Max Von Essen Featured in The New York Pops Underground Cabaret at Feinstein's/54 Below on Monday, October 4

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Katlyn Morahan
Morahan Arts and Media
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com
(646) 378-9386

MAX VON ESSEN FEATURED IN
THE NEW YORK POPS UNDERGROUND CABARET
AT FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 4

August 23, 2021, New York, NY — Tony, Drama Desk and Grammy nominated singer and actor Max von Essen is featured in an intimate New York Pops Underground cabaret performance at Feinstein’s/54 Below on Monday, October 4, 2021. The event begins with a champagne reception at 5:30pm followed by the performance at 6:30pm, accompanied by a three-course dinner with wine pairings.

The New York Pops Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke hosts the evening, which is The New York Pops’ first in-person event since February 2020. Max’s performance celebrates his love of the golden age of Broadway and the American Songbook, and includes “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific, “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady, a Gershwin medley, and other selections. Max previously appeared with The New York Pops in January 2020 in Find Your Dream: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein at Carnegie Hall.

Proceeds from The New York Pops Underground cabaret fundraiser support PopsEd programs, which provide music education, arts access, and performance opportunities for New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds.

The event also celebrates Executive Director Anne Swanson’s 20th anniversary at The New York Pops, as well as the orchestra's forthcoming return to Carnegie Hall. Digital congratulatory ads to honor The New York Pops’ perseverance to “Keep the Music Playing” throughout the pandemic and support the organization’s future are currently on-sale.

Upcoming concerts in The New York Pops’ 2021-22 Carnegie Hall season include: Back Home For the Holidays on Friday, December 17, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. with Laura Benanti; Get Happy: That Nelson Riddle Sound on Friday, February 4, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. with Tony DeSare and Capathia Jenkins; and One Night Only: An Evening with Norm Lewis on Friday, March 4, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. in addition to the orchestra’s 39th Birthday Gala on Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

Event Information

The New York Pops Underground
Max Von Essen

Feinstein’s/54 Below
254 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10019

Monday, October 4, 2021
5:30pm Champagne Reception
6:30pm Performance and Dinner

Max von Essen, Guest Artist
Hosted by The New York Pops Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke
Hillary and Bill Weldon, Event Chairs

Ticket pricing starts at $300; tickets are available through The New York Pops’ office at 212-765-7677. 

Livestream tickets for the event, beginning at $20, are also available.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required for all patrons, personnel, and artists in attendance.

This performance is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature.

About the Artists
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 38th 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. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Pops adapted its PopsEd programs to provide remote learning opportunities to students, and orchestra musicians were featured in new digital performances.

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), Instagram (@thenewyorkpops), and Twitter (@thenewyorkpops).

Steven Reineke has established himself as one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music. In 2019, Mr. Reineke celebrated his tenth anniversary 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 Atlanta, Cincinnati, Edmonton, San Francisco and Sarasota.

On stage, Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of 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, among others. In 2017, National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” featured Reineke leading the National Symphony Orchestra performing live music excerpts between news segments — a first in the show’s 45-year history. 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 100 orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, 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. 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. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands worldwide.

Max von Essen is a Tony, Drama Desk and Grammy nominated singer and actor best known for his role as Henri in the award winning production of An American in Paris on Broadway. Most recently, he completed a year-long run in the Broadway production of Anastasia and then toured the country in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Evita, the revivals of Les Miz and Jesus Christ Superstar, Dance of the Vampires, and the closing company of the original Les Miz. Additional New York credits include Yours Unfaithfully, Death Takes a Holiday, The Jerry Springer Opera, Hello Again, Finian’s Rainbow and The Fantasticks. Tours include Xanadu, West Side Story and Chicago. TV & Film include Law & Order: SVU, Elementary, Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife, Royal Pains, Gossip Girl, Seven Lovers, Sex and the City 2, and the webseries Submissions Only. Max’s concert work has brought him all across the country and Canada, including The Kennedy Center, Birdland Jazz Club and a recent solo debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops. Recordings include An American in Paris, Evita, Death Takes a Holiday, Finian’s Rainbow, Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Weber, and his debut solo album, Call Me Old Fashioned: The Broadway Standard, now available on iTunes.

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