Broadway's Grasan Kingsberry and Betsy Struxness to Join Greenwich Village Orchestra for Spring Pops Concert

On May 7, 2017, at 3:00PM, the Greenwich Village Orchestra, led by Music Director and Conductor Barbara Yahr, will close its 30th anniversary season at Washington Irving Campus Auditorium (at 17th St. and Irving Place) with a pops concert, Broadway Downtown, featuring performances by guest artists and Broadway stars Grasan Kingsberry (The Color Purple, Motown The Musical, Nice Work if You Can Get It, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Aida) and Betsy Struxness (Hamilton, Matilda, Memphis, Wicked).

The program will include selections from the Golden Age of Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, and classics, as well as excerpts from iconic Broadway musicals of the '60's and '70's. The Greenwich Village Orchestra will play the role of the expanded pit band, offering fully-orchestrated renditions of some of America's most popular Broadway tunes.

"I am really thrilled to bring back the pops tradition to the GVO," says Music Director Barbara Yahr. "I loved conducting pops concerts when I was Assistant Conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and did quite a few with other orchestras like the National Symphony, and the Munich Radio Orchestra as well. The repertoire is refreshing and rich offering us a chance to experience a uniquely American musical genre. This year, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the GVO and my 15th anniversary with the orchestra, and I love the idea of celebrating the golden age of musical theater with artists like Grasan and Betsy, who are fabulous performers. I know the orchestra is excited to take on this challenge. It's going to be a blast!"

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Most recently, Grasan Kingsberry performed the role he originated in The Color Purple revival, which was his 10th show on Broadway. This production of The Color Purple was a featured performance on the 2016 Tony Awards and received the Tony for Best Revival. Among Grasan's other favorite and recent credits is his portrayal of Sam Cooke in the acclaimed new play, One Night In Miami, at Center Stage in Baltimore, MD. A Juilliard graduate, Grasan has worked with prestigious choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Ji?í Kylián, Robert Battle, Desmond Richardson and Ohad Naharin. Additionally, he has worked with recording artists Jennifer Hudson, Heather Headley, Jennifer Holliday, Beyoncé, Deborah Cox, Toni Braxton, and Michelle Williams. He has had the privilege of performing for President and First Lady Obama, twice. Broadway credits: Motown, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Leap Of Faith, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Catch Me If You Can, Finian's Rainbow, The Color Pkjurple (OBC), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, & Aida; Tours: Motown, The Color Purple, Dreamgirls (u/s Curtis); Cabaret: one-night only solo:sharecase (Triad Theatre); Regional: Dreamgirls (Curtis; North Shore) Smokey Joe's Café (Ken; MTW), Joseph...Technicolor Dreamcoat (Judah; Casa Mañana); Film/TV: "Mozart In The Jungle" (Ben), "Z: The Beginning of Everything," "Royal Pains," I Am Legend (Alpha Guard), "Smash," "All My Children," "Good Morning America," "Late Night With David Letterman," and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Betsy Struxness has spent many of her last years on Broadway originating such works as Hamilton and Matilda. Other Broadway credits include Scandalous, Leap of Faith, Memphis, and Wicked. She can be seen in an episode of the Emmy award winning series Louie, as well as Broad City and The Onion News Network. Betsy has appeared on the TONY awards numerous times as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Grammy Awards. When she's not working, you can usually find her somewhere around the world taking photographs. For more information, visit betsystruxness.com.

The Greenwich Village Orchestra was founded in 1986 by a group of musicians from the New York Metropolitan area. The 70-member community orchestra is made up of accountants, actors, artists, attorneys, carpenters, editors, physicians, professors, photographers, computer programmers, retirees, scientists, students, and teachers. For thirty years, the Greenwich Village Orchestra has had a single purpose: to bring the best performances of great music to listeners. The GVO is committed to making music at the highest possible level and dedicated to enriching the lives of our players and our audience. The performances are emotionally charged, exhilarating experiences that truly delight audiences and the performers alike.

The GVO regularly performs with internationally acclaimed soloists such as violinists Andrés Cárdenes, Itamar Zorman, and Hye-Jin Kim; cellists Edward Arron, Raman Ramakrishnan, David Heiss, and Brook Speltz; soprano Christine Goerke; mezzo-sopranos Jennifer Johnson Cano and Naomi O'Connell; baritone Jesse Blumberg; trumpet soloist Brandon Ridenour; and more. Recent guest conductors have included Pierre Valet, Yaniv Segal, and Farkhad Khudyev.

Now in her 15th season with the GVO, Music Director Barbara Yahr continues to lead the orchestra to new levels of distinction. With blockbuster programming and internationally renowned guest artists, the GVO under Barbara's baton, has grown into an innovative, collaborative institution offering a full season of classical music to our local community.

A native of New York, Ms.Yahr's career has spanned from the United States to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Her previous posts include Principal Guest Conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, Resident Staff Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony under Maestro Lorin Maazel and conductor of the Pittsburgh Youth Orchestra. She has appeared as a guest conductor with such orchestras as the Bayerische Rundfunk, Dusseldorf Symphoniker, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Janacek Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, and the National Symphony in Washington D.C. She has also conducted the orchestra in Columbus, Detroit, Calgary, Chattanooga, Louisiana, Richmond, New Mexico, Lubbock, Anchorage as well as the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony and the Chautauqua Festival Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared in Israel conducting in both Jerusalem and Elat and as an opera conductor, has led new productions in Frankfurt, Giessen, Tulsa, Cincinnati, Minnesota and at The Mannes School of Music in NYC. Most recently, she has coached the actors on the set of the Amazon Series, Mozart in the Jungle, and led the season opener of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Yahr is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Middlebury College where she studied piano and philosophy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Max Rudolf and an MM in Music Theory from the Manhattan School of Music. She was a student of Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School in Hancock, Maine.

Ms. Yahr's commitment to finding new ways to reach a broader population with music ultimately led her into the field of music therapy. She is a Board Certified Music Therapist, with an MA in music therapy from NYU and post-graduate certification from the world-renowned Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy in New York City. Her pioneering, community music therapy project, Together in Music, brings orchestral music to the special needs community with uniquely interactive programs. Barbara is married to Alex Lerman and has two step-children, Abe and Dania, and a 14-year-old son, Ben.