Michael Feinstein Joins Pasadena POPS for THE SINATRA PROJECT Tonight

Pasadena Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein puts down the conducting baton and picks up the microphone for one night only to sing a full concert devoted to the legacy of Frank Sinatra.

Tonight, August 1 spend an evening with the Pasadena POPS at the Los Angeles County Arboretum to celebrate Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday with Feinstein as soloist for his Grammy-nominated Sinatra Project. An old-fashioned crooner with luxuriant vocals that meld the traditions of old and new, Feinstein has been dubbed the "Ambassador of the Great American Songbook" for his preserving, presenting, and interpreting of that seminal body of work. In typical Feinstein fashion, The Sinatra Project will share both the music of Sinatra and personal anecdotes recalling the life and times of Ol' Blue Eyes.

The multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer has curated an evening celebrating the brilliance of "The Voice" as only Feinstein can. Hear timeless hits such as "Luck Be A Lady," "Cheek to Cheek," "The Way You Look Tonight," "The Lady Is A Tramp," "For Once In My Life" and more.

"I have wanted to pay tribute to Frank Sinatra for many years because of his kindness to me when I had the opportunity to meet and know him," says Feinstein. "The big trick or the hardest part of doing something like the Sinatra Project is to create a show that pays tribute but does not copy him. I tried to choose songs and material that are well known and lesser known to give a sense of the man and his personality. And the songs that I perform - that are familiar ones - I try to do slightly different from the way Frank Sinatra sang them because nobody did them better than he did. Our show also contains a beautiful tribute medley to Sinatra that thematically puts together a number of songs so that we have a little story."

An incomparable concert experience awaits you as you celebrate under the stars with Michael Feinstein and The Sinatra Project, playing one night only with the Pasadena POPS at the Los Angeles County Arboretum on August 1.

All concerts are family friendly and are held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. Grounds open for picnicking and dining at 5:30 p.m. and performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Among many venue amenities, audiences can enjoy pre-ordered gourmet dining packages for on-site pickup just steps from your table from Julienne, Marston's, and Claud & Co.; the food court will host mouth-watering food trucks plus specialty ice creams by Choctal. The experience is now even more convenient with two full beverage centers serving fine wines, beer, coffee and soft drinks plus exclusive hotel packages for POPS patrons at Pasadena's landmark Hotel Constance. Patrons may also visit the Pasadena Humane Society's Mobile Adoption Unit, which will be on-site prior to each concert with deserving animals in need of a forever home as part of the Pups for POPS program.

Subscribers may pre-purchase parking on-site at the Arboretum, and all concertgoers enjoy free parking at the adjacent Westfield Santa Anita shopping center with complimentary non-stop shuttle service to the Arboretum's main entrance. Audiences get the ultimate outdoor concert experience: large LED video screens to see the artists and orchestra up close, superior sound quality and the high-quality production value that is a signature of the Pasadena POPS.

Don't miss the best outdoor dinner party in town with spacious circular table seating with fine linens, or lawn seating for those who want to bring a blanket - each option carries on the tradition of picnic-dining with your family and friends with Michael Feinstein and Pasadena's premier POPS orchestra! The Arboretum is located at 301 North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA. Single tickets and season subscriptions are now on sale and are available by calling the box office at (626) 793-7172, online at PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org or at the Arboretum on the day of the concerts.

IF YOU GO:

What: The Sinatra Project with Michael Feinstein and the Pasadena POPS

When: Saturday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: The LA County Arboretum | 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007

Cost: Tickets start at $25.00

Dining: Gates open at 5:30pm. Guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink or visit one of the many onsite gourmet food vendors.

Parking: Subscribers have the opportunity to purchase onsite Arboretum parking. Single ticket holders may park for free at the Westfield Santa Anita shopping center with free non-stop shuttles to the main gate.

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace.

More than simply a performer, Feinstein has received national recognition for his commitment to celebrating America's popular song and preserving its legacy for the next generation. In 2007, he founded the Great American Songbook Foundation, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Songbook Academy, a summer intensive open to students from across the country. Michael serves on the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Board, an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage.

Most recently, Concord Records released A Michael Feinstein Christmas. Feinstein, accompanied by venerable GRAMMY-award winning jazz pianist Alan Broadbent (Charlie Haden, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole), puts his signature stylings on a selection of holiday standards.

Feinstein earned his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009 for The Sinatra Project, his Concord Records CD celebrating the music of "Ol' Blue Eyes." The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The Good Life was released in 2011. His Emmy nominated TV special, Michael Feinstein - The Sinatra Legacy, which was taped live at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, aired across the country in 2011. The PBS series "Michael Feinstein's American Songbook" was the recipient of the ASCAP Deems-Taylor Television Broadcast Award. The series returned in 2013 for a third season, which is now available on DVD. His next primetime TV Special on PBS, "Michael Feinstein at The Rainbow Room," aired on New Year's Eve, 2014. For his nationally syndicated public radio program "Song Travels," Michael interviews and performs alongside of music luminaries such as Bette Midler, Neil Sedaka, Liza Minnelli, Rickie Lee Jones, David Hyde Pierce and more.

