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Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony and Pacific Symphony as well as the Principal Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Presents. This season Lopez-Yañez has been named Principal Pops Conductor Designate of the Detroit Symphony, a position he will begin in the 24/25 season. Lopez-Yañez is quickly establishing himself as one of the Nation's leading conductors of popular music and becoming known for his unique style of audience engagement. Also an active composer/arranger, he has been commissioned to write for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Omaha Symphony, and has had his works performed by orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, National Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Utah Symphony among others.
Lopez-Yañez has conducted concerts with a broad spectrum of artists including: Nas, Gladys Knight, Ledisi, Itzhak Perlman, Stewart Copeland, Kenny Loggins, Toby Keith, Mickey Guyton, Kelsea Ballerini, Leslie Odom Jr., Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hanson, The Beach Boys, Kenny G and more. Lopez-Yañez also conducts the annual Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th fireworks show which was first televised on CMT in 2019 reaching millions of viewers across the nation.
This season, Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Patti LaBelle, Trisha Yearwood, Tituss Burgess, Vanesa Williams, Lyle Lovett, Jefferson Starship, Portugal. The Man, Guster, Ben Folds, Aida Cuevas, Lila Downs and Arturo Sandoval. Lopez-Yañez will appear with the Colorado Symphony, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony as well as make return appearances with the Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and more. Previously, Lopez-Yañez has appeared with orchestras throughout North America including the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony among others.
Lopez-Yañez is the recipient of the 2023 "Mexicanos Distiguidos" Award by the Mexican government, an award granted to Mexican citizens living abroad for outstanding career accomplishments in their field. As an advocate for Latin music, he has arranged and produced shows for Latin Fire, Mariachi Los Camperos, The Three Mexican Tenors, and collaborated with artists including Aida Cuevas and Lila Downs.
As Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. Symphonica manages a wide breadth of Pops and Family/Education productions that "breathe new, exuberant life into classical programming for kids and families" (Nashville Parent Magazine). Symphonica's productions have been described as "incredibly special - and something that needs to become the new norm" (Lima Symphony). Symphonica Productions is also a sheet music publishing house representing a diverse offering of genres and composers. Their roster of composers includes GRAMMY® nominated composer Clarice Assad, Sverre Indris Joner, Andres Soto, Charles Cozens, Vinicio Meza and more.
As a producer, composer, and arranger, Lopez-Yañez's work can be heard on numerous albums including the UNESCO benefit album Action Moves People United and children's music albums including The Spaceship that Fell in My Backyard, winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Hollywood Music and Media Awards, Family Choice Awards and Kokowanda Bay, winner of a Global Media Award as well as a Parents' Choice Award where Lopez-Yañez was lauded for his "catchy arrangements" (Parents' Choice Foundation).
Jack Everly is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic (Artis-Naples), and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He previously served as Principal Pops Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for seventeen seasons. He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, and numerous appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center.
Celebrating his 14th year as Music Director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, Maestro Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra in these patriotic celebrations on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. These concerts attract hundreds of thousands attendees on the lawn and the broadcasts reach millions of viewers and are some of the very highest rated programming on PBS television.
Maestro Everly is the also Music Director of the AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration, now a 30 + year tradition. He led the ISO in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, that included three of his own orchestrations Some of his other recordings include In The Presence featuring the Czech Philharmonic and Daniel Rodriguez ,Sandi Patty's Broadway Stories, the soundtrack to Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures Of Jule Styne.
Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maestro Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as Music Director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.
Maestro Everly, a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music in 2021 from his alma mater. In addition, he is a recipient of the 2023 Sagamore of the Wabash Award - the State of Indiana's highest honor, a 2015 Indiana Historical Society Living Legends Award, and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana. He is a proud resident of the Indianapolis community and when not on the podium you can find Maestro Everly at home with his family.
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 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.
Stuart Chafetz is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Columbus Symphony and Principal Pops Conductor of the Chautauqua and Marin Symphonies. Chafetz, a conductor celebrated for his dynamic and engaging podium presence, is increasingly in demand with orchestras across the continent and this season Chafetz will be on the podium in Detroit, Ft Worth, Naples, Buffalo, North Carolina and Seattle. He enjoys a special relationship with The Phoenix Symphony where he leads multiple programs annually.
He's had the privilege to work with renowned artists including Ne-Yo, Ben Folds, Natalie Merchant, Leslie Odom, Jr., En Vogue, Kenny G, David Foster w/Catherine McPhee, The O'Jays, Chris Botti, 2 Cellos, Hanson, Rick Springfield, Michael Bolton, Kool & The Gang, Jefferson Starship, America, Little River Band, Brian McKnight, Roberta Flack, George Benson, Richard Chamberlain, The Chieftains, Jennifer Holliday, John Denver, Marvin Hamlisch, Thomas Hampson, Wynonna Judd, Jim Nabors, Randy Newman, Jon Kimura Parker and Bernadette Peters.
He previously held posts as resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. As principal timpanist of the Honolulu Symphony for twenty years, Chafetz would also conduct the annual Nutcracker performances with Ballet Hawaii and principals from the American Ballet Theatre. It was during that time that Chafetz led numerous concerts with the Maui Symphony and Pops. He's led numerous Spring Ballet productions at the world-renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
When not on the podium, Chafetz makes his home near San Francisco, CA, with his wife Ann Krinitsky. Chafetz holds a bachelor's degree in music performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and a master's from the Eastman School of Music.
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. DeSare's latest single "Paris Always Will Have You" was released in early 2024 and available on all streaming 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 Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Artis-Naples/Naples Philharmonic, Grand Teton Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution and The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.
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.