Steven Reineke’s boundless enthusiasm and exceptional artistry have made him one of the nation’s most sought-after pops conductors, composers and arrangers. Mr. Reineke is the newly appointed Principal Pops Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, and Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  He previously held posts as Principal Pops Conductor of the Long Beach and Modesto Symphony Orchestras and Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in the past year has been on the podium with the Boston Pops and The Cleveland Orchestra.  He made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut on July 4, 2012 at Ravinia.  His extensive North American conducting appearances include Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Vancouver, Ottawa (National Arts Centre), Detroit, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Tampa (The Florida Orchestra), Calgary, Memphis and Oklahoma City. He has become a favourite with ESO pops audiences, with 11 appearances since 2007.
 
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. 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 New York City. Mr. Reineke is represented by Peter Throm Management, LLC.

Mr. Reineke last appeared with the ESO in September 2011.

Ashley Brown originated the title role in Mary Poppins on Broadway, for which she received Outer Critics, Drama League, and Drama Desk nominations for Best Actress. Other Broadway credits include Belle in The Beauty and the Beast. Ms. Brown starred in the national tour of Disney's On the Record. She has performed with many orchestras in the past year, including the New York Pops (twice), Cincinnati Pops (with Erich Kunzel), the Indianapolis Symphony (with Jack Everly), and the Pensacola Symphony.

Ashley Brown starred in the title role of Disney's national tour of Mary Poppins beginning in March 2009, and the 2009 New York Philharmonic gala with Marvin Hamlisch at Lincoln Center, and a debut album of American Songbook standards. Regional credits include Guys and Dolls and The Leading Men of Broadway with the Indianapolis Symphony, Broadway By the Year: 1956 at Town Hall in New York City, and many shows at the Muny. Ms. Brown studied at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre. She was honoured with the Laurie Beechman Award at CCM.

This is Ms. Brown’s debut with the ESO.

Aaron Lazar is currently starring in Mamma Mia! on Broadway. As the amusing and surprisingly touching Count Carl-Magnus, he starred opposite two winning pairs of leading ladies: Catherine Zeta-Jones & Angela Lansbury, as well as Bernadette Peters & Elaine Stritch, in the first-ever Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. The native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey made his Broadway debut in The Phantom of the Opera. He continued to appear on Broadway in the revival of Oklahoma and A Tale of Two Cities, as well as The Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center and on PBS, the world premiere of Impressionism opposite Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen, and Marsha Mason, and the revival of Les Misérables for which his powerhouse performance as Enjolras garnered him critical acclaim and a Drama Desk Award nomination.

In addition to his critically acclaimed performance in South Pacific at the Hollywood Bowl, and his star turn as Billy Bigelow with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, Aaron Lazar has been a guest artist with the the Cincinnati Pops under the late Erich Kunzel, the Philadelphia Pops under Peter Nero, the National Symphony under the late Marvin Hamlisch, and The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall under Steven Reineke for the 80th birthday celebration of Stephen Sondheim. On television and film, Aaron has appeared in White Collar, Person of Interest, The Gifted Man, The Notorious Bettie Page, Ugly Betty, New Amsterdam (FOX), All My Children, and as DA David Wilentz in Clint Eastwood’s J.Edgar. Aaron’s recordings include A Little Night Music (Nonesuch Records; Grammy nomination), Kathie Lee Gifford’s Everyone Has a Story, Sam Davis’ Love on a Summer Afternoon, Tim Prottey-Jones’ More With Every Line, and the concept album Imagine This with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.  Visit www.aaronlazar.com

This is Mr. Lazar’s debut with the ESO.