CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
The New York Pops

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 8:00 PM

The New York Pops
Vincent Falcone, Conductor and Piano
Eric Stern, Conductor

Guest Artists:
·· Clint Holmes
·· Ashley Brown
·· Laura Bell Bundy
·· Linda Hart

STYNE Funny Girl Overture
STEPHEN SONDHEIM "What More Do I Need?" from Saturday Night
EDENS/BLANE/MARTIN "The Joint is Really Jumpin' Down in Carnegie Hall" from Thousands Cheer
STEPHEN SONDHEIM "Broadway Baby" from Follies
BERNSTEIN "Times Square" from On The Town
RODGERS/HART "Manhattan" from The Garrick Gaieties
PORTER "I Happen To Like New York" from The New Yorkers
G. JENKINS "New York's My Home"
STYNE/HILLIARD "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York" from Hazel Flagg
KENNETH LAUB A Love Letter to the City

Sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP

Program Notes:

What is in a name? In the case of The New York Pops, the name says it all. When the leaders of Carnegie Hall asked Skitch Henderson to form an orchestra for a pops concert in 1983, Skitch did not christen the orchestra the Carnegie Hall Pops. Tempting though it might have been to forge an association in name with the world’s greatest concert hall, Skitch chose to call the orchestra after his adopted hometown. Indeed, he made it the mission of The New York Pops to serve the city by bringing music not only to Carnegie Hall, but to New York’s classrooms, streets, and parks. Of course, any orchestra can and should serve its city. What makes The New York Pops exceptional is that it actually plays the music of its hometown. From the Gershwins of 33 Riverside Drive, to Duke Ellington of West 106th Street, to the songwriters who brought rock ‘n’ roll to America from 1619 Broadway (the Brill Building), the music of New Yorkers has always found a home in concerts by The New York Pops.

Oddly enough, while a composition about New York or by a New Yorker has been performed by The New York Pops on nearly every concert over the last 25 years, never has the orchestra devoted an entire evening to the songs of New York. Tonight’s concert rectifies the matter. In celebration of our 25th anniversary, we are delighted to offer classic songs of New York by a host of native or adopted New Yorkers, including the music of Richard Rodgers (3 West 120th Street), Jule Styne (Upper East Side), Stephen Sondheim (Turtle Bay), Cole Porter (Apartment 33-A at the Waldorf-Astoria), and Leonard Bernstein (The Dakota). In the second half of the concert, we celebrate Gotham with 13 new songs by New Yorker Ken Laub. His Love Letter to the City memorializes the mundane to the extraordinary of New York—in other words, what happens every day in a city of eight million that happens to be the cultural and financial capital of the world. Ken’s music was selected for this occasion not only because his lyrics bring fresh insight into the goings-on of our town, but because his music swings to the pulse of the city. It grooves and sways in arrangements that belie the notion that orchestras can’t swing. With arrangements by top jazz orchestrators Sammy Nestico, Don Sebesky, and Dick Lieb, among others, you had better believe that this orchestra will wail.

Joining the orchestra tonight are a brilliant cast of musical artists—some longtime New Yorkers, others about to be adopted by this great city. We are deeply grateful to conductors Eric Stern and Vincent Falcone, as well as vocalists Clint Holmes, Ashley Brown, Laura Bell Bundy, and Linda Hart, for sharing their talents and their love for New York with us.

Skitch Henderson would be proud that we celebrate New York this evening. Over the past 25 years, the city has given so much to the orchestra he founded. Tonight, we offer our gratitude.

