Top of the pops

She long ago gave up on her dream of becoming a concert pianist. Now, Lilly Schwartz books all the non-classical events at Orchestra Hall -- from pops concerts, to dancer Savion Glover, to next weekend's Day of Music.

A Florida native with a master's degree in ethnomusicology, Schwartz spent much of her professional life in Philadelphia, escaped to the Virgin Islands and then moved to Minnesota in August 2006 to become director of pops and special projects. Before a recent rehearsal for her newly established jazz series, she talked about her dream booking, bumping heads with Elvis Costello and why next weekend's Day of Music is not 24 consecutive hours.

On catering to music stars

"We don't do limos," Schwartz said. But she tries to make artists feel at home -- whether it means cooking Doc Severinsen's favorite dish at her house or taking opera diva Kathleen Battle to the Dakota for dinner and jazz.

Last year, Schwartz had a difficult encounter with mercurial rock god Elvis Costello, who was playing two nights with the Minnesota Orchestra. When they met, he "went wild on me," she recalled, because ticket sales were less than boffo, and there was miscommunication about sheet music. At the intermission of the rehearsal, Schwartz apologized to him.

"He said, 'No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait. Can we start over? Hi, my name is Elvis Costello, and you have a really fabulous orchestra.'" After the show, Schwartz and Costello went out for sushi.

On her dream booking

On putting together her first jazz series

"It was not exactly welcomed right away because [staff] people were nervous about it. We did three test concerts, starting last summer." This year, there are three events presented as a series. Now that Schwartz has landed a series sponsor for next season, she will hire an artistic director to curate the entire program.

On competing with other promoters and venues

"I have a different philosophy about competition. I think competition is healthy. The more you have in a marketplace, the smarter your audience gets."

On her mission

On why the Day of Music is not 24 consecutive hours for the first time

"Nobody's really out at 3 in the morning," Schwartz said. Plus, three hours on Saturday morning was not enough family time. "So this year we're extending it till 3 o'clock and we've added kids' bands and this Mexican group from St. Paul that's going to do dances."

On the future of the Day of Music

Since there have been major changes at Macy's, the longtime titular sponsor of Day of Music, there have been concerns about the festival's future. "If Macy's doesn't want to do it," Schwartz says, "we have others [sponsors] interested. It will continue."