Site Navigation

Pasadena Pops Art

Jam to the Pasadena Pops by Joe Chiappetta
Jam to the Pasadena Pops is rare digital art available on MakersPlace.

As an orchestra celebrating, preserving, and performing music from the Great American Songbook, a night with the Pasadena Pops is a night to remember! Thanks to my friend Jim Fenton, whose company, City National Bank is a sponsor, my wife and I had the true pleasure of seeing the Pasadena Pops deliver tunes that never failed to move the heart and bring a healthy dose of nostalgia and inspiration to all attendees. Held at the LA County Arboretum, the outdoors never sounded so passionately panoramic.

As an artist who loves to sketch from life, I have a long history of drawing performers while at various concerts. On-stage personalities become melodic models, ever in motion. Therefore I like to join in the fun by capturing that moment with more than a few artistic strokes of a digital paint brush.

In one of my drawings, Vocalist Tony Yazbeck is wow-ing the audience with song and dance. The performance is worthy of any classic, epic, and award-winning musical. In many of these musical numbers, one of the orchestra members appeared to be more visible than the rest, even though he was farther back. Perhaps he was standing or sitting on a stool. I could not tell. Only the top of his instrument was somewhat apparent to see. Yet the sounds were universally apparent to all. Once cannot help but immediately sense that the presence of greatness has been witnessed.

While I firmly believe that real life will always be better that any art I can create, my hope is that my music-inspired art makes you want to experience the good in life all the more. Certainly that's the attitude that the Pasadena Pops deliver non-stop... and they make it look easy. Yet we know it's not.

The Giant of Pasadena Pops by Joe Chiappetta
The Giant of Pasadena Pops is rare digital art available on MakersPlace.

On my end, such art was created largely by drawing somewhat synchronized to the beat of each song. In fact, while most may never notice, between brush strokes, if an observer would have looked carefully, they might have seen my digital stylus mimicking the movements of the musical conductor. Does such mini-conductor imitation make for better art? You be the judge.

Joe Chiappetta
http://SillyDaddy.net