Derek Klena and Ali Stroker Join The New York Pops' 21ST CENTURY BROADWAY

Derek Klena and Ali Stroker will now join The New York Pops and Music Director Steven Reineke for its season opening concert, 21st Century Broadway, on Friday, October 27, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. They replace previously announced soloists Jeremy Jordan and Elizabeth Stanley, who had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts. The brand-new program, 21st Century Broadway, includes music from some of the most iconic new classics that have graced the stage since 2000, including Hamilton, Wicked, The Last Five Years, Spring Awakening, Waitress, and more, and also features guest artists Hailey Kilgore and Javier Muñoz.

Judith Clurman’s Essential Voices USA will now also join The New York Pops for The Best Christmas of All with Norm Lewis on Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall. 

The New York Pops’ 2023-24 season of performances in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall additionally includes One Night Only: An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara on Friday, November 17, 2023; Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue on Friday, February 9, 2024 featuring Montego Glover and Lee Musiker; and Hitsville: Celebrating Motown on Friday, March 15, 2024 featuring Bryan Terrell Clark and Valisia LeKae.
 

2023-2024 Program Information

THE NEW YORK POPS

21st Century Broadway

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Hailey Kilgore, Guest Artist 
Derek Klena, Guest Artist
Javier Muñoz, Guest Artist
Ali Stroker, Guest Artist

Friday, October, 27, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
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THE NEW YORK POPS

One Night Only: An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Sutton Foster, Guest Artist
Kelli O’Hara, Guest Artist

Friday, November 17, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
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THE NEW YORK POPS

The Best Christmas of All with Norm Lewis

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Norm Lewis, Guest Artist
Essential Voices USA 
Judith Clurman, Music Director and Conductor

Friday, December 22, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 23, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
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THE NEW YORK POPS

Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Montego Glover, Guest Artist
Lee Musiker, Piano

Friday, February 9, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
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THE NEW YORK POPS

Hitsville: Celebrating Motown

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Bryan Terrell Clark, Guest Artist
Valisia LeKae, Guest Artist

Friday, March 15, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

About the Artists

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 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 milestone 40th 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, NY 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 ranging from Broadway melodies to film scores, jazz, rock, pop, and everything in between. Under Reineke’s dynamic leadership, The New York Pops continues to re-imagine 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 presentation of concerts and education programs of the highest quality. The New York Pops is a non-profit 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), Instagram (@thenewyorkpops), and Twitter (@thenewyorkpops).
 

Steven Reineke 

has established himself as 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 and Toronto Symphony Orchestras.

Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and his extensive North American conducting appearances include Dallas, Detroit and the Ravinia Music Festival.

On stage, Mr. Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds hip hop, R & B, Broadway, television and rock including: Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton and Ben Folds, amongst others. In 2017 he was featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" leading the National Symphony Orchestra - in a first for the show's 45-year history - performing live music excerpts in between news segments. In 2018 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 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, including performances by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. 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.

Derek Klena

 starred on Broadway in Alanis Morissette’s critically acclaimed musical Jagged Little Pill, for which he received a Tony Award Nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He recently concluded his run as Christian in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Moulin Rouge, directed by Alex Timbers. His performance earned him a Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Replacement. Earlier this year, Derek also starred as “Joe Gillis” opposite Stephanie J. Block in the Kennedy Center’s limited run of Sunset Boulevard, which was part of their Broadway Center Stage program.  

Derek first broke onto the NYC theater scene in the 2012 Off-Broadway revival of Carrie, where he quickly garnered attention from Oscar, Grammy, and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul to originate the lead role of Eddie Birdlace in Dogfight. He received a Clive Barnes Award Nomination for his performance. Derek made his Broadway debut as Fiyero in the 10th-anniversary company of Wicked. On Broadway, he also originated the roles of Michael Johnson in Jason Robert Brown’s The Bridges of Madison County and Dmitry in Ahrens/Flaherty/McNally’s Anastasia. Other notable theater credits include Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Unknown Soldier, directed by Trip Cullman; Signature Theatre’s Diner, written by Sheryl Crow & Barry Levinson; and the Hollywood Bowl’s star-studded production of Hairspray, directed by Jerry Mitchell.  

On television, Derek can be seen in the pivotal role of Wes in the MAX series, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, and he will soon reprise his role in season 2. Derek is known for his memorable arc as DJ Fingablast on Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Netflix hit Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Other TV credits include City On A Hill, The Code, and A Holiday Spectacular. 

Ali Stroker 

is a Tony Award winner for her role as Ado Annie in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! She made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway in Deaf West’s acclaimed 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. She's a series regular in the Netflix series, Echoes, and starred in the Lifetime holiday film, Christmas Ever After. Ali recurred in the final season of Netflix's Ozark and is recurring in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. She co-wrote the 2021 novel, The Chance to Fly, and she wrote the 2022 children's book, Ali and the Sea Stars. She played Lady Anne in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III. She’s performed her one woman show all over the country, some of her favorites being the Kennedy Center, Town Hall, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Her mission to improve the lives of others through the arts is captured in her motto: “Turning Your Limitations Into Your Opportunities.”

Photo credit: Jenny Anderson