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 42nd 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 at Forest Hills Stadium, a 14,000-seat historic concert venue in Queens, New York.

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.

Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit symphony orchestras, and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

On stage, Mr. Reineke creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, Broadway, television, and rock, including Killer Mike, Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, and Ben Folds, among others.

As the creator of hundreds of orchestral arrangements, Mr. Reineke’s work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His wind ensemble compositions are published by the C. L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands perennially.

Jessica Vosk is a celebrated singer and actress known for electrifying roles on musical theater and concert stages. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in November 2021 in a sold-out solo show titled My Golden Age, and returned in 2022 to headline Get Happy: A Judy Garland Centennial Celebration. Highlights of Ms. Vosk’s 2024–2025 season include creating the fan-favorite role of Lute in the animated musical series Hazbin Hotel, creating the role of Cee Cee in the international premiere of the musical adaptation of Beaches, and returning to The Muny as Jenna in Waitress. She celebrated the Fourth of July with the San Francisco Symphony at the Stern Grove Festival, and debuted at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center with The No Name Pops and her program California Dreamin’: Jessica Vosk Sings Songs of the Laurel Canyon. She celebrates the holidays with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and The New York Pops in her return to Carnegie Hall. Ms. Vosk hosts Carnegie Hall’s podcast, If This Hall Could Talk. This fall, she released Sleigh, a full-length extension of her 2020 holiday EP A Very Coco Christmas, and returned to Broadway as Jersey in Alicia Keys’s Hell’s Kitchen.

Ms. Vosk is best known for her star turn as Elphaba in the musical Wicked, and her recent theatrical highlights include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Lincoln Center, The Muny), Chess (The Muny), Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter (Atlantic Theater Company), and Becoming Nancy (Alliance Theatre in Atlanta); in addition, she became the first singer to appear onstage with the New York City Ballet. Other Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, Finding Neverland, and The Bridges of Madison County. Additional credits include the San Francisco Symphony’s Grammy-nominated production of West Side Story and PBS’s Great Performances. Her solo albums Wild and Free (2018) and A Very Coco Christmas (2020) both debuted on the Billboard and iTunes charts, and are available to stream on all platforms.

Ms. Vosk had an unconventional journey to Broadway, beginning her career on Wall Street before taking a leap of faith to pursue her dreams on stage. Her one-of-a-kind story has been profiled on ABC’s 20/20 and NBC Nightly News. Visit jessicavosk.com for more information.

Judith Clurman’s Essential Voices USA (EVUSA) is one of New York’s preeminent choral ensembles. EVUSA boasts a talented roster of seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers, dynamically fitted to the unique needs of each project. EVUSA has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting, and the Washington National Cathedral, as well as on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and in collaborative programs with New York City public schools. In addition, it celebrated newly commissioned American music with The Composer Speaks series at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. During the 2024–2025 season, EVUSA releases the recording Holiday Joy, returns to Carnegie Hall, presents a sing-along of Handel’s Messiah, and records music by Stephen Sondheim. EVUSA’s recording Songs of Freedom: A Celebration of Chanukah will be heard as part of the holiday light show at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.

Conductor Judith Clurman is the musical director of Essential Voices USA and resident conductor of The Choral Society of the Hamptons; in addition, she teaches voice at the Manhattan School of Music and edits music for Hal Leonard. She has received two Emmy nominations, and conducted Tania León’s music on the Grammy- and Latin Grammy–nominated CD In Motion. Ms. Clurman was director of choral activities at The Juilliard School from 1989 to 2007, and the vocal specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts and Columbia University’s Institute of Classical Music. Her own music and arrangements have been performed by major symphony orchestras and choruses.