CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
The New York Pops
You've Got a Friend: A Celebration of Singers and Songwriters
Performers
The New York Pops
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Will Chase, Guest Artist
Christopher Jackson, Guest Artist
Jessie Mueller, Guest Artist
Adrienne Warren, Guest Artist
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.
Sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP
Bios
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. Under
the leadership of dynamic Music Director 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, New
York. 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.
Steven Reineke
Steven Reineke's boundless enthusiasm and exceptional artistry have made him one of the
nation's most sought-after pops conductors, composers, and arrangers. Mr. 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. He previously held the posts of principal pops conductor
of the Long Beach Symphony and Modesto Symphony Orchestra, and associate conductor of the
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
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
performances with the orchestras of San Francisco, Seattle, Edmonton, Pittsburgh,
Vancouver, Ottawa (National Arts Centre), Detroit, Milwaukee, and Calgary.
On stage, Mr. Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading
artists from the worlds of hip-hop, Broadway, television, and rock, including Kendrick
Lamar, Nas, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton, and
Ben Folds, among others.
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 in North America, including performances 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, 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. Mr. Reineke is
represented by Peter Throm Management, LLC.
Will Chase
Critically acclaimed, Tony Award-nominated actor and singer Will Chase is currently
filming the new HBO series Sharp Objects and appearing in HBO's The
Deuce. He most recently starred on ABC's Nashville as country music superstar
Luke Wheeler and as Griffin Monroe in the ABC drama Time After Time.
Other television appearances include recurring roles on CBS's The Good Wife, FX's
Rescue Me, and as Michael Swift on NBC's Broadway-inspired Smash, as well
as appearances on Blue Bloods, White Collar, Pan Am, Royal
Pains, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Film credits include Butterflies of Bill Baker (Best Actor, Chain NYC Film
Festival), Four Single Fathers, and Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson.
Best known as one of Broadway's "most versatile leading men," Mr. Chase received 2013 Tony
Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for
his portrayal of John Jasper in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin
Drood, and most recently starred on Broadway as William Shakespeare in Something
Rotten!. His other Broadway credits include Billy Elliot, Aida,
Lennon, Nice Work If You Can Get It, High Fidelity, The Full
Monty, Miss Saigon, and Roger in Rent, which was captured on the big
screen in Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway.
Mr. Chase can be heard on several original Broadway cast recordings, as well as three
seasons of cast albums for the show Nashville. He has performed all over the world
and has sung with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony. Having studied
conducting with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert Spano, Mr. Chase has
premiered countless compositions, and has worked and performed with some of the most
important composers and musical luminaries in the world.
Born and raised in rural Kentucky, Mr. Chase trained as a percussionist, conductor, and
actor, and received his degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He has two
daughters, Daisy and Gracie, and calls Brooklyn, New York, home. He can be followed on
Twitter at @WillChaseMe.
Christopher Jackson
Christopher Jackson is a Tony-nominated actor as well as a Grammy- and Emmy-winning
songwriter-composer best known for starring as George Washington in the critically
acclaimed and award-winning musical Hamilton. Other Broadway credits include
Holler If Ya Hear Me, After Midnight, Bronx Bombers (Derek
Jeter), In the Heights (Benny), Memphis (Delray Farrell), and The
Lion King (Simba). Off-Broadway credits include Bronx Bombers (Primary
Stages); The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Company); Lonely, I'm Not (Second
Stage Theater); In the Heights (37 Arts); and Cotton Club Parade (City
Center Encores!).
Mr. Jackson can currently be seen in the hit CBS drama Bull, in which he plays
Chunk, a stylist who prepares defendants for trial. He also recorded an original song
written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for the Disney film Moana.
In film and television, Mr. Jackson has appeared in Freestyle Love Supreme,
Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, Fringe, Gossip Girl,
Tracers, and Afterlife. He was also a composer-songwriter for Sesame
Street (Emmy Award, six Emmy nominations), and co-music supervisor and writer for
The Electric Company (PBS).
Mr. Jackson won an Emmy Award for his song with will.i.am, "What I Am." In 2010, he
released his first solo album, In the Name of Love (Yellow Sound Lab Records), and
is currently working on his second album. He also has several musical projects in
development for the musical stage.
Jessie Mueller
Jessie Mueller was recently nominated for a 2016 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her
performance as Jenna in Waitress. The talented actress won the 2014 Tony and Drama
Desk awards 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 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. In addition, she appeared in
Carousel with the New York Philharmonic and as Cinderella in Into the
Woods at the Delacorte Theater.
In her native Chicago, Ms. 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
Adrienne Warren was most recently seen in the Broadway production of Shuffle
Along as Gertrude Saunders / Florence Mills, for which she received a Tony nomination
for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She recently finished filming the
USA pilot The Tap. She originated the role of Danielle in the Tony-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. Other New York theater credits
include The Wiz at City Center Encores!. She has toured and recorded with the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, for 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, and the 67th Annual Tony Awards, and she performed
as well as recorded as a vocalist for the 2012 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Television
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.