Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and appears regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. 

As music director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra in these patriotic celebrations on the National Mall. These concerts attract hundreds of thousands attendees on the lawn and the broadcasts reach millions of viewers and are some of the very highest rated programming on PBS television.

Everly is the also music director of Duke Energy Yuletide Celebration, now a 30-year tradition. He led the ISO in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, that included three of his own orchestrations. Some of his other recordings include In The Presence featuring the Czech Philharmonic and Daniel Rodriguez, Sandi Patty’s Broadway Stories, the soundtrack to Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Jule Styne.

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as music director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on Broadway shows that Hamlisch scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

In 1998, Everly created the Symphonic Pops Consortium, serving as music director. The Consortium, based in Indianapolis, produces new theatrical pops programs, including the most recent Classic FM: Decades of Radio Hits. In the past 17 years, more than 275 performances of SPC programs have taken place across the U.S. and Canada.

Everly, a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, is a recipient of the 2015 Indiana Historical Society Living Legends Award and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana. He is a proud resident of the Indianapolis community for over 14 years and when not on the podium you can find Everly at home with his family, which includes Max the wonder dog.

Travis Birch has been playing guitar and singing professionally since he was 15 years old. With deep roots in Christian and country music, his range and tone allow him to cross into various other genres as well. Residing in Nashville for the past 25 years, Travis has performed at nearly every notable venue, from the bustling streets of Broadway to the intimate setting of the Bluebird Cafe. He has had the privilege of opening for, and sharing stages with, iconic artists like Martina McBride, Merle Haggard, Kenny Chesney, and The Oak Ridge Boys. Travis can be heard leading contemporary praise and worship every Sunday at Hendersonville First United Methodist Church. Outside of his musical career, Travis cherishes spending time with his wife and twin daughters.

Chris Blem has traveled the world singing with some of the most prestigious symphonic orchestras. He has shared the stage with The Tokyo Philharmonic, Evergreen Orchestra (Taipei), Metropolitan Orchestra (Singapore), Never-land Orchestra (Tokyo), Buffalo Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Ocean City Pops and Encore Orchestra (Walt Disney World.) Chris can be heard on three “Disney on Classic” recordings and seen across Disney Chanel Japan in the live broadcast of Disney on Classic featuring the Tokyo Philharmonic.

Theatrical credits include (Off-Broadway) A Dog Story and Katzelmacher U.S.A. (Regional) Matilda, Beauty and the Beast, Oklahoma, HAIR, Show Boat Annie, A Christmas Carol, and Into the Woods (League of Cincinnati Award.)

Chris serves as the head of voice at the Pocono Mountain Music Festival Summer Intensive. Chris is a graduate of The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

www.chrisblem.com

John Boswell has served as musical director for Judy Collins, Andy Williams and Bob Newhart as well as the concert tours of “Cinema Toast,” ”That’s Life: A Toast to Sinatra,” ”Blockbuster Today,” “Three Men and a Baby Grand,” “Blockbuster Broadway!” and “The Spy Who Loved Me” starring Sheena Easton. John played the role of “Moose” in the national tour of Crazy For You. Broadway/Off-Broadway credits include Crazy For You, The Secret Garden, Back To Bacharach And David, and The Kathy And Mo Show: Parallel Lives. Most recently John composed music for the HBO special Kathy And Mo: The Dark Side. John has six CD’s of original music on Hearts Of Space Records; THE PAINTER, KINDRED SPIRITS, COUNT ME IN, FESTIVAL OF THE HEART, TRUST and LOVE.

SCOTT COULTER is one of New York’s most honored vocalists. For his work in cabaret, Scott has received five MAC Awards (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs), five Bistro Awards and two Nightlife Awards for Outstanding Vocalist and has performed at most of NYC’s top rooms including Birdland, 54 Below, The Oak Room at the Algonquin, and Feinstein’s at The Regency where he spent a record-setting eight months performing the revue 11 O’CLOCK NUMBERS AT 11 O’CLOCK which he also co-created, directed and musically arranged. His self-titled debut CD won the 2003 MAC Award for Outstanding Recording and was chosen as the best recording of the year by TheatreMania and Cabaret Scenes magazine which pronounced it “quite simply, the best these ears have ever heard.”

Scott was director and star of A CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE SYMPHONIC CONCERT in its world premiere with the Baltimore Symphony and reprised his performance in the Emmy-nominated PBS production which premiered in December 2013.

