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Cleveland Pops and LEGACY: Broadway on the Severance stage (Feb. 1)

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by Stephanie Manning

Cleveland is no stranger to welcoming Broadway talent, with Playhouse Square regularly hosting national tours of award-winning musicals. But on February 1, it felt like Broadway came to Severance Music Center instead.

The vocal quartet LEGACY teamed up with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra to present “Music of Motown,” a high-energy evening that was memorable in the best way. “Tonight is about having a really good time,” LEGACY founder Justin Reynolds promised the packed crowd — and the two groups certainly delivered. [Read more…]

Cleveland Pops Orchestra: Season 28 begins with Broadway’s Best

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by Mike Telin

What do you do when you’re programming a concert and you’re curious to know what your audience wants to hear? “We sent a survey to our subscribers asking them to tell us their favorite Broadway show and favorite song,” Carl Topilow said during a telephone conversation. “People were interested in participating. We had a nice return and came up with a lot of great possibilities.”

On Friday, October 25 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra will launch its 28th season when Topilow leads “Broadway’s Best.” The evening will feature music from hit musicals including Hello Dolly, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Les Misérables. Tickets are available online.

Topilow said that he looks forward to having three wonderful guest vocalists join him and the orchestra onstage. [Read more…]

Daniel Emmet sparkles in the
spotlight at Cleveland Pops (Nov. 5)

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by Stephanie Manning

Given the venues that Daniel Emmet is used to performing in, Severance Music Center must have felt like quite the culture shock. The classical crossover vocalist, a 2018 finalist on America’s Got Talent, has entertained crowds at places like Caesars Palace, Staples Center, and Angels Stadium. But that didn’t mean that Emmet was any less excited for his appearance on November 5 — quite the contrary.

“Hello, Cleveland!” he announced with a wide grin. “I’ve been waiting many years to say that.” Together with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the operatically-trained tenor delivered a memorable, genre-crossing evening of music.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Pops kicks off season with tenor Daniel Emmet 

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by Mike Telin

If you’re a fan of talent shows, you probably remember Daniel Emmet as the opera singer who accepted the “impossible challenge” delivered by Simon Cowell during Season 13 of America’s Got Talent.

Since those appearances in 2018, Emmet has used his vocal prowess to carve out a notable career for himself. His single “True Reflection” debuted at #1 on the iTunes Classical Chart and he’s headlined his own show, “All That I Am,” at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas — his list of musical accomplishments goes on.

The one thing Emmet has never done is perform in Cleveland. That will change on  Saturday, November 5 at 8:00 pm when he joins Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra for their season-opening concert at Severance Music Center. Tickets are  available online.

Answering his phone in Las Vegas, the city he has called home since he was in his mid-teens, Emmet’s enthusiasm about Saturday’s concert was palpable. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Pops: from Queen to Byron Stripling

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by Jarrett Hoffman

This weekend with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra is a case study in the breadth of sounds contained under the umbrella of “pops.”

On Friday, January 21 at 8:00 pm at Playhouse Square, that term means the music of a classic band outfitted in a mix of rock and orchestral clothes, as conductor Brent Havens, vocalist Tony Vincent, and a full rock band join the Pops to celebrate “The Music of Queen.”

And on Saturday, January 22 at 8:00 pm at Severance Music Center, it means the singular jazz stylings of a trumpeter/vocalist with plenty of virtuosity and charisma to spare, as showcased in “All that Jazz with Byron Stripling,” a program led by music director Carl Topilow. Get tickets for those events here and here, and read the Pops’ COVID-19 safety policies here.

That kind of variety is a big part of the job for both Topilow and the ensemble. “We’re fortunate,” the conductor (below) said in an interview on Zoom. “Piano, bass, drums, brass — they’re sort of the core of our orchestra, like the pitcher and catcher of a baseball team. And so many of them are experienced jazz players, which puts us at a huge advantage in concerts like these.”

[Read more…]

Cleveland Pops with Capathia Jenkins (Mar. 9)

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by David Kulma

A golden age in American popular music began about a century ago. Lasting four decades and pervading musical theater, sound recordings, film, radio, and jazz stylings, it left a body of music that has never gone out of circulation and is regularly trumpeted as one of America’s best collective creations. We now call it “The Great American Songbook.”

[Read more…]

Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra play “John Williams: Cinema’s Greatest Music”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

The music of the prolific film composer John Williams was a staple of Carl Topilow’s programming long before he launched the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. “We were doing Star Wars medleys in the late ‘70s with the Denver Symphony — now the Colorado Symphony,” the conductor told us during an interview in January of 2016.

On Saturday, February 2 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Topilow and the Cleveland Pops will honor Williams “and his incredible contributions to the world of music,” as the conductor told us recently over email. Tickets are available here.

“In the span of six decades, John Williams has composed some of the most popular, inspiring, and recognizable film scores in cinematic history,” Topilow said. “Whether drama, science fiction, patriotism, action, adventure, comedy, or despair, he always finds the perfect mood. It is a great joy to perform his music, and we look forward to a wonderful concert.”

[Read more…]

Ring in 2019 with the Cleveland POPS: a conversation with special guest Erich Bergen

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by Mike Telin

For the past 22 years, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra have hosted the best New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland. That tradition will continue on Monday, December 31 beginning at 9:00 pm in Severance Hall with “The Hollywood Songbook: Songs from the Big and Small Screen,” featuring singer Erich Bergen. Then at 11:00 pm you can party and dance into 2019 with the No-Name Band and the Cleveland POPS Jazz Ensemble. Enjoy cash bars, refreshments, and desserts for purchase, and a fabulous balloon drop at midnight. Tickets are available online.

Erich Bergen is a man of many talents. He starred in the Clint Eastwood film Jersey Boys, reprising his role as Bob Gaudio in the Tony Award-winning stage production. He made his Broadway debut starring opposite Katharine McPhee in the hit musical Waitress. He performed the role of Randy Kroll in the 2018 film Humor Me, and currently stars as Blake Moran on the hit CBS television drama Madam Secretary. A critically acclaimed singer/musician, he performs in concert venues around the world.

I got in touch with Erich Bergen by phone and began by asking him if he has worked with Carl Topilow in the past.

[Read more…]

Cleveland POPS Orchestra Scholarship Competition

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The 20th annual Jean L. Petitt Memorial Music Scholarship will be held on Sunday, November 4 from 5:00-8:00 pm at CIM. Open to young singers, dancers, and instrumentalists up to age 18 residing and attending high school in the 7-county Greater Cleveland region, the competition offers a cash award and an opportunity to appear with Cleveland POPS Orchestra. Click here for details.

Cleveland Pops: Tony DeSare in “I Love a Piano” (March 25)

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by Mike Telin

DeSare-TopilowOn the off-chance that somebody didn’t “love” the piano before attending the Cleveland Pops concert on March 25 at Severance Hall, pianist, singer-songwriter, and arranger Tony DeSare provided more than enough reasons to have a change of heart during his new show, aptly titled I Love a Piano. [Read more…]

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