50 years ago, the Boston Pops started a holiday tradition

On a frosty December evening in 1973, the Boston Pops orchestra was midway through a spirited performance of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Out in the audience, a white-bearded man in a bright red suit with a red bag slung over his shoulder walked past rows of Symphony Hall concertgoers. As he made his way down the aisles, he stopped to shake hands with adults and hug excited children before stepping onto the stage to join conductor Arthur Fiedler.

“Today, I have a special gift for you,” he said to Fiedler in a booming voice. “Something of my own.”

The man reached into his bag and dramatically pulled out a red hat akin to the one perched on his head. The crowd erupted into an uproarious cheer.

This was the scene at the first-ever Holiday Pops concert series 50 years ago. Since then, Santa Claus has regularly made his way down from the North Pole for this cherished holiday show.

Holiday Pops was first introduced on December 21, 1973 under the name “A Pops Christmas Party” and later, in 1985, “Christmas at Pops.” The series became known as “Holiday Pops” in 1995 to acknowledge the different ways people celebrate during the season.

Double bassist Larry Wolfe has witnessed the holiday concert series in all its versions. Wolfe, who joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra when he was 21 in 1970 — the youngest member at the time — started playing music in elementary school when a teacher handed him a trombone. After undergoing some minor surgeries, Wolfe could no longer play trombone and eventually found his way to bass

“I just played to play because I loved to play,” the Hingham native said, remembering his introduction to classical music. “I was not pressured into lessons; music chose me as much as I chose it.”

Now, decades later, Wolfe is in his 53rd season with the BSO and will soon play Holiday Pops for the 49th time. There was no Holiday Pops performance in 1974, according to BSO archivist Sarah Funke Donovan. Instead, the Boston Pops chose to put on a special New Year’s Eve show with the BSO.

Wolfe has performed and heard hundreds of holiday songs over the years, but two tunes stay with him: Handel’s “Messiah,” the dramatic piece that kicks off with an explosive “Hallelujah!,” and Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” which was commissioned for the BSO by Fiedler.

“Just in three minutes of music, it just gives you a sense of place and time — of warmth,” Wolfe said of Anderson’s classic, “and I never cease to enjoy it.”

Every year, Symphony Hall sees hundreds of concerts, but Wolfe said there is something especially magical about the half-a-century-old tradition of the December shows.

“When we play Holiday Pops, it's the joy of the season,” he said. “During symphony, it’s music for art's sake. Holiday Pops is music for joy's sake.”

In the early years of Holiday Pops, Wolfe observed that the December concert series attracted a different audience.

“The first thing that I became aware of when we were playing Christmas and holiday concerts was that parents would bring their children,” Wolfe recalled. “And I'd look out in the hall and there would be mom, dad, child, child. ‘Oh, twins!’”

Footage of the 1973 concert shows dozens of smartly dressed children sitting patiently next to their adult guardians.

“For many families, attending Holiday Pops together is a much anticipated and beloved annual ritual,” reads a 2010 brochure printed for the 125th anniversary of the Boston Pops. “The ambiance of Symphony Hall is warmly enhanced by festive decorations and the program selections offer something for everyone.”

The concert series is a longstanding tradition and a “must” for Dennis Alves and his family. Alves is the director of artistic planning for the Boston Pops, but his connection to the orchestra and its holiday concerts holds a deeper meaning.

“Santa Claus is a personal friend of mine, of course, since I work here,” Alves said cheekily. “And, of course, many people may or may not know this, but the real Santa actually comes to Symphony Hall; not like the mall Santas and all that.”

When his children were young and sitting in the concert hall during Holiday Pops performances, Alves would instruct Santa Claus to greet the children by name as he walked between rows. After the show, Alves’ children would excitedly run up to him, saying “Dad, Santa Claus knew my name,’” he recalled. “And I said, ‘Of course he does. He’s got a list!’”

Patrick Alves, Alves’ son and an associate front-of-house supervisor for the BSO, said he has continued his father’s practice.

“I often find myself doing the same thing when I see certain either friends of mine, little kids that I know, or kids that look super excited to be there,” Patrick Alves said. “I will tell Santa on his way in, like, ‘Be on the lookout for that kid on the third table on your left.’”

After all these years of attending the Holiday Pops, Dennis Alves said he still gets “kind of choked up” during the singalongs, an integral part of the holiday programming.

“Just to sing those great songs and to sing it along with 2,000 of your closest friends — there's nothing like it,” he said. “Holiday Pops is a wonderful experience.”

Holiday Pops is steeped in tradition. Every year, the bass section twirls their instruments on cue; every year, the orchestra uses wooden sticks to mimic the whip snap in “Sleigh Ride”; and every year, a special guest narrates a holiday story such as Clement Clarke Moore’s “'Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Narrators have included big names such as Ben Affleck and Charles Osgood.

This year, the concert series will feature several narrators, including Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant Ryan Pitts, who will be on stage on opening night. Well-known Bostonians and media personalities will also make appearances throughout December.

Since that first holiday concert 50 years ago, the tradition has also evolved in meaningful ways. In addition to the inclusive name change, which came with a diversification of programming, Dennis Alves said Holiday Pops now offers a sensory-friendly concert with quieter music and fewer lighting changes, and a Kids’ Matinee that is shorter in length.

Holiday Pops has also grown in scope. Compared to the just three concerts the orchestra put on in 1973, this year, those looking to celebrate the holidays with lively music at Symphony Hall will have a whopping 39 concerts to choose from.

“The fact that it's been 50 years is proof that people want it every year … I know lots of people that they would not let a holiday season go by without coming to Holiday Pops,” Alves said. “It's hard for me to believe that it won't go for at least another 50 years.”

The 2023 Holiday Pops concert series runs Dec.1-24 at Symphony Hall.