Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony where he leads the Symphony’s Pops Series and Family Series. Lopez-Yañez is quickly establishing himself as one of the Nation’s leading conductors of popular music and becoming known for his unique style of audience engagement. Also an active composer/arranger, Lopez-Yañez has been commissioned to write for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Houston Symphony, and has had his works performed by orchestras including the Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony, Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, and Florida Orchestra.

Since working with the Nashville Symphony, Lopez-Yañez has conducted concerts with a broad spectrum of artists including: Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, The Beach Boys, Richard Marx, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Kellie Pickler, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Megan Hilty, Hanson, and more. Lopez-Yañez also conducts the annual Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th fireworks show which was first televised on CMT in 2019 reaching millions of viewers across the nation.

In the upcoming season, Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Nas, Leslie Odom Jr., Stewart Copeland of The Police, Ben Folds, Jennifer Nettles, Boz Scaggs, Kenny G, and more. Lopez-Yañez will appear with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Pacific Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and will make return appearances with the Detroit Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, and Toledo Symphony. Previously, Lopez-Yañez has appeared with orchestras throughout North America including the Aguascalientes Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, and Utah Symphony, among others.

As Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. An enthusiastic proponent of innovating the education concert experience, his exciting concerts “breathe new, exuberant life into classical programming for kids and families” (Nashville Parent Magazine). Symphonica’s productions have been described as “incredibly special – and something that needs to become the new norm in educational programing” (Lima Symphony).

As a producer, composer, and arranger, Lopez-Yañez’s work can be heard on numerous albums including the UNESCO benefit album Action Moves People United and children’s music albums including The Spaceship that Fell in My Backyard, winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Hollywood Music and Media Awards, Family Choice Awards and Kokowanda Bay, winner of a Global Media Award as well as a Parents’ Choice Award where Lopez-Yañez was lauded for his “catchy arrangements” (Parents’ Choice Foundation).

For more information, visit: www.enricolopezyanez.com

Capathia Jenkins can definitely act, but all those who know her also know that this diva can blow and blow and blow you right off this planet. This woman who grappling with two dueling passions each with a strong grip: acting and music, yet she refuses to pick one because they both represent her soul. Jenkins approaches a song the same way she approaches a script, like an artist. She looks for the nuances, the secret hidden within the notes or text. She seeks the melody, harmony, and rhythm. She asks herself: "what am I trying to say? What do I want my audience to experience with me?" She wants to take her audience on a journey.

This Brooklyn-born and raised actress most recently starred as ‘Medda’ in the hit Disney production of Newsies’ on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in The Civil War, where she created the role of Harriet Jackson. She then starred in the Off-Broadway 2000 revival of Godspell, where she wowed audiences with her stirring rendition of ‘Turn Back, O Man’ which can still be heard on the original cast recording. She returned to Broadway in The Look of Love and was critically acclaimed for her performances of the Bacharach/David hits. Jenkins then created the roles of ‘The Washing Machine’ in Caroline, Or Change and ‘Frieda May’ in Martin Short's Fame Becomes Me where she sang ‘Stop the Show’ and brought the house down every night.

In 2007 she went back to Off-Broadway and starred in (mis) Understanding Mammy-The Hattie McDaniel Story for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She was also seen in Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

An active concert artist, Jenkins has appeared with orchestras around the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She was a soloist with the Festival Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. In 2011 Jenkins had the great honor of performing in the ‘Broadway Ambassadors to Cuba’ concert as part of the Festival De Teatro De La Habana. Jenkins was a guest soloist with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and with the Cincinnati Pope.

Her television credits include 30 Rock, the Practice, Law & Order SVU, the Sopranos, and Law & Order. She can be seen in the 2012 film Musical Chairs directed by Susan Seidelman. She can be heard on the following film soundtracks: Nine, Chicago, and Legally Blonde 2.