Carnegie Hall

The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City that specializes in popular music. Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, The New York Pops continues to re-imagine orchestral pops music. The orchestra performs annually at Carnegie Hall and at Forest Hills Stadium, a historic, 14,000-seat concert venue in Queens, New York. Through its PopsEd music education programs, The New York Pops fulfills its dedication to lifelong learning by collaborating with public schools, community organizations, and senior centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. PopsEd allows thousands of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds to participate in fully customizable music programs that blend traditional education with pure fun, both in the classroom and through remote learning. Follow The New York Pops on Facebook (facebook.com/thenewyorkpops), Instagram (@thenewyorkpops), and Twitter (@thenewyorkpops).

Steven Reineke has established himself as one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music, and is in his second decade as music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is principal pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and principal pops conductor of the Houston Symphony and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

On stage, Mr. Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, Broadway, television, and rock, including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, he was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, leading the National Symphony Orchestra in a performance of live music excerpts between news segments—a first in the show’s 45-year history. In 2018, Mr. Reineke led the National Symphony Orchestra with hip-hop legend Nas, performing his seminal album Illmatic on PBS’s Great Performances.

As the creator of more than 100 orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Mr. Reineke’s work has been performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently in North America, including by the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics. His
Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were debuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops orchestras. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C. L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands worldwide.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Reineke is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (2020 Alumnus Distinguished Achievement Medal), where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City with his husband, Eric Gabbard.

Tony DeSare performs with infectious joy, wry playfulness, and robust musicality. Named a Rising Star Male Vocalist in DownBeat magazine, Mr. DeSare has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout North America and abroad. From jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall to Las Vegas, headlining with Don Rickles and major symphony orchestras, Mr. DeSare has brought his fresh take on old-school classics to audiences around the globe. He has four Billboard top-10 jazz albums under his belt, and has been featured on CBS’s The Early Show, NPR, A Prairie Home Companion, and The Today Show. His music has been posted by social media celebrity George Takei, and he has collaborated with YouTube icons Postmodern Jukebox. Mr. DeSare’s most recent release, Lush Life, debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Chart.

In addition to his critically acclaimed turns as a singer-pianist, Mr. DeSare is also an award-winning composer. He won first place in the USA Songwriting Contest, has written theme songs for the motion picture My Date with Drew as well as several broadcast commercials, and composed the full soundtracks for the Hallmark Channel’s Love Always and Santa, and Lifetime’s Nanny Nightmare and A Welcome Home Christmas. Mr. DeSare’s sound is swinging and sensual, but what sets him apart is his ability to write original material that sounds fresh and contemporary, yet pays homage to the Great American Songbook. His compositions include a wide range of romantic, funny, and soulful sounds that can be found on his top-selling recordings.

Mr. DeSare’s forthcoming appearances include performances with the Detroit, Baltimore, and Toronto symphony orchestras; the Seattle and Kansas City symphonies; and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Mr. DeSare releases new recordings, videos of standards, and new originals regularly on his YouTube channel, iTunes, and Spotify. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe on YouTube to stay connected. Tony DeSare is a Yamaha Artist.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, singer-actor Capathia Jenkins most recently released the critically acclaimed CD Phenomenal Woman: The Maya Angelou Songs with her collaborator Louis Rosen. She starred as Medda in the hit Disney production of Newsies on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in The Civil War and, in 2000, starred in the Off-Broadway revival of Godspell. She returned to Broadway in The Look of Love, and created the roles of the Washing Machine in Caroline, or Change, and Frieda May in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, in which she brought the house down every night singing “Stop the Show.” In 2007, she starred in the Off-Broadway play (mis)Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She was also seen in Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

An active concert artist, Ms. Jenkins has appeared with numerous orchestras around the world, including the Cleveland, Minnesota, and Cincinnati Pops orchestras; the Houston, Seattle, San Diego, and Utah symphonies; the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Toronto, and National symphony orchestras; The Philly Pops; and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. She has been a frequent soloist at the Český Krumlov festival in the Czech Republic, and had the great honor of performing in the Broadway Ambassadors to Cuba concert as part of the Festival de Teatro de la Habana. She has appeared at Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops and also sang in a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch at the Library of Congress. Upcoming highlights include a series of holiday concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra.

Ms. Jenkins’s television credits include 30 Rock, The Practice, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and The Sopranos. She can be seen in the film Musical Chairs, directed by Susan Seidelman; appeared in The Wiz Live! on NBC; and can be heard on the soundtracks for Nine, Chicago, and Legally Blonde 2. She is a founding member of Black Theatre United. Visit capathiajenkins.com for more information.

Christopher Riddle is a bass trombonist and the music director and conductor of the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He is the son of composer-arranger Nelson Riddle. At the age of 19, he began performing bass trombone in his father’s orchestra, a role he held for 20 years. He started working as a studio musician in Los Angeles in 1969, performing on recordings for his father and other prominent film composers. After Nelson Riddle passed away in 1985, Christopher assumed conducting duties for the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, keeping the legacy of his father’s iconic music and its distinctive sound alive and performing concerts around the globe.