Jeremy Jordan, Norm Lewis and More to Join New York Pops for Stephen Schwartz's TESTIMONY, 4/12

This dynamic concert program features selections from some of Schwartz's most well-known stage and screen works including "Magic To Do" from Pippin, "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas, "The Spark of Creation" from Children of Eden and many more. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the multi-award winning, hit Broadway musical Wicked, "The Wizard and I" and "For Good" will also be performed.

"I'm so honored to take part in this tribute to one of popular music's greatest icons, Stephen Schwartz," says Steven Reineke, Music Director. "We'll explore the songs he's written for film, Broadway, and even the opera stage. To top it off, we've assembled a cast of the greatest theatre performers working today, along with Judith Clurman's superb Essential Voices USA. It will be a performance you won't want to miss!"

The concert will take place at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The New York Pops' 2012-2013 season culminates with the orchestra's 30th Birthday Gala on April 29, 2013, 7:00 PM at Carnegie Hall.

Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan currently stars in NBC's musical drama "Smash" as a Brooklyn-based composer creating a groundbreaking rock musical. Jeremy is originally from Corpus Christi, Texas and studied at Ithaca College, where he earned a BFA with honors in performance theatre. In 2009, he got his Broadway start understudying the lead in the hit musical Rock of Ages. He went on to star as Tony in the revival of West Side Story and as Clyde Barrow in the Frank Wildhorn musical Bonnie & Clyde. Last year, Jeremy starred opposite Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in the Todd Graff-directed Warner Bros. film Joyful Noise, and he originated the role of Jack Kelly in Disney's hit musical Newsies. He received a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for that performance.

Norm Lewis can currently be seen as Senator Edison Davis on the hit ABC drama "Scandal." He recently received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for his performance as Porgy in the 2012 Broadway production ofThe Gershwins' Porgy & Bess.His additional Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, LES MISERABLES, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who's Tommy. He has also appeared on the West End in LES MISERABLES and LES MISERABLES in Concert: The 25th Anniversary (London's O2 Arena, PBS). His off-Broadway credits include Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. He has appeared regionally as Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (American Repertory Theater), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks. His film and television credits include Sex and the City 2, Confidences, Preaching to the Choir, "Scandal," "Mystery Women," "All My Children," "As the World Turns," "Cosby," and "Strong Medicine." His CD is titled Norm Lewis: This Is the Life! www.normlewis.com

Julia Murney last appeared on Broadway as Elphaba in Wicked after playing the role on the national tour, for which she received an Acclaim Award. Other New York credits include Lennon, Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party (Drama Desk nomination), Falling, The Vagina Monologues, A Class Act, Saved, Crimes of the Heart, Queen of the Mist, Closer Than Ever, and Time and Again (Lucille Lortel nomination). She has been seen regionally all over the U.S.: Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA); Williamstown Theatre Festival; Reprise Theatre Company (Los Angeles); Music Circus (Sacramento); North Carolina Theatre; Lyric Theatre (Oklahoma City); Rubicon Theatre Company (Ventura, CA); and Goodspeed on the Hudson, to name a few. In concert she has performed at Joe's Pub, 54 Below, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, The Town Hall (New York) and Birdland, as well as with the Philly Pops, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and Boston Pops. Among her TV credits are 30 Rock, Sex and the City, Brothers and Sisters, Ed, NYPD Blue, and three editions of Law and Order. A Syracuse University graduate, her recordings include the original cast albums of The Wild Party and A Class Act, the Grammy-nominated recording of The Actor's Fund benefit performance of Hair and her first solo album, I'm Not Waiting, which is available on Sh-K-Boom records and at juliamurney.com.

Jennifer Laura Thompson is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Glinda in the Broadway production of Wicked. She is currently starring in the Tony Award-winning musical Nice Work If You Can Get It with Matthew Broderick. Broadway credits include Hope Cladwell in Urinetown (Tony nomination, Best Leading Actress in a Musical,) Ariel Moore in Footloose, and as Diana Desdemona in Lend Me A Tenor. She has performed in productions of Pardon My English, On The Town, and Of Thee I Sing as part of New York City Center's Encores! series. She sang the role of Jenny in the concert version of Company with the New York Philharmonic. Off- Broadway, she originated the role of Charlotte in Little Fish and the role of Hope Cladwell in Urinetown. She has performed with symphonies in Norway and Sweden with The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Recent orchestral appearances include Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, and Grand Rapids Symphony, among others. She received her B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from The University of Michigan.

Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA (EVUSA), one of New York's preeminent choral ensembles, brings together a roster of seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers. With this unique choral model, created by Clurman, the size of the ensemble is constantly changing, dictated by the specific musical needs of each project. Currently in residence with The New York Pops on Carnegie Hall's subscription series, EVUSA is no stranger to New York's iconic performance venues; the group produces its own classical concerts, workshops, and recordings at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and participated in the Leonard Bernstein Celebration at Symphony Space in 2010. EVUSA also regularly participates in The Composer Speaks, a series of concerts in workshop format, created and moderated by Clurman, which has included the music of Larry Hochman, Bruce Ruben, Paul Schoenfield, Shulamit Ran, and Joshua Schmidt. Increasing its reach beyond New York, EVUSA was featured on NBC's national broadcasts of the 2011 and 2012 Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting. The chorus' collaboration on Clurman's critically acclaimed CD Celebrating The American Spirit (Sono Luminus), which includes the voices of Kelli O'Hara and Ron Raines, was featured on NPR on Inauguration Day 2013. The group also recorded the song "The Music In My Mind" for Marvin Hamlisch's children's book, Marvin Makes Music. EVUSA recently performed a "Sing Out Mr. President" Sing-Along at the "Church of the Presidents," in Washington DC. Clurman also conducted student members of EVUSA at the Washington National Cathedral in a recording of "Peace" by Howard Shore, with words by Eleanor Roosevelt. Still to come for EVUSA is a performance and recording of Mozart's "Raunchy Canons."

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. The New York Pops also gives free concerts in New York City parks, performs interactive concerts for families, and has toured throughout the world. The New York Pops' extensive education programs allow thousands of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds to participate in concert and music-making experiences at Carnegie Hall, public schools, community organizations, children's hospitals and senior centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. 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 non-profit organization supported solely through the generosity of individual donations, institutional grants, corporate sponsorships and concert income.

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 Music Director and Conductor of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the newly appointed Principal Pops Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in the past year he conducted the Boston Pops, The Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia. His extensive North American conducting appearances include Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Edmonton and Detroit. As the creator of more than one hundred 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. 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.

Single tickets are priced from $37 to $108. Purchases can be made at the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street and 7th Avenue) or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Visit www.carnegiehall.org for more information.