His new book, a Los Angeles Times best-seller, The Gershwins and Me, which is combined with a new CD of Gershwin standards performed with Cyrus Chestnut at the piano, was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2012. He released the CDs The Power Of Two - collaborating with "Glee" and "30 Rock" star - and Cheek To Cheek, recorded with Broadway legend Barbara Cook. He recorded We Dreamed These Days, featuring the Carmel Symphony Orchestra; Feinstein co-wrote the title song with Dr. Maya Angelou.

Feinstein was named Principal Pops Conductor for the Pasadena POPS in 2012 and made his conducting debut in June 2013 to celebrated critical acclaim. Under Feinstein's leadership, the Pasadena POPS has quickly become the nation's premier presenter of the Great American Songbook in the orchestral arena delivering definitive performances of rare orchestrations and classic arrangements. In June 2014, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts announced the launch of the MICHAEL FEINSTEIN CONDUCTS THE KRAVIS CENTER POPS ORCHESTRA which sold out 3 shows.

Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, which opened in January 2011. The theater is home to diverse live programming and a museum for his rare memorabilia and manuscripts. Since 1999, he has served as Artistic Director in collaboration with ASCAP for the immensely popular series at Carnegie Hall, Standard Time with Michael Feinstein. Starting in 2010, he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center.

He has designed a new piano for Steinway called "The First Ladies," inspired by the White House piano and signed by several former First Ladies. It was first played to commemorate the Ronald Regan centennial on February 6, 2011.

In 2013 Michael released a new CD, Change Of Heart: The Songs of Andre Previn, (Concord) in collaboration with legendary composer-conductor-pianist Andre Previn, with an album celebrating Previn's repertoire from his catalog of pop songs that have most commonly been featured in motion pictures. The album opens with "(You've Had) A Change of Heart." Previn's work is highlighted with four Oscars and 11 GRAMMY Awards.

In 2005, Feinstein recorded Hopeless Romantics, a songbook of Harry Warren classics recorded with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. The previous year, he completed a national tour with songwriting icon Jimmy Webb based on their album Only One Life - The Songs of Jimmy Webb. The disc was named one of "10 Best CDs of the Year" by USA Today.

In 2003, Feinstein received his fourth Grammy nomination for his release Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his first recording with a symphony orchestra. The year before, Rhino/Elektra Music released The Michael Feinstein Anthology, a two-disc compilation spanning the years 1987 to 1996 and featuring old favorites and previously unreleased tracks.

His nightclub, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, presented the top talents of pop and jazz from 1999 - 2012, including Rosemary Clooney, Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Diahann Carroll, Jane Krakowski, Lea Michele, Cyndi Lauper, Jason Mraz and Alan Cumming. The club was closed in December of 2012 due to a year-long complete renovation of the Regency Hotel. Michael opened his new nightclub, Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco's Nikko Hotel in May of 2013 and Feinstein's on Broadway will open at a new location in 2015 and also plans for a future nightclub in London.

His many other credits include scoring the original music for the film Get Bruce and performing on the hits television series "Better With You," "Caroline in the City," "Melrose Place," "Coach," "Cybil," "7th Heaven" and "Devious Maids."

The roots of all this work began in Columbus, Ohio, where Feinstein started playing piano by ear as a 5-year-old. After graduating from high school, he worked in local piano bars for two years, moving to Los Angeles when he was 20. The widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant introduced him to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. Feinstein became Gershwin's assistant for six years, which earned him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, many of which he has since performed and recorded.

Gershwin's influence provided a solid base upon which Feinstein evolved into a captivating performer, composer and arranger of his own original music. He also has become an unparalleled interpreter of music legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington and Harry Warren. Feinstein has received three honorary doctorates.

Through his live performances, recordings, film and television appearances, and his songwriting (in collaboration with Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Lindy Robbins, Bob Merrill and Amanda Green), Feinstein is an all-star force in American music.

For more information, visit www.MichaelFeinstein.com.

Formed in 1928, the PASADENA SYMPHONY AND POPS is an ensemble of Hollywood's most talented, sought after musicians. With extensive credits in the film, television, recording and orchestral industry, the artists of Pasadena Symphony and POPS are the most heard in the world.

The Pasadena Symphony and POPS performs in two of the most extraordinary venues in the United States: Ambassador Auditorium, known as the Carnegie Hall of the West, and the luxuriant Los Angeles Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Internationally recognized, Grammy-nominated conductor, David Lockington, serves as the Pasadena Symphony Association's Music Director, with performance-practice specialist Nicholas McGegan serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," Michael Feinstein, is the Principal Pops Conductor, who succeeded Marvin Hamlisch in the newly created Marvin Hamlisch Chair.

A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region for over five decades through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO) comprised of five performing ensembles, with over 250 gifted 4th-12th grade students from more than 50 schools all over the Southern California region. The PYSO Symphony often performs on the popular television show GLEE.

The PSA provides people from all walks of life with powerful access points to the world of symphonic music.

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