Mykal Kilgore and More Updated Casting Announcements For Upcoming New York Pops Concerts At Carnegie Hall

Nikki Renée Daniels and Ryan Shaw will join The New York Pops and Music Director Steven Reineke for Unforgettable: Celebrating Nat King Cole and Friends on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, replacing previously announced soloist Billy Porter, who has withdrawn from this performance due to a schedule conflict. Unforgettable celebrates Nat King Cole's centennial, featuring his greatest hits alongside special selections from legends that he inspired.

Mykal Kilgore joins previously announced guest artists Storm Large, Ashley Park, and Ryan Silverman and The New York Pops for Movie Mixtape: Songs from the Silver Screen on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. Mykal Kilgore replaces the previously announced guest artist Ryan Shaw who is now featured in Unforgettable on February 8.

Additional concerts in The New York Pops' 2018-19 season include: Roll Over Beethoven on Friday, October 19 at 8:00 p.m.; Song and Dance on Friday, November 16 at 8:00 p.m. with New York Theatre Ballet and Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA; Under the Mistletoe on Friday, December 21 and Saturday, December 22 at 8:00 p.m. with Ashley Brown; and the orchestra's 36th Birthday Gala on Monday, April 29 at 7:00 p.m.

Concert Information
THE NEW YORK POPS
Unforgettable: Celebrating Nat King Cole and Friends
Friday, February 8, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Nikki Renée Daniels, Guest Artist
Ryan Shaw, Guest Artist

THE NEW YORK POPS
Movie Mixtape: Songs from the Silver Screen
Friday, March 15, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Mykal Kilgore, Guest Artist
Storm Large, Guest Artist
Ashley Park, Guest Artist
Ryan Silverman, Guest Artist

Tickets, priced at $20 to $145, are available for purchase at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, at 57th and Seventh, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website at carnegiehall.org.

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. Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, The New York Pops continues to re-imagine orchestral pops music. The orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall and a summer series at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY. The New York Pops is dedicated to lifelong learning and collaborates with public schools, community organizations, children's hospitals 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.

Steven Reineke is the Music Director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, 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 Symphony and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and has been on the podium with the Boston Pops, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia. His extensive North American conducting appearances include Seattle, Edmonton, and Pittsburgh. As the creator of more than one hundred orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the composer of symphonic and wind ensemble compositions, Mr. Reineke's work has been performed worldwide.

Nikki Renée Daniels recently starred in The Book of Mormon on Broadway. She played Clara in the 2012 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Other Broadway credits include Fantine in LES MISERABLES, Hope Harcourt in Anything Goes, Nehebka in Tim Rice and Elton John's Aida, Renata in Nine, Crystal in the revival of Little Shop of Horrors, Eleni in Bernie Taupin and Elton John's Lestat, and Woman #3 in the Roundabout production of Burt Bacharach's The Look of Love. Ms. Daniels made her New York City Opera debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess. Other New York credits include Martha Jefferson in 1776 at City Center Encores! and Rose Lennox in The Secret Garden at David Geffen Hall. On television Nikki has appeared as a featured player on "Chappelle's Show," "Madam Secretary," and "The Sound of Music: Live." She has performed as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras across the country and in Canada, and made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2007. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Her debut solo CD, "Home" is available on iTunes and CDBaby.com.

Three time Grammy nominee Ryan Shaw began singing in church at the age of five and later formed a family group with four of his brothers called the Shaw Boys. After briefly attending Georgia State University, Ryan successfully auditioned for the gospel musical A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Part II). In 1998, he joined the cast of I Know I've Been Changed, written and directed by Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman). Ryan came to New York with this production and performed to sold-out crowds at the Beacon Theatre. After the closing of I Know I've Been Changed, Ryan joined the resident cast of the Motown Café on West 57th Street where he performed Detroit soul favorites by The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. In 2004, Ryan was recruited into the Fabulous Soul Shakers, a vocal group specializing in classic soul and doo-wop featuring New York music veteran and guitarist Johnny Gale, who urged his friend Jimmy Bralower-percussionist and drum programmer and one of the city's most in-demand session players-to check Ryan out. After hearing Ryan sing, Bralower invited Ryan back to his basement studio on Long Island together with Johnny Gale, where they quickly cut four of Ryan's featured numbers with the Soul Shakers including "Do the 45" and "I Found a Love." Their collaboration resulted in reinventing such nuggets as Jackie Wilson's "I'll Be Satisfied" and Bobby Womack's "Lookin' For a Love," while creating original songs that meshed seamlessly with old ones. "Nobody" was the first single from This Is Ryan Shaw, and "We Got Love" was prominently featured in January 2007 promos for the ABC network television series Brothers and Sisters. Ryan delivers every song with the kind of emotional commitment and vocal panache that have nearly vanished from the mainstream musical landscape.

Mykal Kilgore studied voice at Florida State University where he learned to hone his ability to go from singing a Broadway show tune to soul and jazz scatting to Gospel. In addition, his multi-faceted and multi-octave tenor can easily slide up to a crystal clear soprano, a feat unmatched by even today's most popular male vocalists. Mykal's sound is a gumbo of American roots music and modern feels, soul and storytelling. Mykal was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed production of Songs for A New World at Encores! Off-Center and as Simon in Jesus Christ Superstar at Chicago Lyric Opera. Other theater credits include Motown: the Musical and Hair on Broadway, as well as The Book of Mormon (first national tour). He has also appeared in TV/Film with roles in NBC's live productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wiz, as well as Collateral Beauty. Mykal racked up over 10 million views on social media via his videos with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox and his viral "Reclaiming My Time" video. Mykal has also performed to sold out audiences at Joe's Pub, Roseland, Birdland, The Kennedy Center, and in his own cabarets "MYKAL@54Below" and "MYKAL@TheApolloMusicCafe."

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