The New York Pops Extends Music Director Steven Reineke's Contract Through 2027-28 Season

Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke’s contract with The New York Pops has been extended through the 2027-2028 season. Reineke officially joined The New York Pops as Music Director and Conductor for the 2009-10 season.

Under Reineke’s continued leadership, The New York Pops annually gives a six concert series and a festive Gala performance at Carnegie Hall, in addition to performing during the summer at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. Some of the highlights of Steven’s career leading The New York Pops include: the Carnegie Hall debuts of Laura Benanti, Stephanie J. Block, Nikki M. James, Caissie Levy, Karen Olivo, Andrew Rannells, and Adrienne Warren; concerts commemorating the centennials of Johnny Mercer and Frank Sinatra, Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, Stephen Schwartz’s 65th birthday, and the 50th anniversary of Judy Garland’s famed concert at Carnegie Hall; Gala concerts honoring Barry Manilow and Alan Menken; and his first concert as Music Director featuring Wayne Brady in the music of Sammy Davis, Jr. and Sam Cooke.

"Steven Reineke’s boundless enthusiasm and passion for the work we do at The New York Pops is evident at every concert you see him lead on the Carnegie Hall stage,” said President and Executive Director Anne Swanson. “We are so happy to share that his dynamic presence will be extended to our audiences through the 2027-28 season!” 

The New York Pops is also pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors, David Blakelock and Michael Maizner.

David Blakelock is Founder of 100 Days 100 Courses, a nonprofit using golf to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease, and has almost twenty years of experience advising startup enterprises. Throughout his career, he has combined innovative customer centric thinking and thought leadership with deep technical and operational knowledge to develop new growth and revenue sources.

Michael Maizner is Founder and Managing Partner at Maizner & Associates, PLLC. With almost twenty years of entertainment labor relations experience, Michael specializes in advising and representing clients in their dealings with entertainment guild/union issues and other specialized entertainment labor matters. Michael also has a strong background in the arts. In addition to holding a Doctor of Law from Brooklyn Law School, he received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Miami, and attended Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute for Vocal Performance and Miami's Frost School of Music Salzburg program. 

The New York Pops’ 2023-24 season of performances in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall includes 21st Century Broadway on Friday, October 27, 2023 featuring Jeremy Jordan, Hailey Kilgore, Javier Muñoz, and Elizabeth Stanley; One Night Only: An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara on Friday, November 17, 2023; The Best Christmas of All with Norm Lewis on Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23; 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.

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 41st 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. 

About Steven Reineke
Steven Reineke is 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 and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.

On stage, Mr. Reineke creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists from the worlds hip-hop, R & B, Broadway, television and rock including: Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, 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 hundreds of orchestral arrangements, Reineke’s work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. 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 perennially.

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.

Photo credit: Richard Termine