New York, NY — On Monday, April 27, at 7:00pm in Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops honors Feinstein’s at Loews Regency on its tenth anniversary and congratulates Michael Feinstein and Jonathan Tisch for leading this great New York institution. The stars who make Feinstein’s at Loews Regency the perfect intimate setting for American popular song will take the stage at Carnegie Hall to celebrate New York’s quintessential supper club in grand style. The all-star 26^th Birthday Gala concert will also include a salute to New Amsterdam Rediscovered, a joint Dutch-American initiative celebrating the 400^th anniversary of the exploration of New York Harbor and the Hudson River. Liz Smith will host the concert evening.

The concert will feature performances by The New York Pops conducted by Steven Reineke, Music Director-Designate. The performance marks the world premiere of the American River Suite written by Stephen Flaherty with lyrics by William Schermerhorn which is dedicated to Henry Hudson’s historic voyage and was commissioned for the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks which will be telecast on NBC.

Joining the orchestra on stage will be 20 junior high school-aged students from The New York Pops’ Salute to Music education program. The students will sit side-by-side with members of The New York Pops and perform “Conjunction Junction” and “Figure Eight” with legendary Schoolhouse Rock composer Bob Dorough. Five will be selected at the concert to receive scholarships to attend music camp at the New York Summer Music Festival. Kids from the Ronald McDonald House of New York City will also join the orchestra to showcase their rock band talents as learned in a year-long residency led by Dr. Sherrie Maricle, The New York Pops’ Director of Education. Cheering on the performers will be over 800 children attending the concert free of charge as part of the orchestra’s Kids in the Balcony music education program. For many, this will be their first Carnegie Hall experience.

The gala will include a live auction led by Nicholas Lowry of Swan Galleries. There will also be an online auction on www.Charitybuzz.com  beginning April 20 through May 6. Online auction items will include a Personalized Voice Mail from Julie Andrews, Four Tickets to Shrek the Musical with a backstage tour with John Tartaglia, and Dinner with New York Pops Music Director-Designate Steven Reineke.

Gala Co-Chairs are June Freemanzon, Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols, and William Schermerhorn. Corporate chair is Max Rutten.

 Gala Honorary Chairs include Her Royal Highness Princess Christina of the Netherlands,

Renée Jones-Bos, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States, and Michael Gallagher, United States Chargé d’Affaires to the Netherlands.

Single tickets for the concert range from $55 to $150 and are open to the public. To purchase tickets call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Tickets are also available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, or online at  www.carnegiehall.org

Gala Tickets range from $1,000 for one concert ticket and dinner seating to $50,000 from one premier first tier box and dinner table for eight. For more information about the benefit dinner dance at the Pierre call

646-435-4875.

Steven Reineke will begin his tenure as Music Director of The New York Pops in October 2009. His three-year contract extends through September 30, 2012. Mr. Reineke will conduct the orchestra’s annual concert series at Carnegie Hall as well as tours, recordings and broadcasts. New York’s only permanent and professional symphonic pops orchestra, The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States.

During the 2009-2010 season, Steven Reineke will also begin his tenure as Principal Pops Conductor of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and embark on his second season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he holds the title of Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, where for thirteen years he has served as a composer, arranger, and conducting protégé of the celebrated pops conductor Erich Kunzel.

Steven Reineke’s recent guest conducting appearances include the orchestras of Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Baltimore and Edmonton. In 2009 he makes his Boston Pops debut. He made his Hollywood Bowl debut in 2007 with the multi-faceted entertainer Wayne Brady and returned to the Hollywood Bowl in 2008 to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition, Mr. Reineke conducted, arranged and orchestrated the music for Mr. Brady’s orchestral show and played the same role in his collaboration with rock legend Peter Frampton.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Reineke is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio, where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in Cincinnati and will relocate to New York City in 2009.

Stephen Flaherty writes music for theater, film, recordings and the concert stage. He is perhaps best known as the composer of the Broadway musicals Ragtime (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Grammy nominations), Seussical (Grammy and Drama Desk nominations), Once on This Island (Tony nomination, Olivier Award for London’s Best Musical), and also contributed music to

Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life (original songs) and Neil Simon's Proposals (incidental music). He has also written four musicals produced a Lincoln Center Theatre: The Glorious Ones (Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations), Dessa Rose (Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations), A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, Drama Desk nomination) and My

Favorite Year. Other theater scores include Lucky Stiff and Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (Chicago’s Jefferson Award for Best New Musical). Film credits include Anastasia (Academy Award nominations for Best Score and Best Song, two Golden Globe nominations and a gold record for its soundtrack), Bartok the Magnificent (original score and songs) and the upcoming After The Storm. Concert work includes commissions from the Boston Pops, Carnegie Hall and the Guggenheim Museum. “The Ahrens and Flaherty Songbook,” a print anthology, is available through Alfred Music. His songs have been recorded by Aaliyah, Johnny Mathis, Richard Marx and Donna Lewis, Renee Fleming and Bryn Terfel, Donny Osmond, Thalia and Deana Carter, among others. Mr. Flaherty serves on the Dramatists Guild Council, where he co-chairs the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program for emerging writers with Lynn Ahrens, his longtime writing partner.

William Schermerhorn, is no stranger to large-scale, theatrical events on a national level.  As VP/Creative Director of Macy’s Parade & Entertainment Group, Bill has the opportunity to promote the Macy’s brand in a truly unique and exhilarating way:  From concept development to the final “curtain”, he is the leader of the creative team responsible for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®, Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® and other extravaganzas for “America’s Department Store.”

As part of his job description, he has written the book and lyrics for several musical endeavors and has created original material for performers as diverse as Julie Andrews, Harvey Fierstein, Walter Cronkite, Deborah Voigt, the Clique Girlz and Kermit the Frog.  Recent projects include a marionette production of Miracle on 34th Street at Macy’s featuring the voices of an all-star Broadway cast led by Tony Award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Victoria Clark.  The year 2009 will see the premiere of American River Suite, with music by award-winning composer Stephen Flaherty and performed by The New York Pops.  Bill recently produced the show Free to Dream for recording legend Darlene Love and the US Air Force Band of Liberty at Boston’s City Hall Plaza.

Bill served as Artistic Director/Script Writer for Broadway on Broadway and Stars in the Alley.  In his spare time, he is working on several new musical projects and is a member of The Dramatists Guild, Inc.  Bill is a proud graduate of the College of William & Mary.  He was born on the 4th of July.

The New York Pops www.newyorkpops.org 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 newly appointed Music Director-Designate Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall, enjoying one of the highest subscription renewal rates of any series at Carnegie Hall. The New York Pops was founded by former NBC Music Director Skitch Henderson in 1983 with a mission to create greater public awareness and appreciation of America’s rich musical heritage. Along with performing at Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops tours throughout the world and gives free concerts in New York City parks through its Summermusic program. The orchestra’s media projects include performing music for the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC, nationwide radio broadcasts, and numerous recordings. The New York Pops’ extensive education programs allow thousands of public schoolchildren to participate in concert and music-making experiences at Carnegie Hall and in schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

Proceeds from the 26^th Birthday Gala support The New York Pops and its free Education Programs. 

Ticket Information

Single tickets for the concert range from $55 to $150 and are open to the public. To purchase tickets call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Tickets are also available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, or online at  www.carnegiehall.org

Gala Tickets range from $1,000 for one concert ticket and dinner seating to $50,000 from one premier first tier box and dinner table for eight. For more information about the benefit dinner dance at the Pierre call 646-435-4875.
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