Kristen Bell, Caissie Levy & Betsy Wolfe to Join New York Pops for 39th Birthday Gala

Kristen Bell (Film and Television star; voice of Anna in Disney's Frozen), Caissie Levy (original Elsa in Frozen on Broadway) and Betsy Wolfe (originated leading role in world premiere of the Lopezes' musical Up Here) will join The New York Pops, led by Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, for its 39th Birthday Gala, For the First Time In Forever: The Songs of Kristen and Bobby Lopez, honoring the Academy and Grammy Award winning songwriting duo Kristen and Bobby Lopez on Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, presented by The New York Pops.

They join previously announced guest artists from across the Broadway, film and television community who will perform selections from Kristen and Bobby Lopez's wide-ranging catalog including selections from Frozen, Frozen 2, Coco, The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, and more. Participating artists include: Jennifer Barnhart (original Mrs. T and Bad Idea Bear in Avenue Q), Jaime Camil (Film, Television and Broadway star; the voice of Papá Rivera in Pixar's Coco), Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Tony Award nominee for originating the roles of Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut in Avenue Q), Santino Fontana (Tony Award winner and Hans in Frozen), Jordan Gelber (original Brian in Avenue Q), Ann Harada (original Christmas Eve in Avenue Q), Nikki M. James (Tony Award winner for the role of Nabulungi in The Book of Mormon), Mykal Kilgore (first national tour of The Book of Mormon), Rick Lyon (original Nicky and Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q), Patti Murin (original Anna in Disney's Frozen on Broadway), and John Tartaglia (Tony Award nominee for originating the roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q). Additional guest artists to be announced; line-up subject to change.

Together, Kristen and Bobby Lopez have written music and lyrics for films including Disney's Frozen (for which they won an Academy Award and Grammy Award) and Pixar's Coco (for which they won a second Academy Award), as well as songs for the Marvel series WandaVision (Emmy Award win). Other major projects include the Broadway adaptation of Frozen and the motion picture Frozen 2. Their works with additional collaborators include the hit Broadway musicals Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, and In Transit.

In addition to its Music Honorees Kristen and Bobby Lopez, the Gala evening will pay tribute to Corporate Honorees Nicola Heryet (Principal, Avison Young) and John Osborn (Chief Executive Officer of OMD USA); Legacy Honoree June Freemanzon, founding board member of The New York Pops; and and PopsEd Honoree Ron Schaefer (Founder and Director of French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts).

Proceeds from the Gala support The New York Pops orchestra and the organization's PopsEd music education programs that reach throughout all five boroughs of New York City. The concert is followed by a black-tie optional dinner and dance at the Mandarin Oriental New York.

Concert Information

THE NEW YORK POPS 39TH BIRTHDAY GALA
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER: THE SONGS OF KRISTEN AND Bobby Lopez
Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Kristen & Bobby Lopez, Music Honorees
Nicola M. Heryet, Corporate Honoree
John Osborn, Corporate Honoree
June Freemanzon, Legacy Honoree
Ron Schaefer, PopsEd Honoree
Jennifer Barnhart, Kristen Bell, Jaime Camil, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Santino Fontana, Jordan Gelber, Ann Harada, Nikki M. James, Mykal Kilgore, Caissie Levy, Rick Lyon, Patti Murin, John Tartaglia, and Betsy Wolfe, Guest Artists

Kids on Stage Students, Brian Worsdale, Director

Gala Co-Chairs
Kristen Bell, Actor
Tim Castelli, Chief Revenue Officer, iHeartMedia
Trey Gargano, Senior Vice President of Sales, Fox News Media
Stacey Larson, Chief Investment Officer, OMD
Sang Lee, Co-Founder & CEO, Thine
Mitti Liebersohn, President & Managing Director of NYC Operations, Avison Young
Christopher Mansfield, Executive Vice President, CBRE
Marc Platt, Producer
Tom Schumacher, President & Producer, Disney Theatrical Productions
William T. Sullivan, Executive Director, Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation
Kimberly Till, Former CEO & President, Harris Interactive
Nadine Wong, Executive Director & Global Sports & Entertainment Director, Morgan Stanley PWM

American Airlines is the Official Airline of The New York Pops.

Ticket Information

Dinner Dance and Parquet Premium concert-only tickets include a tax-deductible donation and can be purchased at newyorkpops.org/gala2022 or by calling 212-765-7677. Tickets to the full gala evening range from $1,500 (concert and dinner seating for one) to $50,000 (premier concert seating and VIP dinner table for eight) and Parquet Premium concert-only tickets range from $200 to $300.

All other concert-only tickets range from $39 to $165 and are available via carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, or the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th and Seventh.

Please note: to support a safe reopening for in-person events and in accordance with the advice of medical and public health experts, all artists, visitors, and staff will be required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID19 with a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to enter Carnegie Hall. It is also highly recommended that all attendees receive boosters, based on eligibility determined by the CDC. While inside Carnegie Hall, all guests must wear a properly fitting mask over their nose and mouth except when eating or drinking in designated areas.

About the Music Honorees

Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are the Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy winning, married songwriting team behind the Disney animated films, Frozen and Frozen 2. Together they also wrote the Oscar winning song "Remember Me" from Pixar's Coco and songs for Marvel's WandaVision (Emmy Award win for "Agatha All Along"). They wrote songs for the Obama's series We the People and adapted Frozen for the Broadway stage. Robert co-conceived and co-wrote the hit musicals Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon, both earning him Tony Awards. Kristen's show In Transit made history as the first all a cappella musical to run on Broadway, after an award-winning Off-Broadway run. Lopez and Anderson-Lopez have written for television, film and stage, including Finding Nemo: The Musical; songs for "The Wonder Pets" (two Emmy Award wins) and the Winnie the Pooh animated film. Lopez and Anderson-Lopez both serve on the Dramatist Guild Council. Graduates of Yale University and Williams College, respectively, they now reside in Brooklyn with their two daughters.

About 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. 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 39th 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. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Pops adapted its PopsEd programs to provide remote learning opportunities to students, and orchestra musicians were featured in new digital performances.

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).

About Steven Reineke

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, Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of 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, among others. In 2017, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" featured Reineke leading the National Symphony Orchestra performing live music excerpts between news segments - a first in the show's 45-year history. 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.