Boston Pops May Hold Concert In Norwood This Summer

NORWOOD, MA - Norwood will become an even more popular place this summer, as plans were announced last night for the world-renowned Boston Pops to play in town this summer as part of its yearlong 150th anniversary celebration.

Paul Eysie, a member of the Concert Committee, announced at a recent Board of Selectmen meeting that the committee is partnering with the Norwood 150 Committee to bring the orchestra to town for a special concert.

"We're talking about the real Pops - the Boston Pops," he said. "I know it's tentative and it's preliminary."

He also recognized Olga Abdallah, the sister of Selectman Helen Abdallah Donohue, who advocated for the town bandstand to be built more than three decades ago and worked to start a concert series that she one day thought could attract the Pops.

"More than 30 years ago, when the common was vacant and there was no bandstand, she pioneered to get that bandstand built," Eysie said. "And then after the bandstand was built, she got all her friends together and said, 'Let's start a concert program.'

"Every single year for the past 27 years, she's brought up, 'Let's bring the Pops to Norwood," he continued.

There are currently three concert series in Norwood: the winter concert series, the summer concert series, and the Carillon Concerts featuring music from the carillon perched on top of Town Hall. They were coordinated under the same umbrella by General Manager Tony Mazzucco a couple of years ago.

"We've been in touch with the Boston Pops, and they're going to be coming out in a couple of weeks," Mazzucco confirmed, adding that the sponsor wishes to remain anonymous. "It's just a matter of getting the logistics to work."

"To tie it in with the 150th anniversary of the town and to have some of the people still with us with that original idea, I think it's powerful," Eysie said. "It's going to be a big event, and Norwood will shine that afternoon."