DAV to mark Centennial Celebration with John Morris Russell Leading the Cincinnati Pops with Guest Artist Melinda Doolittle and the West Point Glee Club at Music Hall Sept. 28

ERLANGER, KY– DAV (Disabled American Veterans) will mark their Centennial Celebration with the Cincinnati Pops at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28, at Cincinnati Music Hall.

Led by Pops Conductor John Morris Russell, the performance will feature a dozen musical tributes telling the story and milestones of military history from World War I through modern service. The West Point Glee Club and “American Idol” star Melinda Doolittle will also perform with the orchestra.

This event will celebrate this special milestone in DAV’s history and honor the millions of brave men and women they have helped to live with respect and dignity after being injured while serving our country

Founded in Cincinnati in the aftermath of World War I, DAV has assisted veterans of all generations and their families in the ensuing century.

“When Judge Robert Marx and a handful of other World War I veterans founded DAV in 1920, they couldn’t have known the scope of its impact over the next century,” said Marc Burgess, CEO of DAV. “They couldn’t have imagined that the organization would go on to assist more than 1 million veterans and their families each year.

“We are deeply grateful for our friends at the Harold C. Schott Foundation, Diane J. and Robert A. McDonald Family Foundation, Chisholm, Chisholm, and Kilpatrick LTD, Crosby Marketing Communications, and Ford Motor Co. whose generous support helped to make this special event possible. We are also deeply appreciative of the Cincinnati Pops, West Point Glee Club and Melinda Doolittle for their performances in honor of DAV and the heroes we serve.”

Tickets are $28 and are now on sale at www.dav.org/pops and at the Music Hall box office, 1241 Elm St., in Over-the-Rhine.

 

About DAV
DAV empowers veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. It is dedicated to a single purpose: keeping our promise to America’s veterans. DAV does this by ensuring that veterans and their families can access the full range of benefits available to them, fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill, providing employment resources to veterans and their families, and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. DAV, a nonprofit organization with more than 1 million members, was founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932. Learn more at www.dav.org.

 

The Cincinnati Pops is led by John Morris Russell and presents a diverse array of musical styles, all bathed in the world-renowned “Cincinnati Sound.” The Pops was officially founded in 1977 by the late Erich Kunzel, and just since 1980, the Orchestra has sold ten million recordings around the globe. The growing list of celebrated artists who have collaborated with the Pops include Ella Fitzgerald, Frederica von Stade, Doc Severinsen, Henry Mancini, Aretha Franklin, Mel Tormé, Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Holliday, Vanessa Williams, Dave Brubeck, Audra McDonald, The Temptations, John Williams, Idina Menzel, Smokey Robinson, Rosemary Clooney, Mandy Patinkin, Arturo Sandoval, Peter Frampton, Boyz II Men, Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Rhiannon Giddens, Ben Folds, Rosanne Cash, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Pops tours nationally and internationally, most recently in Shanghai and Taiwan for acclaimed performances in March 2017 and Florida for Holiday season performances in December 2014. The Pops traveled to Beijing as part of the Opening Festivities of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and in 2005, completed a historical tour to China and Singapore performing in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Cincinnati Pops was the first U.S. Pops orchestra to perform in China, and also has appeared to enthusiastic audiences in New York’s Carnegie Hall, in Washington D.C., and Japan.

An estimated 30 million people have viewed national telecasts of the Cincinnati Pops on PBS, and the Orchestra has more than 100 available recordings, 55 of which have appeared on the Billboard charts, a record unmatched by any other orchestra. Their most recent recordings, under John Morris Russell, are Home for the Holidays, Superheroes!, Carnival of the Animals, American Originals, and its sequel, the Grammy-nominated American Originals: 1918. Five other Pops recordings had previously been nominated for Grammys, including Copland: Music of America, which won the award in 1997.