CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
The New York Pops

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 8:00 PM

The New York Pops
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Wayne Brady, Guest Artist

Program Notes:

Notes on the Program
by Steven Reineke

Welcome to my inaugural concert as Music Director of The New York Pops. I am thrilled to be part of this musical family. New York City is uniquely privileged to have the amazing musicians of this orchestra perform such great music here in glorious Carnegie Hall. Skitch Henderson started something wonderful in 1983! As The New York Pops begins its 27th year, the musicians and I look forward to bringing you music that will put a smile on your face, a swing in your step, and (occasionally) a tear in your eye.

I composed the opening piece on tonight’s program, Celebration Fanfare, when I was 24 years old. It was the first work I wrote for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and its founder, my dear friend and mentor, Maestro Erich Kunzel. Tonight certainly is a celebration and I know that Erich was proud that I would be leading The New York Pops. When he passed away on September 1, the world lost a giant among pops conductors; I lost the greatest teacher I will ever know. I dedicate this performance to his memory.

We are elated to be joined this evening by Emmy-winning singer, actor, and comedian Wayne Brady, as we present our tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. and Sam Cooke. Perhaps best known for his role on the television show Whose Line is it Anyway?, Wayne has a wonderfully soulful voice and great gifts for storytelling and improvisational comedy.

Tonight, we offer you some of the greatest songs by two of the premier entertainers of the 20th century. When putting together this program, I was reminded of just how many hits each of these performers recorded. The Sammy Davis Jr. portion features the swinging tune Birth of the Blues, a very special and hysterical rendition of She’s a Woman, and the poignant Mr. Bojangles, among others. Soul singer Sam Cooke had 29 Top 40 singles in the US between 1957 and 1964. Among the major hits of his we present tonight are Another Saturday Night, You Send Me, and Cupid. Released posthumously, the protest song A Change Is Gonna Come is generally regarded as Cooke’s greatest composition. Wayne Brady’s debut album, A Long Time Coming, was released in September of last year, and his cover of that powerful song earned Wayne a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance category.

Please sit back and enjoy this fantastic orchestra playing great music just for you!

—Steven Reineke

More Information:

Wayne Brady is a multi-talented actor, singer, and Emmy-winning TV host. Here, he celebrates two American icons: the unforgettable Sammy Davis Jr. and the first great singer ever to cross from gospel to pop charts, Sam Cooke.

The New York Pops
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
THE NEW YORK POPS
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. Led by Music Director Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall, enjoying one of the highest subscription renewal rates of any series at Carnegie Hall. The New York Pops was founded by former NBC Music Director 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.

In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops tours throughout the world and gives free concerts in New York City parks through its Summermusic program. In 2009 the orchestra made its fifth annual appearance in the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC. Past media projects include producing a nationally syndicated radio series and performances on PBS. The orchestra’s extensive discography includes recordings of popular song, film, and theater music, as well as music for the holidays.

The New York Pops’ far-reaching education programs allow public schoolchildren to participate in numerous concert and music-making experiences: Salute to Music offers free instrumental lessons to more than 100 New York City junior high school students each year; Kids in the Balcony provides hundreds of free tickets to children to attend all of The New York Pops concerts at Carnegie Hall; and other education programs—such as Create a Symphony and Rhythm, Rhyme & Rap—teach skills such as composition, instrument building, percussion performance, and literacy.

A recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York Pops is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely through the generosity of individual donations, institutional grants, and concert income.

STEVEN REINEKE
Steven Reineke begins his tenure as Music Director of The New York Pops in the 2009–2010 season. Mr. Reineke conducts the orchestra's annual concert series at Carnegie Hall as well as tours, recordings, and nationwide telecasts, including the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC. Mr. Reineke begins as Principal Pops Conductor of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra in 2009–2010 and he retains that title with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he holds the title of Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, where for more than 13 years he has served as a composer, arranger, and conducting protégé of the celebrated pops conductor Erich Kunzel.

Mr. Reineke’s recent guest-conducting engagements include appearances with the orchestras of Los Angeles, Toronto, Houston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Vancouver, and Edmonton. Earlier this year he made his Boston Pops Orchestra debut. In 2008 Mr. Reineke made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting The New York Pops 25th Birthday Gala. Mr. Reineke makes his Asian debut conducting the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in 2009. He made his Hollywood Bowl debut in 2007, performing with Wayne Brady, and returned in 2008 to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition, Mr. Reineke conducted, arranged, and orchestrated the music for Mr. Brady’s orchestral show, and played the same role in a collaboration with rock legend Peter Frampton.

As the creator of more than 100 orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Mr. Reineke’s arrangements have been performed worldwide, and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. Mr. Reineke is also an established symphonic composer. His works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently in North America, with the most recent performances by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic in July 2008. In August 2008 his Sun Valley Festival Fanfare debuted with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony to commemorate the opening of the orchestra’s new pavilion. In 2005 his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were performed by both 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 around the world.

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.

Wayne Brady, Guest Artist
WAYNE BRADY
Emmy award–winning entertainer Wayne Brady is one of the most versatile performers in show business today, thrilling television, film, and stage audiences with his acting, improvisations, singing, and dancing. Mr. Brady recently earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the single “A Change Is Gonna Come,” from his debut album, A Long Time Coming. Mr. Brady was last seen on Fox hosting the hit show Don’t Forget the Lyrics, a game show in which contestants attempt to win up to $1 million by finishing incomplete popular songs.

Mr. Brady has guest-starred on The Dave Chappelle Show, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Dirt, and Everybody Hates Chris. He became well known for his improvisational skills on ABC’s Whose Line Is It Anyway?—for which he won an Emmy Award and earned four Emmy nominations—and went on to host his own syndicated talk/variety show, The Wayne Brady Show, for two years, during which he won two Emmys for Outstanding Talk Show Host and the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show. In film, Mr. Brady recently provided a voice for the upcoming animated feature Foodfight! for Lions Gate. He has also starred in the Screen Gems feature Crossover; the independent feature The List, a romantic comedy with Sydney Tamiia Poitier and Illeana Douglas; and Fox Searchlight’s Roll Bounce.

Mr. Brady began his career performing in local theaters in Orlando, Florida. In 2005 he completed a run playing Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Chicago. He can currently be seen in his improvisational musical variety show, Making It Up, at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.