Who better to lead the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, than someone who had the power and the authority to interpret and enforce the rights and freedoms embodied in that song?
That person is retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. So, that is what she did Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28, to open the Prescott POPS Symphony Orchestra concert.
It was a sold-out house at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center. When Justice O’Connor stopped the orchestra with her baton, the applause started – a standing ovation for the 84-year-old Phoenix resident.
Why was O’Connor in Prescott?
Jim Howard, president of the POPS board of directors, explained it this way:
“We in Prescott want to honor you and your contributions to our beloved community, state and United States by presenting a $1,000 scholarship in your name. It goes to a student we are very proud of, Jessica Jellison, who plays the viola in the orchestra.”
He continued, “Jessica exemplifies the special drive and tenacity and dedication that Justice O’Connor has manifested in her service to our county. Jessica will graduate and be attending college in Maine.”
O’Connor gave Jellison an envelope containing the scholarship, and once again, received a standing ovation.
Later, at intermission, Howard and Paul Manz, founder of and director for the Prescott POPS handed O’Connor an elegant plaque inscribed with these words: “Presented to the Honorable Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for her faithful service to the United States of America on this 28th day of September 2014 by the Prescott POPS Symphony and the Board of Directors.”
The estimated 1,100-person audience – and the orchestra – stood and applauded her a third time.
O’Connor later told the Quad Cities Business News that she was delighted to be back in Prescott. She said that she and her late husband had owned a cabin in the Prescott area.
“We relished visiting and relaxing in this wonderful community,” she said.
O’Connor, who grew up on a cattle ranch in Duncan, earned her law degree at Stanford University. She served as an assistant attorney general in Arizona from 1965 -1969. She was appointed to the Arizona Senate in 1969 and re-elected two terms.
In 1980, President Ronald Reagan nominated O’Connor to the Supreme Court. In September 1981, she became the first woman ever to serve on the highest court in the nation.
She retired after 25 years of service in 2006.
Concert Had Other Special Moments
In addition to the scholarship given in Justice O’Connor’s name, the POPS board presented another $1,000 scholarship to Stephanie Worstein, who had played the violin with the orchestra until she enrolled this fall at Northern Arizona University.
That scholarship was presented in memory of longtime POPS supporter Earle Risdon, who died this past summer. Howard acknowledged Risdon’s widow, Jean, who was in the audience.
Another special moment occurred when Erin Johnson, a bassoonist with the POPS, was asked to sing the song, which won her the title of “2014 Prescott Idol Champion.”
When she completed singing the Leonard Cohen song, “Hallelujah,” the mid-school guitar and vocal music teacher received a standing ovation.
Then, there was the concert itself.
Themed as “Gershwin and More,” the concert featured music ranging from selected George Gershwin pieces to Richard Wagner’s “Overture to Rienzi” to Vaughn Williams’s “English Folk Song Suite.”
Soloists were Christina Cuda-Robertson, who performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and Arlene Hardy and Michael Nache, vocal soloists who sang selections from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”
New Directions Ahead for the POPS
During intermission, board chair Howard announced that Paul Manz would be leaving Prescott. Manz, who founded the orchestra 22 years ago, will be moving this spring to Greensboro, North Carolina, where his wife, Sheryl, has accepted a job as director of operations for Davidson’s Inc. Sheryl plays violin for the POPS.
“All of us in the Quad Cities area offer our most sincere congratulations to Paul and Sheryl. We still have them for the rest of this season. Paul also will be coming back for many guest appearances,” Howard said.
Manz will retain the title “director emeritus.”
Future POPS concerts are scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 14 – “Jingle all the way;” and Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015 – “Love Letters from Hollywood.”
Both concerts will be at 3 p.m. at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center. QCBN
By Ray Newton
Quad Cities Business News
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