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

José Sibaja is one of the most highly acclaimed Costa Rican trumpet players of his generation with worldwide audiences and broadcast media in the classical, Latin, jazz and pop music genres. His career ranges from international appearances as an orchestral soloist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, to worldwide tours with Ricky Martin for Martin's Vuelve and Livin' la Vida Loca tours.

Sibaja plays Lead Trumpet with the world-renowned Boston Brass. He received his musical training at the New World School of the Arts and the University of Miami and has held positions as Principal Trumpet with the Miami Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta de Caracas, and Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela. He has appeared on the American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Grammy Awards, and Latin Grammy Awards as well as on Conan, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and numerous other television appearances in more than 40 countries.

Sibaja has recorded with artists Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, Luis Enrique, Rey Ruiz, Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan, among others. Sibaja can be heard with the Boston Brass on the group's Latin Nights, Reminiscing, Rewired, and Simple Gifts CDs, as well as on his solo records Inner Voice and Spanish Air. Sibaja is a Yamaha Performing Artist, giving master classes as a clinician worldwide. He is Associate Professor of Trumpet at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

Mónica Ábrego is one of Mexico’s most outstanding sopranos. She has performed on stages around the world with a diverse repertoire which includes opera, lied, oratorio, folk, and popular music. Ábrego has performed with many orchestras such as the San Diego, Colorado, Iowa, Key West, Delaware, La Jolla, Aguascalientes, and Bulgaria symphony orchestras, as well as the Chihuahua Philharmonic Orchestra with whom she toured Mexico and the US. She has performed the roles of Serpina (La serva padrona), Norina (Don Pasquale), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Gilda (Rigoletto), Magda (La rondine), Violetta (La traviata), Manon (Manon), Musetta (La bohème), Olympia (The Tales of Hoffmann), Nanetta (Falstaff), Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), María (Tango Operita–María de Buenos Aires) and recently as Micaela (Carmen).

Ábrego made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2003 in New York City as a soloist for the Pacific Opera Encore company; she also has sung in Lincoln Center’s Merkin Hall and has continued performing in these venues on numerous occasions. Her passion for music has given her the opportunity to proudly perform traditional Mexican music alongside Champaña Nevin Mariachi, both in México and the US, and several concerts at the Jacobs Music Center. In 2012 her first album Alma Mía was released by Vientos del Sur Productions. Her debut recording includes Bossa nova, Méxican music, musical theater, and tango.

Ábrego has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She has received awards from the USA National Association of Teachers of Singing (1998), La Jolla Symphony & Chorus in California (1997-1998), RYLA Rotary International Club (1998), Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts (1999-2002) and the Musical Merit Foundation of San Diego (1998-2002). She currently lives in New York City where she continues to develop professionally.