Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on tour as “The Boston Pops” with Arthur Fiedler
In the spring of 1964, Arthur Fiedler hired the Buffalo Philharmonic to tour as the Boston Pops under his baton. At all venues, the concert hall, theater marquees and program books advertised “The Boston Pops, with Arthur Fiedler.” For Fiedler, the idea to buy-out an orchestra’s contract for the purpose of touring spared him from having to assemble a new touring orchestra every year, in that the true Boston Pops was in fact the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The BSO could never allow a block of four to six weeks to be booked out of its full schedule. So for many years prior, Fiedler held annual auditions in New York City and other locations, hiring ad hoc musicians for his celebrated tours.
The tour with the Buffalo Philharmonic players was so successful that Fiedler hired them again for another tour in the fall of 1965. However, this time the musicians of the BPO required Fiedler’s management to advertise the concerts as “Arthur Fiedler conducts the Buffalo Pops,” with acknowledgement in the program book that the orchestra was the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Once again, the tour was immensely successful, with sold-out concerts at every location.
Fiedler built his reputation by playing the lighter side of the classical orchestral repertoire, with many encores from movies, TV shows and the pop music charts. But as anyone who ever played under Fiedler’s baton will attest, he was a first-class pro, with serious interpretive abilities and a deep knowledge of the symphonic repertoire. One of the reasons he was so successful as a “Pops” maestro is that he treated the lighter fare and Hollywood-styled arrangements very seriously. And while he respected competent players, nothing ever escaped his savvy ear or eye, and he was quick to keep everyone on their toes – even when performing the same program, night after night. He was a joy to have on the podium.
Buffalo Evening News
May 23, 1963
The Washington Post
April 6, 1964
Boston Pops
Program Cover
March-April 1964
“Boston” Pops
Columbus, OH – 30 March 1964
Cumberland, MD – 31 March 1964
Reading, PA – 1 April 1964
Milford, CT – 2 April 1964
Baltimore, MD – 3 April 1964
Washington D.C. – 5 April 1964
Durham, NC – 6 April 1964
Richmond, VA – 7 April 1964
Harrisburg, PA – 8 April 1964
Youngstown, OH – 9 April 1964
Jackson, MI – 10 April 1964
Detroit, MI – 11 April 1964
Chicago, IL – 12 April 1964
Bloomington, IN – 13 April 1964
Evanston, IN – 14 April 1964
Indianapolis, IN – 15 April 1964
Akron, OH – 17 April 1964
Greensurg, PA – 18 April 1964
Steubenville, OH – 19 April 1964
Troy, NY – 21 April 1964
Poughkeepsie, NY – 22 April 1964
Syracuse, NY – 24 April 1964
White Plains, NY – 25 April 1964
Utica, NY – 26 April 1964