—James M. Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
The New York Pops

The New York Pops
Vincent Falcone, Conductor and Piano
Eric Stern, Conductor

Guest Artists:
·· Clint Holmes
·· Ashley Brown
·· Laura Bell Bundy
·· Linda Hart
Eric Stern is one of Broadway’s busiest conductor-arrangers, with 16 Broadway shows and 32 albums to his credit. His Broadway shows include Rags, The Will Rogers Follies, Tyne Daly’s Gypsy, Carousel, Candide, Parade, Sunday in the Park with George, and Xanadu. He was conductor, pianist, and arranger for a highly regarded series of recordings for Nonesuch records with Dawn Upshaw, Audra McDonald, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as reconstructions of Gershwin’s Lady Be Good!, Pardon My English, and Oh, Kay!; the best-selling Leonard Bernstein’s New York; and CDs by Fred Hersch and Ricky Ian Gordon, among many others. He has also recorded music of Bernstein and Gershwin with Richard Stoltzman and American film music with the London Symphony Orchestra. For two years Mr. Stern was Barbara Cook’s accompanist and arranger, performing with her at the Met and at Carnegie Hall. He has also conducted on the concert stage for performers as diverse as Dianne Reeves, Deborah Voigt, The Irish Tenors, and Thomas Hampson, as well as renowned orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago and London symphony orchestras. He is a frequent guest conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, noted for his interpretations of Bernstein, Copland, and Gershwin.

Recordings and performances include a live broadcast of Bernstein’s Mass, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, and Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. In addition, Mr. Stern conducted a live, three-hour television broadcast of NBC’s 75th anniversary, a Stephen Sondheim 70th-birthday concert for Covent Garden, and a production of Porgy and Bess in Lisbon. An Emmy, Grammy and Gramophone Award winner, Mr. Stern lives with his wife and two children in Maplewood, New Jersey.


Born in Syracuse, New York, Vincent Falcone began studying classical piano at the age of three. He was introduced to jazz during high school, and was so taken with the music that even though he had begun classical training at Syracuse University, he decided to pursue jazz and pop music as a career. After extensive traveling throughout Europe with various jazz groups, he returned to the US in 1964 and spent several years furthering his musical studies as well as performing in upstate New York. In 1970 he relocated to Las Vegas, where he still resides. After becoming house pianist at Caesar’s Palace, he was heard by Frank Sinatra, who eventually employed him as musical director and pianist. This association lasted from 1976 until 1982, with a reprise in 1985–86. In 1980, Mr. Falcone was music director for the inaugural gala for President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Falcone has been pianist or conductor for many of the country’s top singers, including Robert Goulet, Andy Williams, Connie Francis, Paul Anka, Sylvia Syms, The McGuire Sisters, Joe Piscopo, the great French singer-composer Charles Aznavour, Jack Jones, Eddie Fisher, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, Jerry Lewis, and Tony Bennett. Mr. Falcone was music director and pianist for Pia Zadora from 1983 to 1993. As such, and in collaboration with acclaimed British composer and arranger Robert Farnon, he three albums featuring Pia Zadora with the London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, including an album recorded in Los Angeles with the brilliant arranger Sammy Nestico.

In 2005, Mr. Falcone had his first book published by Hal Leonard Publishing Co., titled Frankly—Just Between Us. The book tells of his many experiences with Frank Sinatra and many of the other artists with whom he has worked.


Born in England, Clint Holmes is the son of an African American jazz musician and a British opera singer. Clint’s first break came when Joan Rivers invited him to be her sidekick and announcer on the now defunct The Late Show. This was followed by a two-year stint on Entertainment Tonight, for which he served as the musical feature and event correspondent. He was host and singer on his own Emmy-winning talk/variety show on WWOR-TV, New York at Night, which featured celebrity guests from the worlds of film, television, theater, and music. Clint has appeared on network television programs including two Miss America pageants, The People’s Choice Awards, The Parade of Stars, and the Emmy Awards.

Clint’s CD, Edges, explores his multiple creative sides as singer and showcases his versatility. Clint has made numerous recordings and had a top-ten hit, “Playground in My Mind (My Name Is Michael).” In February 1996, Clint’s show Comfortable Shoes opened at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey.

Harrah’s Entertainer of Choice for the Millenium, Clint recently starred for six years in Clint Holmes at Harrah’s, a nightly show seen at Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. On March 22, 2002, Harrah’s named its main showroom the Clint Holmes Theater, a rare honor received only by a handful of entertainers in Las Vegas history and a first for an African American performer.

When not rehearsing and working on his new Broadway-bound musical, JAM, Clint is touring and performing.


