O'Hara, Szot et al. Join NY Pops for Concert at Carnegie Hall, 4/16

On Friday, April 16, 2010 at 8:00PM, The New York Pops will celebrate Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe at Carnegie Hall with a vibrant program of the timeless music created by the iconic songwriting duo. Headlining the program are Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, the stars of the Tony award-winning Broadway revival South Pacific. Tenor Michael Slattery, The Clurman Singers, and dancers from the New York Theatre Ballet join The New York Pops and Music Director Steven Reineke for this thrilling collection of classic favorites from My Fair Lady, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, Gigi and Brigadoon.

Music Director Steven Reineke says, "I'm very excited to close out my inaugural season with The New York Pops by presenting a spectacular evening of music by the great duo Lerner and Loewe. They created some of the most memorable music in Broadway history, and we honor that creative chemistry with songs such as "If Ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot, Brigadoon's "Almost Like Being in Love" and "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady. A sensational lineup of artists will join The New York Pops on stage at Carnegie Hall; it is sure to be an unforgettable evening!"

During the concert, The New York Pops will salute The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation for their commitment to music education. Five music teachers from around the country will receive The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation Award on the Carnegie Hall stage for dedication to their students and service to the profession.

The April 16 concert is supported by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts in the category of "Access to Artistic Excellence." This award marks the fourth consecutive year the orchestra has received recognition from the NEA.

ABOUT Alan Jay Lerner AND Frederick Loewe

Frederick "Fritz" Loewe (1901-1988) and Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) make up one of the most important song writing duo of the twentieth century. The New York Times wrote that "The team's finest songs are marked by a contemporary conversational fluency and precision of phrase, joined to a graceful Old World melodicism that looks back often wistfully to the turn-of-the-century operetta."

 

Between 1943 and 1960, th e pair wrote six original musicals for Broadway, as well as an Oscar-winning movie musical. Their first big hit came in 1947, with Brigadoon, a musical that includes such famous numbers as "The Heather on the Hill", "From This Day On", and the classic romantic ballad "Almost Like Being In Love". In 1951 came Paint Your Wagon, which included such songs as "They Call The Wind Maria", "I Talk To The Trees" and "Wandrin' Star".

Then in 1956, My Fair Lady delivered a warmth and sophistication that made it one of the best-loved musicals of all time. The show ran for 2,717 performances in its original Broadway production (and even more in London) and has been revived on Broadway several times. The 1964 film version, with a screenplay by Lerner, won seven Oscars.

 

In 1958 the team wrote the music, screenplay and lyrics for the classic film musical Gigi (directed by Vincente Minnelli), which had a superb score including "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" and "I Remember It Well", and which won 9 Academy Awards, including one for Best screenplay and one for the title song.

 

Although they were to work together one last time on the unsuccessful 1974 film The Little Prince, their last successful collaboration came in 1960 with Camelot, a delightful score which included "I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight", "Camelot", "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood", "How to Handle a Woman", and "If Ever I Would Leave You".

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

Kelli O'Hara has unequivocally established herself as one of Broadway's great leading ladies. She recently starred in the Tony Award-winning revival South Pacific at Lincoln Center, enrapturing audiences and critics alike with her soulful and complex interpretation of Nellie Forbush, garnering a third Tony-nomination in the process.

 

In 2003, Kelli starred in a production of The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre. The show landed on Broadway in 2005 and earned Kelli her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. She moved from one huge critical and commercial success to another when she joined Harry Connick, Jr. on Broadway in the 2006 Tony award winning production of The Pajama Game for which Kelli received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations.

 

In 2007, Ms. O'Hara delivered a critically acclaimed performance of Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, made her Carnegie Hall debut with The New York Pops, and released of her first solo album Wonder in the World.

Paulo Szot was born in São Paulo and raised in suburban Ribeirão Pires. He began his musical training in piano at the age of five and later added violin and classical ballet. Szot studied at University Jagiellonski, Poland, from where his parents had emigrated following World War II.

 

He began singing professionally in 1990 with the National Song & Dance Ensemble "?l?sk" and made his professional opera debut in a production of IL Barbiere di Siviglia at the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo in 1997. Since then, he has performed with the New York City Opera, the Palm Beach Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Opera de Marseille, and Vlaamse Opera, among others, in such operas as L'Elisir d'Amore, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, Carmen, Cosi fan Tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro and Maria Golovin. In March 2010 he will perform the title role in Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose at the Metropolitan Opera.

 

For his Broadway debut in South Pacific, Szot has won awards such as the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle, the Theatre World Award, and the Tony Award, becoming the first Brazilian actor to receive such honors. He has also been nominated for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

 

Michael Slattery has enjoyed an exciting international career. Since his graduation from The Juilliard School, he has worked with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, the French National Orchestra in Paris, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall. Career highlights include Peter Sellars' Tristan Project at Lincoln Center, the title role in Bernstein's Candide at Royal FestivAl Hall in London, and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Châtelet Theater in Paris, the Staatsoper in Berlin, and at Glimmerglass. He was recently included in The Spectator's list of tenor "Heroes of the Concert Hall."

