By Ted AYALA

Marvin Hamlisch, renowned composer and winner of three Oscars, will be conducting a program of his own music with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra on Saturday. Included in the program will be selections from the Broadway show “A Chorus Line,” the film “The Sting” (for which Hamlisch provided witty arrangements of Scott Joplin ragtime tunes) and his song “The Way We Were.”

Hamlisch, who also serves as principal pops conductor for a number of orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D. C. and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, is currently in his first season as principal conductor of the Pasadena Pops.

The program will also include an unusual segment dubbed “Rent A Composer” where Hamlisch will improvise a new song based on a title of the audience’s devising.

Joining the concert will be tenor J. Mark McVey who has won glowing praise for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in the show “Les Miserables.”

Saturday’s concert will be held on the lawn adjacent to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl (Area H). Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnic foods and beverages or they can also enjoy dining options catered by California Pizza Kitchen and Marston’s, among other restaurants.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m.; concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $90 for adults; $10 for children 14 years of age and younger. Parking is available on-site and is free.

For more information about the concert, contact the Pasadena Pops Orchestra at (626) 793-7172 or visit them online at www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org.

  POPS PASADENA, Ted Ayala