Ashley Brown originated the title role of Mary Poppins in the Disney and Cameron Mackintosh co-production on Broadway. She will reprise her role in the Mary Poppins North American tour in March 2009. She made her Broadway debut as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and starred in the national tour of Disney’s On the Record. Regional credits include The Leading Men of Broadway and a concert version of Guys and Dolls with Jack Everly and the Indianapolis Symphony, Broadway by the Year: 1956 at Town Hall in New York, and numerous shows at the Muny in St. Louis. She has performed with many orchestras recently, including The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the Cincinnati Pops with Erich Kunzel, and the Pensacola Symphony. Ashley is featured on the original cast album recordings for On the Record and Mary Poppins, as well as the upcoming all-star Rodgers and Hammerstein Allegro album, to be released on Sony BMG. Ashley studied at the Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, where she received her Bachelor in Fine Arts degree in musical theater and was honored with the Laurie Beechman Award.


Laura Bell Bundy has been performing featured or leading roles in New York and Regional Theatre since the age of nine. She is best known for originating the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical on Broadway, for which she received a 2007 Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. Other credits include Sherrie Christian in Rock of Ages, Amber Von Tussle in the Original Broadway Cast of the Tony Award–winning musical Hairspray, Glinda in Wicked, and Tina Denmark in Ruthless, the Musical!. Film credits include Dreamgirls, Jumanji, Life with Mikey, and The Adventures of Huck Finn, along with appearances in major network television series such as Veronica Mars, Happy Hour, Modern Men, Cold Case, and Comedy Central’s Strangers with Candy. Ashley’s debut country music album, titled Longing for a Place Already Gone, was released in July 2007. Since recently ending her Broadway run, she has chosen to focus on her blooming country music career in Nashville, where she is currently working on her second album.


Linda Hart started singing at the age of four, making records and traveling the world with her Grammy Award–winning, gospel-singing family, The Harts. Linda’s nomadic upbringing provided a fertile training ground for the future Broadway, television, and film star. In 2002, Linda originated the role of Velma Von Tussle in Broadway’s Tony Award–winning musical Hairspray. Previously, she wowed audiences with her portrayal of Erma in Lincoln Center’s Tony Award–winning Anything Goes, for which won her a Theater World Award and was described by the New York Times’s Frank Rich’s as the “most promising newcomer on Broadway.” Other career highlights include playing opposite Sid Caesar on Broadway, her critically acclaimed portrayal of Bunny Weinberger in New York’s Second Stage revival of Gemini, Livin’ Dolls at Manhattan Theater Club and in Los Angeles (Best Actress Award), Light Up the Sky (Drama-Logue Award), and New York Musical Theatre Festival’s Gemini the Musical (Best Actress Award). She recently starred in A Flea in Her Ear at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and in the Off-Broadway hit The Great American Trailer Park Musical.

On the big screen, Linda made her film debut in The Best of Times with Robin Williams, and also performed opposite John Travolta in Get Shorty, Bette Midler in Stella, The Insider with Russell Crowe, Showtime with Robert DeNiro, and Tin Cup and A Perfect World opposite Kevin Costner. Linda’s television roles include Mazeppa in CBS’s Gypsy, directed by Arthur Laurents; she also appeared in the miniseries Alex Haley’s Queen and Texas Justice and was a series regular on The Winner. Linda has recorded 15 albums with The Hart Family. Cast albums include Hairspray, Anything Goes, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Gypsy, Thighs and Whispers, Honky Tonk Freeway, and her brother Larry Hart’s famed Sisterella.


Composer Kenneth Laub, who has made a career as a prominent corporate real estate broker, was raised in Long Island and has lived in New York City since 1960. In 1969, he founded Kenneth D. Laub & Company, a firm that has consummated transactions involving more than 30 million square feet of office space for some of the nation’s largest corporations, including American Airlines and Xerox. Both personally and through the company that bears his name, Kenneth Laub has consistently endeavored over the years to, as he puts it, “give a little bit back to the city that’s been so good to me.” These efforts have taken numerous forms, including fund-raising, philanthropy and other charitable work; producing Broadway and off-Broadway shows; and combining his passions for music and his hometown through the composition of original music that celebrates the people and places of New York City. Some highlights of his efforts to improve the New York community include: the implementation of Sidewalks of New York, a project that brought the history of downtown Manhattan to life through the installation of historical markers throughout the district; serving as Committee Chairman of a Radio City Music Hall benefit, “An 80th Birthday Tribute to Bob Hope,” that raised money to build the New York City Fire Museum; forming a partnership with the late Lewis Rudin to establish the Association for a Better New York; and publicly announcing, in the wake of the September 11 tragedy, an offer of his company’s services – pro bono – to any business or individual affected by the disaster.

