The New York Pops Presents LET'S MISBEHAVE: THE SONGS OF COLE PORTER At Carnegie Hall

The New York Pops continues its 24-25 season with Let's Misbehave: The Songs of Cole Porter on Friday, February 7, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

Led by Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, the orchestra is joined by Tony DeSare (piano/vocals), Bria Skonberg (trumpet/vocals) and John Manzari (tap dance/vocals) for their fresh spin on memorable songs such as “Night and Day,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “I've Got You Under My Skin,” “It's De-Lovely,” “You're the Top,” and many more.

"Cole Porter's artistry defines the magic of the Great American Songbook, and his songs have stood the test of time as some of the greatest works of popular music,” said New York Pops Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke. “We are so excited to present a full night of his music with a terrific program featuring our friends Tony DeSare, Bria Skonberg, and John Manzari.”

Additional upcoming New York Pops performances in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall include 100 Years of Epic Film Scores on Friday, March 14, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. and its 42nd Birthday Gala, Words and Music: Diane Warren on Monday, April 28, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.

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Program Information

THE NEW YORK POPS

Let's Misbehave: The Songs of Cole Porter
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Tony DeSare, Guest Artist 
with
Bria Skonberg, Trumpet and Vocals
John Manzari, Tap Dancer and Vocals

Friday, February 7, 2025 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

Tickets are available for purchase at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, at 57th and Seventh, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website at carnegiehall.org.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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About the Artists

Comprised of 78 musicians, The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, now in its 42nd season as 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. The New York Pops' annual birthday gala is celebrated each spring, raising funds for the orchestra and its education programs. The orchestra 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 unique experience, with influences that range from Broadway melodies to film scores, jazz, rock, pop, and more. The orchestra collaborates with stars from the stage and screen including Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Clive Davis, Montego Glover, James Monroe Iglehart, Capathia Jenkins, Carly Rae Jepsen, Angela Lansbury, Queen Latifah, Cyndi Lauper, Norm Lewis, Barry Manilow, Kelli O'Hara, Adrienne Warren, Dionne Warwick, Miss Piggy, and others.

Through its PopsEd music education programs, The New York Pops fulfills its dedication to lifelong learning and collaborates 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 residency programs that blend traditional education with pure fun. These programs make music open to all and use tools like composition, lyric writing, performance, and mentorship to foster learning and unbridled creativity. In doing so, PopsEd excites students and gives them skills they can apply to all areas of their lives.

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. To date, PopsEd programs have served over 100,000 New York City students.

Over the years, the orchestra has presented free concerts in city parks, community organizations, and senior centers; performed the National Anthem at sports venues; and toured throughout the world. Past media projects include the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC Television, a nationally syndicated radio series, and performances on PBS. The orchestra's discography encompasses recordings of popular standards, theater and film scores, and music for the holidays.

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) and Instagram (@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.

Tony DeSare performs with infectious joy, wry playfulness and robust musicality. Named a Rising Star Male Vocalist in Downbeat magazine, DeSare has lived up to this distinction by winning critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout North America and abroad. From jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall to Las Vegas headlining with Don Rickles and major symphony orchestras, DeSare has brought his fresh take on old school class around the globe. DeSare has four top ten Billboard jazz albums under his belt and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, NPR, A Prairie Home Companion, the Today Show and his music has been posted by social media celebrity juggernaut, George Takei. DeSare has also collaborated with Youtube icons Postmodern Jukebox. DeSare's Lush Life recording, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Chart and he released Song Diaries Vol. 2 in early 2022, now streaming on all platforms.   

Notwithstanding his critically acclaimed turns as a singer/pianist, DeSare is also an accomplished award-winning composer. He not only won first place in the USA Songwriting Contest, but has written the theme song for the motion picture, My Date With Drew, several broadcast commercials and has composed the full soundtracks for the Hallmark Channel's Love Always, Santa, Lifetime's Nanny Nightmare and Lifetime's new A Welcome Home Christmas. His sound is romantic, swinging and sensual, but what sets DeSare apart is his ability to write original material that sounds fresh and contemporary, yet pays homage to the Great American Songbook. His compositions include a wide-range of romantic, funny, and soulful sounds that can be found on his top-selling recordings.

DeSare's forthcoming appearances include the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Nashville and Vancouver.

DeSare releases new recordings, videos of standards and new originals regularly on his YouTube channel, Apple Music and Spotify. Follow Tony on Facebook, Instagram and subscribe on YouTube to stay connected.

Tony DeSare is a Yamaha Artist.

Bria Skonberg is a Juno-award winning artist, 10x Downbeat Rising Star, Jazz at Lincoln Center Swing! Awardee, and the 2022 recipient of the "Legend" Award by the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook. The trumpeter, vocalist, and composer has been called the"shining hope of hot jazz" (NY Times) and is considered "one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation." (WSJ) She has been a featured artist at hundreds of festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Monterey, Newport, and Montreal Jazz Festivals.

The daughter of teachers, Bria was introduced to jazz by a spirited public school band program and local festival in her hometown of Chilliwack, British Columbia. A professional band leader since her teens, she moved to Vancouver and obtained her degree in Trumpet Performance from Capilano University. Since arriving in New York in 2010 she has been at the forefront of a revival of classic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts and workshops for students of all ages on behalf of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Jazz House Kids and more. Bria is an active mentor in the Women in Jazz Organization, a Bach Conn-Selmer artist, a board member of theInternational Trumpet Guild, and became a mother in 2020.

Her seventh studio album What it Means was recorded in New Orleans with the Crescent City's finest and was released to rave reviews in July, 2024.

John Manzari is an Ovation Award and Helen Hayes Award nominated dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, and teacher. Stage credits include the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, The Tap Dance Kid, Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic, 42nd Street, Maurice Hines: Tappin' Thru Life, The Wiz is 40: A Celebration in Dance and Music, and Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies. Television credits include Law & Order SVU, the PBS specials Black Broadway: A Proud History, A Limitless Future as well as appearances on The Kennedy Center at 50, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Good Morning America, The View, Michael Feinstein at the Rainbow Room, The Jerry Lewis Telethon, and So You Think You Can Dance. Concerts include NYPopsUp, Spoleto Festival, Fall for Dance, Amelia Island Dance Festival, and Gold Coast Dance Festival. John can be seen in the documentary about his mentor Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back, the award winning short film Slip, and Leonard Soloway's Broadway.