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. Led by Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series at Carnegie Hall, and is among the venue’s most presented ensembles. Now in its 41st season, The New York Pops’ annual birthday gala is celebrated each spring, raising funds for the orchestra and its education programs. The New York Pops performs annually in Queens, New York, at Forest Hills Stadium, a 14,000-seat historic concert venue.

The New York Pops celebrates the diversity of popular music’s evolving songbook. Every concert is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with influences that range from Broadway melodies to film scores, jazz, rock, pop, and everything in between. Under Mr. Reineke’s dynamic leadership, The New York Pops continues to reimagine orchestral pops music.

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. The New York Pops is committed to serving all members of the community. Through its Kids in the Balcony and Kids in the Stadium programs, thousands of children and their parents have had an opportunity to see The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and Forest Hills Stadium free of charge.

The New York Pops was founded by Ruth and Skitch Henderson in 1983 with a mission to create greater public awareness and appreciation of America’s rich musical heritage through the presentation of concerts and education programs of the highest quality. The New York Pops is a nonprofit organization supported solely through the generosity of individual donations, institutional grants, corporate sponsorships, and concert income. Follow The New York Pops on Facebook (facebook.com/thenewyorkpops) and Instagram (@thenewyorkpops).

Steven Reineke is 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 Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit symphony orchestras; the San Francisco Symphony; and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

On stage, Mr. Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, Broadway, television, and rock, including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Kelli O’Hara, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, 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 hundreds of orchestral arrangements, Mr. Reineke’s work has been performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. 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.

Bryan Terrell Clark can currently be seen in Saint X on Hulu and the Disney+ musical film Sneakerella, and he also appears in the upcoming Diarra from Detroit on BET+. On Broadway, Mr. Clark originated the roles of Happiness in Thoughts of a Colored Man and Marvin Gaye in Motown the Musical (Grammy Award nomination), and appeared as George Washington in Hamilton. Other theater credits include Corey in Fences opposite Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett, and Immediate Family directed by Phylicia Rashad. Additional film and television credits include Collateral Beauty (Warner Bros.), Inventing Anna and When They See Us (Netflix), Snowpiercer (TNT and Netflix), Queen Sugar and Cherish the Day (OWN), Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC), The New Edition Story (BET), Empire (FOX), NCIS: New Orleans, and Blue Bloods (CBS), among others.

Mr. Clark is the recipient of the Icon Talks 2021 Visionary Award, Family Houston 2021 Pillar of Strength Award, Temple University’s 2019 Gallery of Success Award, and Rutgers University’s 2018 Voice for Social Justice Award. He is a graduate of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University and Temple University.

Singer and actress Valisia LeKae is thrilled to be making her Carnegie Hall debut with The New York Pops. She has appeared in Broadway productions that include The Threepenny Opera, 110 in the Shade, Ragtime, and The Book of Mormon. Her performance as Diana Ross in Motown the Musical garnered her a Theatre World Award as well as Grammy, Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations. She won a Joseph Jefferson Award and was nominated for a Black Theatre Alliance Award for her portrayal of Sarah in Ragtime at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago. Off-Broadway credits include LaVern Baker in Rock & Roll Man, Mom in Superhero (Audelco Award nomination), Almost Heaven: Songs and Stories of John Denver, and Lorraine Hansberry in Sweet Lorraine. In 2020, Ms. LeKae starred as Lorraine Hansberry in a virtual production of Scenes from Sweet Lorraine, a benefit for Stand Up To Cancer and the Equity in the Arts & Culture Committee of the Brooklyn NAACP.

Regional credits include Mark Twain’s River of Song; Oklahoma! (Laurey); Caroline, or Change (Emmie); Dreamgirls (Deena Jones); Godspell (Joanne); Big River (Alice’s daughter); and Little Shop of Horrors (Chiffon), for which she was nominated for a Kevin Kline Award.

Television credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FBI: Most Wanted, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Live From Lincoln Center (Camelot), and the 60th and 67th Annual Tony Awards. Ms. LeKae is an ovarian cancer survivor and has been honored by the NOCC, OCRA, and Look Good Feel Better; in addition, she has been a spokesperson for the NOCC and a keynote speaker for cancer organizations across the country. Her journey has been featured in Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Essence, Parade, USA Today, and The New York Times, and she has been honored by her alma mater, the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. Follow her on X and Instagram @valisialekae, or visit valisialekae.com for more information.