“The POPs” together with Manatee Concert Band will perform a special “Encore”concert (one performance only) Sunday, April 12 at 3:00 PM at Neel Performing Arts Center in  Bradenton. This “Salute to Leroy Anderson,”America’s most beloved pops music composer, will combine talents of two dynamic local orchestral ensembles: "the POPs" under the direction of Dr. Robyn L. Bell, and Manatee Concert Band led by Randy T. Gilmore, who also serves on the Pops’ Board of Directors. The thrilling program features some of Anderson’s greatest hits, including The Typewriter, Plink-Plank-Plunk, Bugler’s Holiday, The Waltzing Cat, The Syncopated Clock, Blue Tango, Trumpeter’s Lullaby, Blue Bells of Scotland, and much more. Recently re-branded, “the POPs” is a true Community organization in both participant and audience appeal. Founded in 1975 as the Sarasota Community Orchestra, the ensemble grew from five to thirty-five musicians in just one year. Formerly called Sarasota Pops Orchestra, it is now in its 39th year of music making on Florida’s West Coast; the Pops now consists of more than sixty of the community’s finest music professionals and non-professionals of all ages. Offering “Music You Love/ Musicians You Know”, a unique identity, the group’s mission is to enhance knowledge, appreciation, and enjoyment of music through varied programming and low-ticket prices.