His prize-winning recordings include Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne, Scarlatti's Cecilian Vespers, Handel's Atalanta, Saul, and Solomon, and Bernstein's Candide. His solo discs The Irish Heart, and Secret and Divine Signs, received critical acclaim from Gramophone Magazine and Five Star ratings from BBC Music Magazine and ClassicFM. Upcoming recordings will include Handel's Acis and Galatea and Samson, Britten's Curlew River, and a disc of Dowland songs.

 

The Clurman Singers

Under the direction of internationally acclaimed music director Judith Clurman, The Clurman Singers is an ensemble of 50 high caliber vocalists, with a core of 12 professional fellows, who collaborate in workshops, present concerts of varied repertoire, make recordings, and engage audiences through online media.

Members of this ensemble have performed together under Ms. Clurman's direction for the past decade, appearing with the New York City Ballet, the Berkshire Opera at Tanglewood, the Mostly Mozart Festival, Lincoln Center's Great Performances, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. They have performed all genres of music, with artists ranging from Deborah Voigt to Kristin Chenoweth to Jason Robert Brown. They have sung with The American Composer's Orchestra and the New York Pops on the Carnegie Hall subscription series, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

In 2009 they hosted a workshop at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in which professional, volunteer and high school singers recorded works by Howard Shore and Georgia Stitt. The ensemble also collaborated with composer Marc Shaiman on his recording of the soundtrack for the feature film The Bucket List.

Steven Reineke began his tenure as Music Director of The New York Pops with the 2009-2010 season. Mr. Reineke conducts the orchestra's annual concert series at Carnegie Hall as well as tours, recordings, and nationwide telecasts, including the annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC Television. Mr. Reineke is also Principal Pops Conductor of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. He holds the title of Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, where for fifteen years he served as a composer, arranger, and conducting protégé of the late celebrated pops conductor Erich Kunzel. Reineke's notable conducting appearances include his 2007 Hollywood Bowl debut, his 2008 Carnegie Hall debut conducting The New York Pops, and his Boston Pops and Philadelphia Orchestra debuts in 2009. Mr. Reineke is also an established symphonic composer, with the most recent performances of his works by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The New York Pops <www.newyorkpops.org> 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, enjoying one of the highest subscription renewal rates of any series at Carnegie Hall. The New York Pops was founded by former NBC Music Director Skitch Henderson in 1983 with a mission to create greater public awareness and appreciation of America's rich musical heritage. Along with performing at Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops tours throughout the world and gives free concerts in New York City parks. The orchestra's media projects include performing music for the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC since 2005, nationwide radio broadcasts, and numerous recordings. The New York Pops' extensive education programs allow thousands of public schoolchildren to participate in concert and music-making experiences at Carnegie Hall and in schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

TICKETS: $33, $37, $46, $74, $94 and $104; Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street. Tickets may also be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or online by visiting www.carnegiehall.org.

PROGRAM

FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2010, 8:00PM, Carnegie Hall, STERN AUDITORIUM/PERELMAN STAGE
THE BEST OF LERNER AND LOEWE
The New York Pops
Steven Reineke, Music Director / Conductor
Starring Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot
Michael Slattery, Tenor
The Clurman Singers, Judith Clurman, Director
The New York Theatre Ballet, Diane Byer, Artistic Director

Lerner and Loewe Overture

Camelot (1960)
"Camelot" (Paulo Szot / The Clurman Singers)
"What Do the Simple Folk Do?" (Kelli O'Hara / Paulo Szot)
"If Ever I Would Leave You" (Paulo Szot)

Paint Your Wagon (1951)
"I Talk to the Trees" (Kelli O'Hara / Michael Slattery)
"They Call the Wind Maria" (Paulo Szot / The Clurman Singers)
"How Can I Wait?" (Kelli O'Hara)
"There's a Coach Comin' In" (Paulo Szot / The Clurman Singers)

Gigi (1958)
"Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" (Kelli O'Hara)
"The Night They Invented Champagne" (The Clurman Singers)
"I Remember It Well" (Kelli O'Hara / Paulo Szot)
"Gigi" (Paulo Szot / The Clurman Singers)

Brigadoon (1947)
Orchestral Prelude
"Come to Me, Bend to Me" (Michael Slattery)
"The Heather on the Hill" (Kelli O'Hara / Paulo Szot)
"I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean" (Michael Slattery / The Clurman Singers)
"Almost Like Being in Love" (Kelli O'Hara / Paulo Szot)

My Fair Lady (1956)
Orchestral Prelude
"Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" (Kelli O'Hara / The Clurman Singers)
"The Rain in Spain" (Kelli O'Hara / Paulo Szot / Michael Slattery)
"Get Me to the Church on Time" (Paulo Szot / The Clurman Singers)
"I Could Have Danced All Night" (Kelli O'Hara)
"On the Street Where You Live" (Michael Slattery)
"Show Me" (Kelli O'Hara)
"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" (Paulo Szot)
"I Could Have Danced All Night" (Kelli O'Hara / Paulo Szot / Michael Slattery / The Clurman Singers)

ARRANGEMENTS BY Johnny Green

Photo credits: Steven Reineke by Michael Tammaro; Paulo Szot and Kelli O'Hara by Joan Marcus