The Boston Pops is a world-class orchestra playing “non-high Art music” in one of the most prestigious concert venues in the world: Symphony Hall in Boston. The first in its genre, with an impressive array of best-selling recordings, tours, and nation-wide radio and TV broadcasts, the Boston Pops has always been at the forefront of American music and has, over the years, achieved huge popularity. In 1980, famed Hollywood composer John Williams was named to succeed the late Fiedler. While several film composers had conducted film music concerts before, this was the very first case of a Hollywood composer appointed leader of such an important musical institution. During his fourteen-year tenure, Williams seized the opportunity to erode the “iron curtain” that segregated “applied” film music from “absolute” concert music.