Since 1997, Scott has performed around the country with award-winning songwriting duo Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich in their many revues. While singing with Goldrich and Heisler he was discovered by Oscar and Grammy winning composer Stephen Schwartz who then invited him to join the revue STEPHEN SCHWARTZ & FRIENDS. That revue (starring Schwartz and Coulter along with Liz Callaway and Tony Award-winner Debbie Gravitte) has been performing all over the world since 1999. Schwartz has said, “One of the greatest things that can happen to a composer is to have his music interpreted by Scott Coulter.”

Scott regularly performs in concert both as a solo artist and with a variety of legendary performers including Stephen Schwartz, Tony-winner Ben Vereen and Grammy-winner Sheena Easton. He has performed with symphonies all over the world including San Francisco, Baltimore, Seattle, Phoenix, Winnipeg, St. Louis and Calgary. Noted for his soaring high notes and pure tone, Scott’s vocal versatility has garnered rave reviews from coast to coast. “Coulter is a stratospheric tenor” (The Wall Street Journal) who “sings to the balcony with a soaring theatrical savvy.” (Variety) “Coulter’s distinctive tenor packs an emotional wallop” (Huffington Post) while possessing “an 80s pop rock star strength, reminiscent of Phil Collins.” (San Francisco Examiner)

As a director Scott’s credits include many shows for The Town Hall in NY (BROADWAY BY THE YEAR, BROADWAY’S RISING STARS, BROADWAY ORIGINALS, BROADWAY UNPLUGGED) and BBTY for The Berkshire Theatre Festival and Broadway by the Bay. Along with Michael Kerker and ASCAP, he’s produced and directed several installments of Michael Feinstein’s STANDARD TIME at Carnegie Hall. He is creator, arranger and director of several touring shows including CINEMA TOAST, SOUTHERN COMFORT, BROADWAY’S ELITE, THAT’S LIFE: A TOAST TO SINATRA, YOU’VE GO T A FRIEND: CAROLE KING, NEIL SEDAKA AND THE MUSIC OF THE BRILL BUILDING, BLOCKBUSTER BROADWAY! and his critically acclaimed solo show, THE FELLA SINGS ELLA, which honors the life of the legendary Ella Fitzgerald. His concert creation THE KING: THE MUSIC OF ELVIS premiered with the Calgary Philharmonic and is currently playing symphony halls across America and Canada.

Scott has taught master classes from Los Angeles to Kalamazoo to Riga, Latvia and is creator of his own unique group vocal coaching series called SONGBOOK. Scott recently wrote the book for the new musical GOT TO BE THERE which celebrates the life and music of songwriter Elliot Willensky.

Scott is founder/owner of Spot-On Entertainment. He’s a resident director of programming at 54 Below (Broadway’s Supper Club) in NYC and is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Shaleah Adkisson is a singer and actress who has been delighting audiences across the country for the last 18 years. 

She has been seen on Broadway and on tour in Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical and as Joanne in the off-Broadway revival of Rent. Other theatrical credits include Clybourne Park, Avenue Q, The Hot Mikado, Beehive: The 60's Musical, Ain't Misbehavin’, Grease, Nunsense and Children of Eden.

Since 2013, she has performed around the country with dynamic all-female tribute shows Back to the Garden (tributing Joni Mitchell, Carole King & Laura Nyro) and August 1969: A Tribute to the Women of Woodstock. 

When not on stage, Shaleah works at New York City Center theater in the Education & Community Engagement department managing their in-school theater and dance programs. 

She dedicates this performance to her superhero husband, Jose and her sweet baby boy, Lucas.

Max Chernin was most recently seen in the award-winning Broadway revival of Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s Parade. Hailing from Shaker Heights, Ohio, Chernin made his Broadway debut in Steve Martin & Edie Brickell's Bright Star and went on to join the Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford. In New York, Max has appeared in Brooklynite (Vineyard Theatre), Bernstein's Mass (Lincoln Center), and The Golden Apple (New York City Center). Other recent stage credits include Andrew in the world premiere of Passing Through (Goodspeed Opera House), Motel in Fiddler on the Roof (St. Louis MUNY), Buddy in Elf (Pioneer Theatre Company/North Carolina Theater), and Jervis in Daddy Long Legs (Theatre Raleigh). On camera, Max recurred on the second and third seasons of Dickinson, he also appeared on The Blacklist, The Family, Mozart in the Jungle, and in Adam Sandler’s The Week Of. BFA: University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Awards: 2024 American Traditions Competition’s Silver Medal, 2021 Lotte Lenya Foundation’s Carolyn Weber Award. @maxcherns