Pops Concert 2012 - Bennett & Ol' Blue Eyes

Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett are icons of American popular music. At the end of World War II, and the big band era, they ushered in a new crooning style that had music lovers hooked. This season’s Pops concert will revisit many of your favorites from these Rat Pack leaders. From “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Luck Be a Lady” to “A Foggy Day in London Town” and “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”, let us transport you to the glory days of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s with some of the most beloved music of the 20th century.

Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra are both famous for singing popular and jazz songs. Both are children of Italian immigrants and both started singing at an early age. Born in 1915, Sinatra never finished high school and never learned to read music; nevertheless he became successful in the mid 1940’s and performed until shortly before his death in 1998. He won 11 Grammys for his recordings and was one of the most popular singers of his generation. He was also an actor in many films, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in From Here To Eternity. Tony Bennett, born a decade later in 1926, also did not finish high school, but he returned to study fine arts on the GI Bill after service in the last days of WW II. He became extremely popular as a singer in the 1950’s, winning 16 Grammys for his recordings. He also was a painter whose work was widely exhibited under his birth name of Antony Benedetto. Both men had periods of difficulty when it seemed that their careers were over, and both made dramatic comebacks in their later years. Tony Bennett is still active. In a remarkable tribute to his friend and mentor, Bennett and his wife, a former public school teacher, founded in 2001 a high school in New York City, The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.