Peter Nero
described himself as"a good friend" of Vincent J. Fumo's.
SAVE AND SHARE
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Peter Nero says he's on Fumo character-witness list
Hardly a Philly Pops concert goes by without Peter Nero asking former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo - described by Nero as "the best friend the Philly Pops ever had" - to stand up in the audience and take a bow.
Contact music critic David Patrick Stearns at dstearns@phillynews.com.
But last month, in the midst of Fumo's trial on federal corruption charges, conductor/pianist Nero hesitated about making his customary here's-Vince announcement during the Holiday Pops series.
"You never know who's out there," Nero said in an interview yesterday. "I didn't want to embarrass him."
They talked. Fumo wasn't worried, so Nero announced him as usual.
"The reaction? Tremendous applause," he recalled with a satisfaction reflecting the decade-long relationship.
"I consider myself a good friend - but he has lots of good friends; it's not like we hang out together. I wish we could because I have so much respect for his mind."
Nero confirmed yesterday that his name appears on the list of prospective character witnesses in the trial that is examining the kind of largesse that Fumo long has directed toward pet projects - the Philly Pops among them.
The relationship began in 1997, when the Pops appealed to Fumo after the death of impresario and Pops founder Moe Septee left the organization in what Nero described as "dire straits." Fumo stepped in, arranging what became a continuing series of grants from various sources; one, for $750,000, was the eighth-largest 2004 grant made by the Fumo-formed Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund.
What impressed Nero most was the fact that Fumo also became a fan, attending nearly every one of its concerts and offering all manner of advice on how to ensure its future stability. The appeal may partly be about nostalgia. "I remember seeing Arthur Fiedler lead the [Boston] Pops when I was a kid," Fumo once explained.
Fumo regularly visits Nero backstage. Twice a year, they have lunch. He has supported individual projects, among them the Pops' Christmas album. In 2005, he championed, for efficiency's sake, the merging of administrative staffs of Philly Pops and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
"He had nothing to gain from it," said Nero.
The Pops has long enjoyed sold-out concerts, and has an annual operating budget of $4.4 million. How much of that comes, directly or indirectly, from Fumo-connected sources is open to question. Nero admits that in past years, "I didn't know where the funding came from. . . . But you can't do what he did without having a good heart."
Contact music critic David Patrick Stearns at dstearns@phillynews.com.
