to honor the 80^th anniversary of this turning point in the Allies’ fight for freedom, Lockhart will lead the Boston Pops in a stirring mix of music that captures the essence of the times, featuring compositions from Aaron Copland, Glenn Miller, Richard Rodgers, Frank Loesser and John Williams.

Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops, remarks, “I’m very excited to bring ‘The Eyes of the World’ to Boston for the first time this May. Over the past several months, we’ve worked closely with John Monsky and the American History Unbound team to make the musical program as powerful as the history that’s told through John’s narration and this unique form of storytelling. The Boston Pops performances will include more music than ever before, and I’m thrilled we’ll have four Broadway stars bring the history to life through songs from the era. I’m a history buff myself, and my brother is a history professor, so this show is one I’m especially proud to be able to offer during the week between Memorial Day and the 80^th anniversary of D-Day.”

Monsky adds, “Boston is where American history began, and it is only fitting that we honor this moment—the 80^th anniversary of D-Day with this symphonic lecture —here. We will travel back in time to re-live the journeys of four remarkable figures and honor the bravery of those who fought for a small strip of beach and beyond. There is no one like Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops to transport us to this dramatic and pivotal in moment in history.”

In the production, Monsky guides the audience through the Battle of the Hedgerows, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, the horrors of the Hürtgen Forest, Germany’s spiderweb of concentration camps and Munich, through the letters, journal entries and photographs of his “eyes.” Along the way, as their journeys unfold in breathtaking fashion, they meet in the most unlikely of places and cross paths with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, the 6888^th Central Postal Directory Battalion and Hemingway’s estranged wife, trailblazing war correspondent Martha Gellhorn.

The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day is produced by American History Unbound Inc. John Monsky is writer, creator, narrator and executive producer. Ian Weinberger, music director of Broadway’s Hamilton, serves as the music director and arranger. Peter Flynn directs. Meredith Wagner is executive producer. Alexander Diaz is producer/production manager. Eric Duran is media producer. Gene Graham and Randy Chaplin are producers; Reece dos Santos is assistant producer.

DOWNLOAD A PHOTO OF JOHN MONSKY HERE

For tickets and more information please visit https://www.bso.org/events/eyes-of-the-world

Learn more: Watch a trailer for The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day HERE

ABOUT AMERICAN HISTORY UNBOUND INC.
The American History Unbound series combines live music performed by leading orchestras and celebrated Broadway actors, photographs and films from the National Archives, historic American flags and material culture to explore watershed moments in American history.

These critically acclaimed lectures, created and narrated by historian John Monsky, have explored the Vietnam War, the race to the moon, D-Day, and World War I.

These lectures have been presented at Carnegie Hall; New-York Historical Society; John F. Kennedy Center Opera House; Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York; Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida; Yale University and New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. American History Unbound’s latest production, November 1918: The Great War & The Great Gatsby, was performed to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage in 2023. American History Unbound Inc. is a 501(c)(3).  americanhistoryunbound.com

ABOUT THE BOSTON POPS
For more than 135 years, the Boston Pops has entertained audiences in Boston and beyond, with Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart leading the orchestra since 1995. It all began in 1885, thanks to the vision of Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson. Four years earlier, in 1881, he founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, calling its establishment “the dream of my life.” From the start he intended to present, in the warmer months, concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day. From a practical perspective, Higginson realized that these “lighter” performances would provide year-round employment for his musicians. The “Promenade Concerts,” as they were originally called, were soon informally known as “Popular Concerts,” which eventually became shortened to “Pops,” the name officially adopted in 1900.  The following year the orchestra performed for the first time in its new home, Symphony Hall.

In 1930, Arthur Fiedler became the first American-born musician to lead the orchestra. In Fiedler’s nearly 50-year tenure as Pops Conductor (1930-1979), he established the Boston Pops as a national icon and began the tradition of offering free Fourth of July concerts on the Esplanade. When John Williams (1980-1993) succeeded Arthur Fiedler, he was the most highly acclaimed composer in Hollywood, and today, with 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the most-nominated living person in Academy history.

Keith Lockhart was named conductor in 1995 and has since led over 2,100 concerts with the Pops. He has created programs that reach out to a broader and younger audience by presenting artists—both established performers and rising stars—from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, all the while maintaining the Pops’ core appeal. He has made 81 television shows, led 45 national and five overseas tours with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, led the Pops at several high-profile sports events, and recorded twelve albums. Lockhart’s tenure has been marked by a dramatic increase in touring, the orchestra’s first Grammy nominations, the first major network national broadcast of the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular from the Esplanade, and the release of the Boston Pops’ first self-produced and self-distributed recordings. Last fall, Lockhart led a Pops tour in Japan and conducted 34 Holiday Pops programs in December.

# # # #

www.omdkc.com
www.instagram.com/omdkc/
www.facebook.com/omdkc
www.x.com/omdkc