Tucson Pops Orchestra Mother’s Day Concert
May 11 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm MST
Tucson Pops Orchestra Mother’s Day Concert
May 11, 2025 ~ 7pm
DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, Reid Park
900 S Randolph Way
Tucson AZ 85716
Price – Free Concert
Information – Mother’s Day Concert – Special guests El Mariachi Tapatio de Tucson (director Alberto Ranjel). The orchestra will perform a new composition titled Sonoran Rivers, by local composer Yuanyuan Kay HE with narration written by Alison Hawthorne Deming. The piece tells the story of the Santa Cruz Watershed and its interactions with people through time, grounding the audience in a sense of place and history. The orchestra will pay homage to mothers throughout the evening.
The Food Truck Roundup provides a delectable selection of picnic provisions to enjoy during each concert:
MAY 11th: Sarge’s Cheesecake, Quesadillas & More, Colonel Mustard Hot Dogs, Pops Kettle Corn, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Fiesta Filipina and SAAFB Free Coffee Corner
MAY 18th:: Sarge’s Cheesecake, Quesadillas & More, SLY Dog, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Pops Kettle Corn, Fiesta Filipina and SAAFB Free Coffee Corner
MAY 25th: Sarge’s Cheesecake, Quesadillas & More, Pops Kettle Corn, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Fiesta Filipina, Drew of Drew’s Dog and SAAFB Free Coffee Corner
Since its founding in 1955, the Tucson Pops Orchestra has delivered outstanding entertainment without admission fees to the Tucson public for the past 70 seasons. Supported by grants, local sponsors, and audience donations, the organization opens their 2025 spring season on Mother’s Day May 11th at 7pm at the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park, with additional concerts on Sundays May18 and 25.
Artistic Director and Conductor Khris Dodge who took over the Maestro position in 2023, endeavors to create programs for each performance that reflect the spirit of the Southwest and the beautiful blend of traditions that inform Tucson’s unique culture. “We are always doing something new and different at each of our concerts, and this Spring season is certainly no exception to that. I truly enjoy working with the great musicians in the orchestra as well as combining their talents with our many guest artists.”
The Tucson Pops Board of Directors is pleased to announce the hiring of James Reel as the new Executive Director of the organization. Reel brings with him a wealth of experience including board and management work with such organizations as Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, The Tucson Desert Song Festival and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra. “I’m honored to have been invited to join the Tucson Pops Orchestra as its executive director. I’m here to support the orchestra’s unique 70-year mission: To present professional musicians in free concerts of the widest possible range of styles, from light classics through popular standards to today’s leading regional artists. Since I was a kid, I’ve always sought new musical experiences, and every Tucson Pops concert introduces me, and potentially anyone else in town, to something or someone delightfully different”.