WS Chronicle

Miss those days of Flower Power, bell-bottoms and 45 singles on the turntable? Well, you’re in luck! The Winston-Salem Pops is bringing back the music of the ‘60s in their concert, “Swingin’ the ‘60s: Celebrating the Sixties in Song.” The concert will be held on Friday, May 17, 6:30 p.m., at Ardmore Baptist Church in the Brown Auditorium, 501 Miller Street. The entrance to the auditorium is on the corner of Rosewood Avenue and Irving Street. The concert is free and family friendly, but donations are greatly appreciated. 

The Winston-Salem Pops 30-voice mixed SATB chorus, nine-voice PoPsemble, and various soloists, will all be decked out in groovy threads from the 1960s. The Pops Chorus 85-minute program will treat the audience to a diverse selection of popular pieces that helped define a new era of change in America. The British Invasion, Motown Sound, folk music-inspired protest songs and surf music from the West Coast changed the entire music landscape.

A partial song list includes: “Build Me Up, Buttercup” by the Foundations;  “People Wanna Be Free” by the Rascals; A Medley of “Girl Groups” featuring songs from Diana Ross and the  Supremes, the Marvelettes and the Dixie Cups; “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye; The Beatles’ classic “Yesterday”; Neil Diamond’s evergreen “Sweet Caroline”; and a tribute medley of songs composed by the late, great Burt Bacharach, who just died this past year. 

There are about ten other titles, including songs from 1960s stage (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and screen (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), and  a mashup of the decade’s most popular dance songs. 

In addition to entertaining many residents of area retirement communities and assisted living homes, local churches, and various senior groups, the Pops Chorus offers public performances twice a year, in the spring and during the holiday season. 

Kevin Mundy is the group’s music director, and Robert Rocco is the associate director and accompanist. For more information, see us on Facebook at WS Pops Chorus or email wspopschorus@gmail.com.