By:Susan Lin
A driver tried to weave past the cars looking for parking at Greis Park in Lynbrook on a recent Friday. The lot at the small park was full, so latecomers were left to loll around the nearby streets. "What the heck is going on here?" the driver said, stopped yet again behind congestion.
He didn't know the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra would be performing at the park. A sizable crowd did, though, evidenced by the 250 visitors toting their own lawn chairs. And you can see for yourself what it is that draws a crowd, when the Nassau Pops performs Sunday afternoon at Malverne Station Park.
The Nassau Pops makes no claims to trendiness: The members wear turquoise sashes or bow ties over neat white shirts, rather than skin- or tattoo-exposing outfits. And they play violins, trombones, and even triangles, instead of electric guitars and bass.
Audience members are equally neighborly. No teenagers are in sight. Almost half are seniors and the rest are older adults and a few toddlers, most of them sitting relaxed in a colorful array of lawn chairs.
The Nassau Pops seems to simply enjoy doing what it does, play music, and the attendees, who pick up on that, enjoy listening to the musicians.
That's all not to say that the Nassau Pops lacks flair. The orchestra begins it performances with the singing of the national anthem, like at baseball games and school assemblies. And, when performing a piece by 19th-century Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini, the orchestra builds to a long and terrifying crescendo, which is nice.
What's also unique about the Nassau Pops is its selection of music: "We're the only orchestra on Long Island that plays popular music and light classical all the time. We have a unique niche," said Louis Panacciulli, conductor and a co-founder of the Pops.
At the Malverne performance this weekend, for example, the Nassau Pops will play a medley of seven songs from the musical "Grease," "Eye in the Tiger" from the movie "Rocky III," and "The Pink Panther" and "Moon River" by Henri Mancini. The only classical piece for the afternoon is Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Procession of the Nobles."
Additionally, singer Jack Cassin will perform Frank Sinatra's "All the Way" and "Young at Heart," and Ann Cassin will sing a Linda Ronstadt remake of a '30s tune called "What's New."
"The other orchestras are devoted to symphonic works, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky. We do Broadway, movies and television," Panacciulli said.
The conductor believes the orchestra's unique perspective is one reason it has grown in popularity. Since its inception in 1984, Panacciulli said, the orchestra has almost doubled in size. "We went from having 35 to 40 pieces, and now we have a full orchestra" of 70 members, he said.
The board of the Nassau Pops has similarly expanded. In 1984, it was Panacciulli and friend Dawn Simmons Manuel, who is president and managing director of the orchestra. Today, there are nine members of the board of directors for the Nassau Pops.
Panacciulli and Manuel met while performing in pit orchestras of locally produced musicals. "Every time we finished a show up, we thought 'Gee, wouldn't it be nice if we had an orchestra that could do this all the time?' And it went from conversation over a cup of coffee at a diner to 'Let's see if we can get this together.'"
Today, along with running the Nassau Pops, Panacciulli is the band director at Nassau Community College, and Manuel is the director of physical therapy at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn.
But home to Panacciulli is working with the Nassau Pops. As a school-band director, his musicians come and go, when they graduate and move on.
"You don't have that connection," he said. "It's more special when you are working with some musicians [on the Nassau Pops] who have been with you since it started. Eighteen years is a long time. It's like watching your own child grow."
At a Glance
The Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra
3 p.m. Sunday, July 29
Free
Malverne Station Park, Hempstead Ave., Malverne
For additional info, call (516) 565-0646
