CARNEGIE HALL ANNOUNCES EXCITING NEW GUEST ARTIST LINE-UP FOR SPRING PERFORMANCES WITH THE NEW YORK POPS; Tony Yazbeck Joins Caissie Levy for Celebration of John Kander’s 90th Birthday on March 10; Tony Award Winner Jessie Mueller and Will Chase Perform Alongside Adrienne Warren in Tribute to Iconic Singer-Songwriters on April 21

The New York Pops and Mr. Reineke conclude their Carnegie Hall season on Friday, April 21 at 8:00 p.m., paying tribute to the music of iconic singers and songwriters like James Taylor and Carole King, in a program entitled You’ve Got a Friend: A Celebration of Singers and Songwriters. The program features Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller alongside Tony Award nominees Will Chase and Adrienne Warren. Previously announced guest artist Jonathan Groff must regrettably withdraw from this performance due to a scheduling conflict.

Additionally this season, The New York Pops performs three holiday concerts: Make the Season Bright on Friday, December 16 at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 17 at 8:00 p.m. and ’Twas the Night Before Christmas on Sunday, December 18 at 3:00 p.m.

About the Artist
Originally from Ontario, Canada, Caissie Levy has called Broadway home for the last decade. Most recently, she starred as Patti Davis and Julie Nixon in the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa’s First Daughter Suite at The Public Theater. She recreated the iconic role of Fantine in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables on Broadway, and is perhaps best known to New York and London audiences for originating the roles of Molly in Ghost The Musical, and Sheila in the 2009 Tony Award-winning revival of Hair. In concert, she was a guest soloist with The United States Military Academy at West Point, and has performed solo shows to sold-out audiences at Feinstein’s/54 Below, Joe’s Pub, Galapagos Arts Space, Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, and The Hippodrome in London. Recordings include the original cast albums of First Daughter Suite, Ghost The Musical, and Hair, as well as the albums of Scott Alan, Jonathan Reid Gealt, Drew Gasparini, Bobby Cronin, and her husband, composer/lyricist David Reiser. In 2013, Ms. Levy released her debut solo album, With You, featuring stripped down arrangements of songs from her Broadway shows.

Tony Yazbeck most recently starred in the Broadway production of Finding Neverland. He also starred in the Susan Stroman and Harold Prince helmed Prince of Broadway in Japan and the Broadway revival of On the Town, for which he won the coveted Astaire Award. He was also nominated for Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his virtuosic performance. Yazbeck’s other Broadway credits include: Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone (Tulsa; Outer Critics Circle nomination), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, Never Gonna Dance, and Gypsy with Tyne Daly. Off-Broadway, Yazbeck has starred in Fanny Hill (at the York). For City Center Encores!, Yazbeck has appeared in Little Me, On the Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Pardon My English. TV/Film credits include NBC’s Smash and the feature documentary Every Little Step. Tony also stars in his own song and dance show, The Floor Above Me, which was just released digitally and on CD by P.S. Classics.

Will Chase currently stars as Griffin Monroe on the ABC time travel drama Time After Time. Prior to that, he was best known as Luke Wheeler on the ABC drama Nashville. On stage he has most recently starred as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten on Broadway, and before that he had been featured as John Jasper in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony, Outer Critics nominations). Best known for his work on stage, he has starred on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It, Rent, Miss Saigon, The Full Monty, Aida, Lennon, High Fidelity, The Story of My Life, and Billy Elliot. Film credits include Butterflies of Bill Baker, Four Single Fathers, Shaft, and Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. Recordings include the original Broadway cast recordings of The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, High Fidelity, and The Story Of My Life; A Little Princess: Studio Cast Recording; Love On A Summer Afternoon: Songs of Sam Davis; This Ordinary Thursday: The Songs of Georgia Stitt; and Thirteen Stories Down: Songs of Jonathan Reid Gealt. He trained at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied conducting with Atlanta Symphony’s Robert Spano and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in percussion. Will has two daughters, Daisy and Gracie, and resides in New York City.

Jessie Mueller was recently nominated for a 2016 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her role as Jenna in Waitress. The talented actress won the 2014 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and a 2015 Grammy Award for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. She made her Broadway debut opposite Harry Connick Jr. in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she received Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations. She was also seen on Broadway in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Drama Desk nomination) and Nice Work If You Can Get It. She has also appeared in Carousel at the New York Philharmonic, and Into the Woods as Cinderella at the Delacorte Theater. In her native Chicago, Mueller has won acclaim for starring roles in She Loves Me (Joseph Jefferson Award), Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Curtains, and Carousel (Joseph Jefferson Award), among other musicals.

Adrienne Warren was most recently seen in the Broadway production of Shuffle Along as Gertrude Saunders/Florence Mills, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She originated the role of Danielle in the Tony Award nominated Bring It On: The Musical on Broadway and was also seen at the Apollo Theater as Lorrell in Dreamgirls, followed by a national tour. She has toured and recorded with the multi-platinum selling Trans-Siberian Orchestra in which she received her first platinum and gold records. She has been seen in live performances on The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show, America’s Got Talent, The 67th Annual Tony Awards, and performed as well as recorded as a vocalist for the 2012 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. TV credits include the Amazon pilot Point of Honor, Orange is the New Black, Blue Bloods, Royal Pains, People in New Jersey, Irreversible, and Black Box. She is currently the voice of Maybelline New York.

Steven Reineke is the Music Director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Principal Pops Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Principal Pops Conductor Designate of the Houston Symphony. Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and has been on the podium with the Boston Pops, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia. His extensive North American conducting appearances include San Francisco, Seattle, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Ottawa (National Arts Centre), Detroit, Milwaukee and Calgary. As the creator of more than one hundred orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the composer of symphonic and wind ensemble compositions, Mr. Reineke’s work has been performed worldwide.

The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Under the leadership of dynamic Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, The New York Pops continues to re-imagine orchestral pops music. The orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall and a summer series at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY. The New York Pops is dedicated to lifelong learning, and collaborates with public schools, community organizations, children’s hospitals 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.

Program Information
Friday, March 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE NEW YORK POPS
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Caissie Levy, Guest Artist
Tony Yazbeck, Guest Artist

LIFE IS A CABARET: THE SONGS OF KANDER AND EBB

Sponsored by KPMG LLP

This concert is made possible, in part, by the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation. _______________________________

Friday, April 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE NEW YORK POPS
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Will Chase, Guest Artist
Jessie Mueller, Guest Artist
Adrienne Warren, Guest Artist

YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND: A CELEBRATION OF SINGERS AND SONGWRITERS

Sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.

Image of Steven Reineke at top of release by Michael Tammaro