Mr. Laub finds the most enjoyment in giving back through his love for music. His most recent work in theater was writing the music and lyrics for an original musical comedy Priceless, which was performed in 2004 at Beckett Theater on West 42nd Street. He has also been producer or co-producer of many shows, including The Wiz, Barnum, Slow Dance at Killing Ground, Lennie, Break a Leg and The Second Greatest Entertainer in the Whole Wide World.


Cynthia Onrubia received a 2003 American Choreography Award for her work on the Oscar-winning film Chicago, a 2003 Sir Robert Helpmann Best Choreography Award for the musical Cabaret, and a nomination for the 2000 American Theatre League of Producers Award for her choreography for Dame Edna: The Royal Tour. Cynthia has also choreographed the motion pictures Definitely, Maybe; Connie and Carla; Big Fish; Analyze That; The Cradle Will Rock; and the upcoming Sam Mendes films Revolutionary Road and Farlanders. She performed in and/or choreographed the Broadway productions of Dame Edna:The Royal Tour, Little Me, Cabaret, Victor/Victoria, Damn Yankees, The Goodbye Girl, Metro, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Song and Dance, Cats, Dancin’, and Gotta Go Disco. She appeared in A Chorus Line in 1977 at the age of 15. Cynthia has worked on 16 Broadway national touring productions and more than 55 television shows, commercials, and specials. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2004, when she staged and choreographed for Sting, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bette Midler, and Antonio Banderas in Singin’ in the Rainforest.


Acclaimed in ballet, modern, and jazz styles, Elizabeth Parkinson has performed worldwide as a principal with the Joffrey Ballet, Feld Ballet, Donald Byrd/The Group, and Twyla Tharp Dance. In 1999, she segued to Broadway and received tremendous praise as a lead in Fosse. She also starred in the Twyla Tharp / Billy Joel musical, Movin’ Out, earning a 2003 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical and the highly coveted Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer on Broadway. Elizabeth continues to perform as a concert soloist. In 2007 she performed at the American Dance Festival in the revival of Martha Clarke’s Garden of Earthly Delights. In 2006 Elizabeth and her husband, Scott Wise, established a performing arts school, Fineline Theatre Arts, in northwest Connecticut. Elizabeth and Scott have a son, James Montana.


Originally from Marion, Indiana, Jim Walton is a graduate of the Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. He starred as Bobby Child in Crazy for You on PBS’s Great Performances and as Young Buddy in Follies: In Concert. On Broadway, he has appeared as Frank Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along, Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street, Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd, and Harold Hill in The Music Man. Off-Broadway appearances include And the World Goes ’Round. In May 2005, he sang at Zankel Hall in Michael Feinstein: Now and Then. With his brother, Bob Walton, Jim wrote Mid-life! The Crisis Musical, licensed through the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.


The New York Pops was founded by Skitch Henderson in 1983 to give New York a permanent professional symphonic pops orchestra that would create greater public awareness and appreciation of America’s rich musical heritage. The orchestra is now the largest independent symphonic pops orchestra in the US, enjoying one of the highest subscription renewal rates of any series at Carnegie Hall. The New York Pops’s extensive education programs allow public schoolchildren to participate in numerous concert and music-making experiences: Salute to Music provides free instrumental lessons to more than 100 New York City junior-high school students each year; Kids in the Balcony arranges for hundreds of children to attend concerts by The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall; and other education programs—such as Create a Symphony and Rhythm, Rhyme & Rap—teach skills such as composition, instrument building, percussion performance, and literacy. The New York Pops’s recordings include a recently reissued CD of the orchestra’s 1983 debut performance as well as From Berlin to Bernstein, The New York Pops Goes to the Movies, Christmas in the Country, Magical Moments from Great Musicals, and With A Song in My Heart—the Music of Richard Rodgers with Maureen McGovern. For the fourth year in a row in summer 2008, the orchestra performed the musical accompaniment to the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, seen by more than 10 million television viewers nationwide on NBC. A recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York Pops is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely through the generosity of individual donations, institutional grants, and concert income.