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 Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series at Carnegie Hall, enjoying one of its highest subscription renewal rates. 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 at its summer home, Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.

The New York Pops celebrates the diversity of popular music’s evolving songbook. Every concert is a unique experience, with influences that range from Broadway melodies to film scores, jazz, rock, pop, and more. The orchestra collaborates with stars from the stage and screen who include Sara Bareilles, Montego Glover, James Monroe Iglehart, Capathia Jenkins, Carly Rae Jepsen, Angela Lansbury, Queen Latifah, Cyndi Lauper, Kelli O’Hara, Adrienne Warren, Miss Piggy, and others.

The New York Pops is dedicated to lifelong learning and collaborates 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. PopsEd makes music open to all and uses tools like composition, lyric writing, performance, and mentorship to foster learning and unbridled creativity.

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 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), Instagram (@thenewyorkpops), and Twitter (@thenewyorkpops).

Steven Reineke has established himself as one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music. In addition to serving as music director and conductor of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Mr. Reineke 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.

Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and his extensive North American conducting appearances include performances with the orchestras of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Edmonton, San Francisco, and Sarasota. 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, 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 performing 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 across North America. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swans 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, 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.

Laura Michelle Kelly is an Olivier Award–winning actress for her starmaking performance as the title role in the world-premiere stage production of Disney’s Mary Poppins. Her Broadway and New York credits include the Encores! production of Me and My Girl and Finding Neverland (which premiered at American Repertory Theater and earned Ms. Kelly a 2015 Elliott Award nomination), as well as revivals of Mary Poppins and Fiddler on the Roof. West End credits include My Fair Lady, Speed-the-Plow, Lord of the Rings: The Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Whistle Down the Wind, Peter Pan, Les Misérables, and Mamma Mia!. US regional credits include the national tour of Lincoln Center’s revival of The King and I, Austen’s Pride, Cabaret, and, for The MUNY (St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre), Matilda, The King and I, and South Pacific. Ms. Kelly’s film credits include Lucy / Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, directed by Tim Burton, and Goddess (2012 Cannes Film Festival). Her album credits include The Storm Inside (2006), and she has been the recipient of the Voice of Musical Theatre award. She has made numerous radio, television, and concert appearances at venues that include Royal Albert Hall, Hampton Court Palace, the Royal Opera House, Millennium Stadium, and Buckingham Palace; in addition, she performed for President Obama at a 4th of July celebration and for a televised event titled Broadway at the White House. Visit lauramichellekelly.net for more information.

Max von Essen is a Tony Award–nominated singer and actor best known for his role as Henri Baurel in the award-winning production of An American in Paris on Broadway. He recently finished a yearlong run as Gleb Vaganov in the Broadway production of Anastasia, and toured the US as Marvin in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Evita, revivals of Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar, Dance of the Vampires, and the closing company of the original Les Misérables. Additional New York credits include Yours Unfaithfully for Mint Theater Company, Death Takes a Holiday for Roundabout Theatre Company, Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall, Hello Again (Drama League Award nomination) for the Transport Group, Finian’s Rainbow for Irish Repertory Theatre, The Fantasticks at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, and many others. Touring productions include Xanadu, Chicago, and West Side Story. Concert appearances include the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and a recent sold-out solo run at the famed Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. Recordings include An American in Paris (which earned a Grammy nomination), Evita, Death Takes a Holiday, Finian’s Rainbow, Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway by the Year: 1928, Broadway Unplugged, and his debut solo album, Call Me Old Fashioned: The Broadway Standard, which is now available on iTunes.

Judith Clurman’s Essential Voices USA (EVUSA) is one of New York’s preeminent choral ensembles. The ensemble comprises a talented roster of seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers. It appears regularly with The New York Pops in its series at Carnegie Hall, and performed on NBC’s 2014 broadcast of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting. EVUSA participated in President Obama’s inaugural activities in 2013, and held a monthlong residency at National Public Radio. The group has premiered works by composers such as Milton Babbitt, Jason Robert Brown, Jennifer Higdon, Nico Muhly, Stephen Schwartz, and Howard Shore. EVUSA’s music director, Judith Clurman, is an Emmy- and Grammy-nominated conductor and educator. She has served as director of choral activities at The Juilliard School, and has taught at the Curtis Institute and Cambridge, Harvard, and Princeton universities. She is currently a member of the musical theater faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Her arrangements and compositions have been performed by The New York Pops, Houston Symphony, and Detroit, Boston, Toronto, and National symphony orchestras. Her choruses have been heard for 24 years at Carnegie Hall with orchestras that include the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The New York Pops, the Juilliard Orchestra Union, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.