The New York Pops to Honor Kristen and Bobby Lopez at Rescheduled Birthday Gala on Monday, April 25, 2022 at Carnegie Hall

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

THE NEW YORK POPS TO HONOR
KRISTEN AND BOBBY LOPEZ AT RESCHEDULED
BIRTHDAY GALA ON MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2022 AT CARNEGIE HALL

November 18, 2021, New York, NY — The New York Pops will honor the songwriting duo Kristen and Bobby Lopez at its 39th Birthday Gala on Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00pm in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. The festive concert features the couple’s iconic works—written with each other, as well as with other collaborators—performed by The New York Pops, under the music direction of Steven Reineke, along with an exciting line-up of guest artists to be announced.

Kristen and Bobby Lopez were originally slated to be honored at The New York Pops’ 37th Birthday Gala on April 27, 2020.

Together, Kristen and Bobby Lopez have written music and lyrics for films including Disney’s Frozen (for which they won an Academy Award and Grammy Award) and Pixar’s Coco (for which they won a second Academy Award), as well as songs for the Marvel series WandaVision (Emmy Award win).

Other major projects include the Broadway adaptation of Frozen and the motion picture Frozen 2. Their works with additional collaborators include the hit Broadway musicals Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, and In Transit.

“It’s a thrilling opportunity to celebrate The Lopezes at this year’s gala,” said Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor. “Over the years, The New York Pops has performed selections from their wide-ranging songbook, but never before have we dedicated an entire concert to their brilliant music and lyrics! We can’t wait to explore their body of work with a full orchestra, as well as the talents of the friends they’ve made along the way.”

Proceeds from the Gala support the New York Pops orchestra and the organization’s PopsEd music education programs that reach throughout all five boroughs of New York City. The concert is followed by a black-tie optional dinner and dance at the Mandarin Oriental New York.

Additional concerts in The New York Pops’ 2021-22 Carnegie Hall season include: Back Home for the Holidays on Friday, December 17, 2021 at 8:00pm with Laura Benanti; Get Happy: That Nelson Riddle Sound on Friday, February 4, 2022 at 8:00pm with Tony DeSare and Capathia Jenkins; and One Night Only: An Evening with Norm Lewis on Friday, March 4, 2022 at 8:00pm.

Concert Information

THE NEW YORK POPS 39TH BIRTHDAY GALA
Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Kristen & Bobby Lopez, Music Honorees

Tickets for the concert will be available to the public in early 2022. Tickets to the black-tie Dinner Dance will be available by calling The New York Pops office at 212-765-7677.

Please note: to support a safe reopening for in-person events and in accordance with the advice of medical and public health experts, all artists, visitors, and staff will be required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID19 with a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to enter Carnegie Hall. While inside Carnegie Hall, all guests must wear a properly fitting mask over their nose and mouth except when eating or drinking in designated areas.

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 39th 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).

About Steven Reineke
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, 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 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.

About the Honorees
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are the Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy winning, married songwriting team behind the Disney animated films, Frozen and Frozen 2. Together they also wrote the Oscar winning song “Remember Me” from Pixar’s Coco and songs for Marvel’s WandaVision (Emmy Award win for “Agatha All Along”). They wrote songs for the Obama’s series We the People and adapted Frozen for the Broadway stage. Robert co-conceived and co-wrote the hit musicals Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon, both earning him Tony Awards. Kristen’s show In Transit made history as the first all a cappella musical to run on Broadway, after an award-winning Off-Broadway run. Lopez and Anderson-Lopez have written for television, film and stage, including Finding Nemo: The Musical; songs for “The Wonder Pets” (two Emmy Award wins) and the Winnie the Pooh animated film. Lopez and Anderson-Lopez both serve on the Dramatist Guild Council. Graduates of Yale University and Williams College, respectively, they now reside in Brooklyn with their two daughters.

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