Popular Tucson concert series to go silent for only second time in 70-plus years

For only the second time in its 71-year history, Tucson Pops Orchestra is canceling its “Music Under the Stars” free concert series at DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center.

This comes a year after the orchestra had to present a truncated concert series last fall due to construction at the park. The ensemble performed just one concert in October instead of three in September.

Tucson Pops, which started its series in 1955, had to cancel its concerts in spring 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the cancellation is courtesy construction crews renovating the orchestra’s longtime Reid Park home.

Work is expected to begin this month on the city’s $2.5 million renovation of DeMeester, which will include upgrading the sound and projection systems, installing a wrought iron fence around the lawn to define the seating area, installing new seats and upgrading the amphitheater bandshell, according to plans posted on the city’s Parks and Recreation website.

“Most, if not all, of the money that's being spent on the renovation is to better the patron experience,” said Dodge, who has led the Tucson Pops Orchestra since spring 2022. “From the sound system to the lights to the seating area, to the area being fenced in. And you wouldn't think that that would make a huge difference, but it actually does. It gives you a space to know who your audience is … and where we need to push the sound of the speakers.”

DeMeester is among a handful of renovations and upgrades included for Reid Park in the 2018 voter-approved “Tucson Delivers” initiative, a $225 million bond package to renovate and improve city parks and pedestrian connections.

The city set aside nearly $5.3 million for projects at Reid Park, including adding shade to playgrounds, renovating ramadas, adding a splash pad and renovating the surface of the Arroyo Chico Greenway’s Si Shorr Segment walking path.

Work was spread over three phases that began in 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2028.

DeMeester has been home to the Pops and its fans, historically numbering in the thousands for its spring and fall “Music Under the Stars” concert series, since 1964, when the bandshell was created. A decade later, the city built the performance center, with a stage that can accommodate 50 musicians.

In 1987, the city christened it the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center in honor of the Pops founding conductor Georges DeMeester.

Dodge said Tucson Pops, comprised of moonlighting University of Arizona music professors and Tucson Symphony Orchestra musicians, will return to DeMeester at 900 S. Randolph Way next spring for the grand reopening.