Pop-Up Practices Net Local Grant

ORLEANS – In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Frank Poranski would occasionally find himself sitting outside of Parish Park “as a way to get out of the house.”

 One day he struck up a conversation with JoAnna Keeley, then chair of the Orleans Cultural District. She told him about Tom Leidenfrost, an employee of the Orleans Whole Foods Store next to the park, who would often play accordion outside the store on his break.

 “He’s a very good accordionist, and he would draw a crowd,” Poranski said. “And she said, ‘wouldn’t it be interesting if we could get different musicians to come here?’”

 The idea gave birth to Pop-up Practices, a weekly series inviting local musicians to perform in the park on Saturday afternoons. The practices, held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., are scheduled from April to July, and in the fall starting the first Saturday after Labor Day up to Thanksgiving.

 The district is now in its sixth season staging the practices, said Poranski, a local musician who books acts to perform for the series.

 “It was surprising,” he said of how the practices have endured. “I didn’t really expect to keep going with it, but it’s so much fun and I enjoy it so much that it became, ‘let’s keep it going.’ And the audience just loves it.”

 A recent grant from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod will help ensure the practices continue this fall. Bonny Campbell-Runyon, who chairs the cultural district, said the $3,500 will be used to pay the series’ performers.

 Campbell-Runyon said given the “precarious” state of grant and other funding for arts programming, the district is grateful for the support from the foundation.

 “Now we have this wonderful ability to not cut back on the Pop-Up Practices and do the full program like we usually do, which is really fabulous,” she said.

 Poranski said it initially took some time to develop a steady roster of performers to fill out the series’ schedule. Today, however, the practices welcome everyone from singer/songwriters to bands, spoken word performers and everything in between. The performances lean into the idea of a “practice” more than a traditional concert, he said.

 “We sort of like people to practice and try things that they maybe haven’t tried, and talk to people about their process. That’s what we kind of look for.”

 In a press release, the cultural district said the practices continue to grow in popularity, attracting between 75 to 100 people a week on average. Poranski said for some, the pop-up is the highlight of their week.

 “People see each other week after week,” Campbell-Runyon said. “It’s like a community of people who support this wonderful thing. I love it.”

 The practices are equally popular among local performers, according to Poranski, who said the daytime series offers musicians an additional forum for playing in addition to the local bar scene.

 “It’s a listening audience,” he said of the people who come out to the practices. “So many of our musicians are used to playing in bars to drunk or indifferent people. But people listen. It’s an attentive audience, and people love it.”

 The fall series kicks off Sept. 6 at Parish Park.