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Wolk energizes Hazleton Area in run to league title game

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Our View: Farewell Onyx, and thank you for your service

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;<em> &#8220;Imagine there&#8217;s no heaven. It&#8217;s easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living for today &#8230; nothing to kill or die for &#8230; living life in peace &#8230; no need for greed or hunger &#8230; Imagine all the people sharing all the world &#8230;&#8221;</em></p><p>You probably recognize those words from John Lennon&#8217;s &#8220;Imagine,&#8221; which Rolling Stone magazine described as &#8220;his greatest musical gift to the world&#8221; and ranked third in the 500 best songs of all time.</p><p>If you&#8217;re more than a casual fan, you probably know he wrote it in 1971, when the Beatles were no longer a foursome.</p><p>After they stopped performing together all four of the lads went on to solo careers, and their hits from 1970 through 1986 are on the set list for the Philharmonic Pops Concert, &#8220;Imagine: The Beatles Solo Years,&#8221; set for 8 p.m. Saturday at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts.</p><p>&#8220;We knew this was going to be a very popular show,&#8221; Philharmonic executive director Nancy Sanderson happily noted on Thursday. &#8220;The Beatles appeal to people of all ages.&#8221;</p><p>When you enter the Kirby, you may notice banners for Wilkes University, King&#8217;s College, Misericordia University and Luzerne County Community College, which are all serving as college sponsors of the concert.</p><p>&#8220;They have made a donation to the Philharmonic and in return we have provided ticket vouchers for the students,&#8221; Sanderson said, describing the win-win situation. &#8220;The response has been just great.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Back when I was a music major, it was a dark little secret if you liked The Beatles or The Grateful Dead. You weren&#8217;t supposed to listen to that,&#8221; she said, dropping her voice. &#8220;I listened anyway.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Now young musicians like all kinds of music,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The four guest artists who will present such songs as George Harrison&#8217;s &#8220;My Sweet Lord,&#8221; Paul McCartney&#8217;s &#8220;Maybe I&#8217;m Amazed&#8221; and Ringo Starr&#8217;s &#8220;Photograph&#8221; along with Lennon&#8217;s &#8220;Imagine&#8221; include Joe Boucher, Christopher Eastburn, Gary Backstrom and Steve Hodgkin.</p><p>&#8220;The same group came two years ago and did &#8216;The Piano Men,&#8217; the music of Billy Joel and Elton John and the audience went crazy,&#8221; Sanderson said. &#8220;They did it in the true style of Elton John and Billy Joel, so I think they&#8217;ll be very true to these artists, too.&#8221;</p><p>Philharmonic conductor Melisse Brunet grew up in France and didn&#8217;t experience Beatles music as a child, but said that once she heard it, she became a fan.</p><p>&#8220;I love their music,&#8221; she said in a telephone interview. &#8220;I&#8217;m not a specialist about the group but I love their music. It&#8217;s so vibrant, it&#8217;s so exciting and it&#8217;s so well done.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Concert set for Feb. 16 at F.M. Kirby Center for Performing Arts</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Imagine: The Beatles Solo Years</p><p><strong>Who:</strong> Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic Pops with guest artists	Joe Boucher, Christopher Eastburn, Gary Backstrom, Steve Hodgkin</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 8 p.m. Feb. 16</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $33 to $68</p><p><strong>Info: </strong>570-270-4444</p></factboxMeta></div>

Philharmonic Pops pay tribute to Beatles’ solo work