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 41st 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 in Queens, New York, at Forest Hills Stadium, a 14,000-seat historic concert venue.

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. He is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit symphony orchestras; the San Francisco Symphony; and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

On stage, Mr. Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of artists from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, Broadway, television, and rock, including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Kelli O’Hara, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, he was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, leading the National Symphony Orchestra in a performance of 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 hundreds of orchestral arrangements, Mr. Reineke’s work has been performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently in North America, including 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 (2020 Alumnus Distinguished Achievement Medal), 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.

Montego Glover is a Tony Award nominee, two-time Drama Desk Award winner, Outer Critics Circle Award winner, and Drama League Award nominee. Her Broadway credits include Into the Woods, Hamilton, Memphis (Tony Award nominee, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award winner), Les Misérables, It Shoulda Been You, and the original Broadway production of The Color Purple. Off-Broadway credits include The Royale (Lincoln Center Theater, Drama Desk Award) and All the Natalie Portmans. Ms. Glover has been a guest artist with numerous prestigious theater companies around the country, earning an IRNE Award as well as Helen Hayes and Craig Noel award nominations.

Ms. Glover has been a guest vocalist with the Toronto, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Edmonton, Vancouver, and National symphony orchestras; Houston and Jacksonville symphonies; The Philadelphia Orchestra; and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as at Jazz at Lincoln Center; New York City Center; the Caramoor, Sun Valley, and Ravinia music festivals; and The Smith Center in Las Vegas. Television and film projects include Inventing Anna, The Blacklist, Evil, BULL, Black Box, The Following, Hostages, Smash, The Good Wife, White Collar, Golden Boy, Law & Order, Made in Jersey, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Paramount Pictures), and the independent feature film Every Little Secret. Ms. Glover has enjoyed numerous commercial campaigns, voiceovers, narration, and animated characters for television, gaming, films, and new media.

Recent highlights include narration for Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic, which celebrates the power and changemaking influence of Black women throughout generations from around the globe. The Montego Glover exhibition is currently enjoying its second year of residency at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and Chattanooga African American Museum in Ms. Glover’s hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. She has served as a member of the artists’ committee for the Kennedy Center Honors and Lincoln Center Theater, and is a New York PopsEd Ambassador and a member of the Broadway Green Alliance. She is honored to return to Carnegie Hall alongside Maestro Steven Reineke and The New York Pops. Follow her at @MontegoGlover or visit montegoglover.com for more information.

Grammy, Emmy, and Platinum award–winning pianist, conductor, music director, arranger, and orchestrator Lee Musiker has established a distinguished and multifaceted career as soloist and collaborator in the classical, opera, Broadway, jazz, and pop genres. A Steinway artist, he has performed with the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet; Metropolitan Opera; Mostly Mozart Festival; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; New York City Ballet; American Ballet Theatre; Atlanta, London, and American symphony orchestras; Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Hollywood Bowl orchestras; San Francisco Symphony; and New York, Boston, Cincinnati, and Philly pops.

Mr. Musiker has guest-conducted the New York Philharmonic; Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, National, and St. Louis symphony orchestras; Houston Symphony; Jazz at Lincoln Center, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Henry Mancini Institute orchestras; and was music director and principal conductor of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon and The Palm Beach Pops. For many years, he was music director and pianist for legendary singer Tony Bennett. His recordings include the award-winning albums Duets: An American Classic, Duets 2, and Cheek to Cheek featuring Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, as well as their 2021 Radio City Music Hall concerts and CBS special.

A native New Yorker and fourth-generation musician, Mr. Musiker received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Eastman School of Music and also studied at The Juilliard School and Bard College. He has given master classes for the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and at Indiana University; in addition, he was guest artist-in-residence at the Tanglewood Music Center and Ravinia Steans Music Institute.

Mr. Musiker has performed and recorded with artists who include Kathleen Battle, Joshua Bell, Harolyn Blackwell, Stephanie Blythe, Andrea Bocelli, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Denyce Graves, Josh Groban, Nathan Gunn, Marilyn Horne, Sylvia McNair, Julia Migenes, Dawn Upshaw, and Deborah Voigt. Jazz, pop, and Broadway artists with whom he has collaborated include George Benson, Chris Botti, Michael Bublé, Kristin Chenoweth, Natalie Cole, Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Eddie Daniels, Michael Feinstein, Sutton Foster, Aretha Franklin, Joel Grey, Michael Jackson, Jewel, Billy Joel, Elton John, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, Seth MacFarlane, Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, John Mayer, Paul McCartney, Audra McDonald, Maureen McGovern, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Leslie Odom Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, John Pizzarelli, Buddy Rich, Doc Severinson, Sting, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, and Mel Tormé.