Carl Topilow leads Pops on a genre-spanning musical journey

EntertainmentCleveland Pops Orchestra marks 30th season with genre-spanning concertsCarl Topilow, founding conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, will conduct the group's 30th season. Subscriptions are available now. (Photo by Susan Bestul)By Zachary Lewis, special to cleveland.comCLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Pops Orchestra is going places this year.While most of the group’s 30th anniversary season takes place at Severance Music Center, the music itself will carry the ensemble and director Carl Topilow far and wide geographically and stylistically. One program even ventures off planet.The first trip is into two specific genres. On Saturday, Oct. 17, Topilow and the orchestra will present “Disco & Motown: A Night to Dance.” The concert is a collaboration with the Canadian ensemble Jeans n’ Classics. Program two takes the orchestra two places simultaneously: New York and Hollywood. Film adaptations of musical theater will be the focus of “Stage to Screen: Broadway Movie Hits,” on Saturday, Jan. 30. Joining the group will be the Cleveland Pops Chorus and vocalists Connor O’Brien, Natalie Greene, Daryl Lewis, and Mariama Whyte, who some patrons heard at a private season preview event in September. Several more guest vocalists will join the Pops at their next destination, the world of Tina Turner. LaKisha Jones, Nova Payton, and Armando Imagines will join forces with Topilow for “Tina Turner: Queen of Rock & Soul,” on Saturday, March 13. Travel itself is the subject of the season’s fourth subscription program, “Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey.” On Saturday, April 3, the famed travel writer will join Topilow and the Pops remotely to narrate a musical trip across Europe. Vocalist Helen Welch, by contrast, will join the orchestra live and in person for the fifth program, “The Soundtrack of Our Lives.” She’ll appear with the group on Friday, April 23, singing a playlist that includes jazz standards, pop music, and Broadway hits.The Cleveland Pops Chorus returns for the sixth and final program of the season, on Saturday, June 5. In “Symphony of Stars,” Topilow and the Pops will perform space-themed music beneath a large-screen display of dramatic NASA photos and videos. One highlight of the program will be Peter Nero’s “Voyage into Space,” which will be narrated by an astronaut. A special holiday concert stands in addition to these six subscription programs. On Sunday, Nov. 29, Topilow will lead the Pops to the State Theatre Playhouse Square for “Jingle Bell Pops!” Tickets are available through the Playhouse Square box office. Subscriptions, $116-$300, are available now in a wide array of program and seating combinations. Individual tickets, $43-$135, are also available now. To order, visit clevelandpops.com or clevelandorchestra.com, or call 216-765-7677 or 216-231-1111.