Jack Everly to Conduct New York Pops in Performance of Irving Berlin 10/14

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly will lead the New York Pops and a stellar cast of performers with many Broadway credits in Irving Berlin: From Ragtime to Ritzes at New York's famed Carnegie Hall on Friday, October 14, at 8 p.m. This symphonic tribute to the legendary American composer premiered in Indianapolis June 12-14, 2009 and is one of Maestro Everly's Symphonic Pops Consortium productions.

"I am very pleased to be conducting the New York Pops in magnificent Carnegie Hall," said Everly. "Having created this Irving Berlin concert at the ISO and then to perform it in NYC is a testament to the unique creativity that is ongoing with the Pops Series in Indianapolis," he added.

Irving Berlin: From Ragtime to Ritzes showcases a broad spectrum of beloved songs by the great composer including "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Steppin' Out With My Baby," "Heat Wave," "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody," "Blue Skies," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and "Puttin' on the Ritz," to name a few. The concert features an outstanding cast of performers that includes Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins); Hugh Panaro (Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera); singer, songwriter and pianist Tony DeSare; James T. Lane (A Chorus Line, Chicago); and singer and actress NaTasha Yvette Williams (Porgy and Bess).

In 1998, Jack Everly founded the Symphonic Pops Consortium to create original symphonic pops productions with superb orchestral arrangements plus theatrical elements and costuming that orchestras may lease and perform for their own audiences. Based in Indianapolis, the Consortium produces a new theatrical pops program each season and over the past 12 years, more than 300 performances of SPC programs have taken place across the U.S. and Canada.

Artist Biographies
Jack Everly has served as Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra since 2002 and also serves in similar posts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and Music Director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, which has a viewership of millions and a live audience of more than half a million on the lawn of our nation's Capitol. This season, he returns to The Cleveland Orchestra and appears as guest conductor in Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Fort Worth, Detroit, Edmonton, Toronto, Carnegie Hall and many others. This past summer marked Jack Everly's Hollywood Bowl debut. Everly is the Music Director of Duke Energy Yuletide Celebration, now a 26-year tradition. These theatrical symphonic holiday concerts are presented annually in December in Indianapolis and are seen by more than 40,000 concertgoers. Mr. Everly led the ISO in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, which included three of his own arrangements. Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as Music Director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he has teamed with Marvin Hamlisch in Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored, including The Goodbye Girl, They're Playing Our Song and A Chorus Line. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions. In addition to conducting the Memorial Day and Capital Fourth Concerts, Jack Everly has appeared on In Performance at the White House on PBS and conducted the songs for the Disney soundtrack, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has been Music Director on numerous Broadway cast recordings and conducted the critically praised Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Broadway's Jule Styne. Among his other CDs are Daniel Rodriguez's In the Presence with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Prague and Sandi Patty's October 2011 release, Broadway Stories.

Ashley Brown recently finished a successful run in the title role in Disney's national tour of Mary Poppins, where she garnered a 2010 Garland Award for Best Performance in a Musical. Brown originated the title role of 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 Beauty and The Beast and she starred in the national tour of Disney's On The Record. Future projects include a PBS special that will be released nationwide in June, concerts at the Kennedy Center and with the New York Pops, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Memphis and Houston Symphony Orchestras. She recently made her cabaret debut to great acclaim at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York City and her debut album of American songbook standards was released earlier this year on the Ghostlight/Sony label. Indianapolis audiences have enjoyed her superb artistry in ISO concert stage productions of Guys and Dolls, Irving Berlin: From Ragtime to Ritzes and last February, Ashley Brown's Broadway in the ISO's Pops Series.

Hugh Panaro has been described as "the leader of Broadway's dwindling supply of great leading men." In 2009, he performed legendary Barbra Streisand in her very first European tour. Prior to that, Hugh starred in the title role of Lestat, Sir Elton John's Broadway musical based on Anne Rice's infamous The Vampire Chronicles. For this, he received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. Hugh has created numerous other Broadway leading roles including Buddy in Sideshow, Julian Craster in Jule Styne's last musical, The Red Shoes, and the title role in the American premiere of Cameron MacIntosh's Martin Guerre. Hugh made his Broadway debut as Marius in Les Misérables. He performed the role of Gaylord Ravenal in Harold Prince's Showboat both on Broadway and in London's prestigious West End. But it is Hugh's critically-acclaimed performance as the Phantom in Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera for which he is most notably recognized. Hugh is one of the few performers to have been cast by Mr. Prince as both the Phantom and Raoul in the Broadway production. As a concert artist, Hugh has performed with symphony orchestras across the United States and Europe. He starred at Avery Fisher Hall with the Radio City Rockettes in Jerry Herman's Mack and Mable, The Stephen Sondheim Gala, and performed in the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's Te Deum at Carnegie Hall. He also played the role of Sky Masterson in the ISO's first ever concert stage version of Guys & Dolls in October 2008. Hugh returned to the role of the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway in 2010.

Singer, pianist and songwriter Tony DeSare has won critical and popular acclaim from his concert performances throughout the United States as well as Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. Tony's takes on classic standards and sophisticated original compositions have earned him a reputation as one of country's hottest young singer/pianists. His sound is romantic, swinging and sensual, but what sets Tony apart is his ability to write original material that sounds fresh and at the same time blends seamlessly with the Great American Songbook. Tony's 2007 recording, Last First Kiss, spotlights a refreshingly contemporary combination of originals and standards, from Prince's "Kiss" and Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move" to classics like "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen's under-recorded gem "Come On Strong." Want You, Tony's debut CD, debuted at #16 on the Billboard chart when it was released in May 2005 and includes standards like "Two For The Road," "Just In Time," and "I Wish You Love," as well as originals "Marry Me," "How I Will Say I Love You," and the title track. Tony composed and performed the title theme to My Date With Drew, an independent documentary feature film about a guy who has 30 days and $1,100 to get a date with Drew Barrymore. It has been featured on "The Tonight Show," "The Today Show," Playboy Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Premiere. He was personally selected by Sam Arlen, son of Harold Arlen, the composer of classic songs like "Over The Rainbow," "Get Happy," and "Stormy Weather," to perform with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Birdland for the recent Harold Arlen Centennial. His big band show was presented by "Saturday Night Live" alum Joe Piscopo in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. DeSare's noted versatility enables him to headline a variety of venues. He has performed at major jazz rooms like Birdland and the Blue Note with his quartet; posh nightclubs like the Café Carlyle and Feinstein's at the Regency; with his big band in concert halls like Jazz at Lincoln Center; or with a 60-piece orchestra. In recent seasons, Tony also has headlined with major symphonies around the country.

James T. Lane made his Broadway debut in the latest revival of A Chorus Line (Richie Walters) and also appeared in Chicago. He toured nationally with Eartha Kitt in Cinderella and on the national and European tours of Fame (Tyrone Jackson).

NaTasha Yvette Williams is a singer with a four octave vocal range and actress who has performed in several theatrical plays throughout the country and is currently performing in Porgy and Bess. She has playEd Grace, the stepsister in the Broadway Series production of Cinderella, starring Eartha Kitt. She has shared the stage with Cathy Rigby in Suessical the Musical and played leading roles and given musical performances in such productions as The Goodbye Girl, Ain't Misbehavin, Joseph and Technicolor Dreamcoat, Little Shop of Horrors, Godspell and Boesman and Lena. Her television and movie credits include several appearances on One Life to Live, Studio 54 and Trippin'. NaTasha's gospel music has taken her to Japan, Italy, Canada and the Virgin Islands.

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