Natalie Cole guest stars with Boston Pops
This year, the 11th Annual Boston Pops on Nantucket concert features special guest Natalie Cole and sees the return of conductor Keith Lockhart, conducting the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.

Natalie Cole

Tim Russert, managing editor and moderator of "Meet the Press" and political analyst for "NBC Nightly News" and "The Today Show," will again host the event.

Cole stops on Nantucket on the eve of releasing her newest album, "Leaving," on Sept. 26. Daughter of the late Nat King Cole, Natalie made her own, permanent fame with "Unforgettable: With Love," an album that reached no. 1 on the Billboard Album charts, won the Grammy Awards for Album Of The Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance and also scored Record Of The Year for the single "Unforgettable."

Synergy Brass Quintet will open the second act at the concert. The dynamic ensemble, comprised of five Boston residents, Bobby Thorp, trumpet, Jon Hurrell, horn, Chris O'Hara, trumpet, Bo Clifton, trombone and Adam Pijanowski, tuba, is considered to be one of the premier brass wind chamber music groups in the United States. The group is known as showmen as well as musicians, with over 300 performances planned in 2007, featuring jazz, pops, classical and modern music.

Macy Smith

Macy Smith, Nantucket Cottage Hospital's Medical Surgical Nurse Manager, will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Typically a guest performer is invited to sing the national anthem, and this is the first time in 11 years of concerts that a member of the Hospital staff will launch the show. Smith auditioned before a panel of local judges with varied musical backgrounds, including Gerry Mack, former Executive Director of the Nantucket Community Music Center.

A pediatric nurse who trained at St. Elizabeth's Nursing School in Boston and worked at Children's Hospital in Boston and Duke Medical Center in North Carolina, Smith originally came to the island from Cape Cod in 1991 for a nanny position. In 2002, she began working in Nantucket Cottage Hospital's Visiting Nurses' department before taking a position with the Hospital's med/surg nursing staff. Smith earned the status of Medical Surgical Nurse Manager this year and is responsible for supervising the med/surg nursing staff.

COURTESY NANTUCKET COTTAGE HOSPITAL Synergy Brass Quintet opens the show's second act.

Smith, who has always enjoyed singing and comes from a family of music professionals, has trained since high school, most recently with Laura Gallagher-Byrne on Nantucket. She is frequently invited to sing at weddings, funerals and graduations. Smith notes, "It's exciting to have this unique opportunity."

"Macy is a wonderful example of someone who is giving back to the community, in addition to her professional role of administering excellent medical attention," said Karen Palmer, Chairman of the Pops on Nantucket event.

Sponsored by Nantucket Island Resorts/Jill and Stephen Karp as a benefit for Nantucket Cottage Hospital, The Pops on Nantucket concert raises funds for the island's only hospital, enabling the purchase of cutting edge equipment while fostering state-of-the-art patient care.

General admission tickets, as well as special reserved seating and sponsorship opportunities, are currently available on the hospital's Web site, www.nantuckethospital.org. Tickets and Pops on Nantucket merchandise will be available for sale at the Hospital Living Room. Int own, tickets may be purchased at Aunt Leah's Fudge, Country Village Real Estate, Murray's Toggery Shop and Visitors Services. For more information about the concert, please call 825-8181, email crdcontact@ackhosp. org, or visit the Hospital's Web site, www.nantuckethospital.org. Individuals interested

in volunteering should call 228-2949. I