Conductor Nathan Aspinall and all-star cast of vocalists perform Broadway hits from The King and I, Cinderella, Wicked, Cabaret, and more
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (February 5, 2025) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) celebrates Valentine’s Day with Broadway Love Songs as part of the PNC Pops Series on February 14–16.
The program will be conducted by Nathan Aspinall and feature all-star vocalists Carole J. Bufford, Stephanie Jae Park, Chris Blem, and Zina Goldrich performing Broadway’s most cherished love songs. Relive the romance of timeless classics from musicals like The King and I, Cinderella, South Pacific, and West Side Story, and explore the meaning of love with contemporary hits from Wicked, Hamilton, Cabaret, and more.
Broadway Love Songs will take place Friday, February 14 at 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday February 15 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, February 16 at 3 p.m. at Orchestra Hall. Tickets for these performances start at $20 and can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The title sponsor of the DSO’s PNC Pops Series is PNC Bank.
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PNC Pops
Friday, February 14 at 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Saturday, February 15 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, February 16 at 3 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
NATHAN ASPINALL, conductor
CAROLE J. BUFFORD, vocals
STEPHANIE JAE PARK, vocals
CHRIS BLEM, vocals
ZINA GOLDRICH, vocals
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About Nathan Aspinall
Australian conductor Nathan Aspinall is Resident Conductor of the Nashville Symphony, where he leads subscription performances and special programs, including an all-Ravel concert. He has conducted the orchestras of Minnesota, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Sydney, as well as the Mendelssohn-Orchesterakademie of the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig. A former conducting fellow at Tanglewood, he has worked with leading conductors including Stéphane Denève and Nathalie Stutzmann. Passionate about outreach, he spearheads community initiatives and music education programs. Aspinall studied at the University of Queensland and the New England Conservatory and is a recipient of the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize at the Aspen Music Festival.
About Carole J. Bufford
Carole J. Bufford is one of the most sought-after performers in American jazz and cabaret. She recently completed a 10-month solo run at New York’s Birdland Jazz Club and a residency at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Her shows speak easy., Come Together, and You Don’t Own Me earned acclaim from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. She has appeared in Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook series at Jazz at Lincoln Center and performed with major pops orchestras nationwide. Bufford is a recipient of Nightlife, Bistro, and BroadwayWorld Awards for Outstanding Vocalist. Her debut album, All By Myself, is now available.
About Stephanie Jae Park
Best known for her portrayal of Eliza in Hamilton on Broadway, Stephanie Jae Park has also originated roles in two other Broadway productions. A classically trained singer, she initially pursued opera before falling in love with musical theater’s versatility. Her distinctive vocal style blends classical technique with jazz, pop, R&B, and musical theater, earning her recognition for her effortless high soprano and intricate riffing. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and philharmonic halls across the country. Park also coaches vocalists of all levels and is a member of the group Saffron Lips, which released its debut album in 2021.
About Chris Blem
Chris Blem has performed worldwide with prestigious symphony orchestras, including the Tokyo Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Ocean City Pops. He has been featured in multiple Disney on Classic recordings and appeared in a live broadcast on Disney Channel Japan with the Tokyo Philharmonic. His theatrical credits include A Dog Story (off-Broadway) and regional productions of Matilda, Beauty and the Beast, and Into the Woods (League of Cincinnati Award). Blem serves as head of voice at the Pocono Mountain Music Festival Summer Intensive and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
About Zina Goldrich
Zina Goldrich is an award-winning composer and performer whose music has been performed by Broadway stars including Audra McDonald and Kristin Chenoweth. She won the Fred Ebb Award for songwriting with Marcy Heisler, with whom she wrote Ever After, Dear Edwina (Drama Desk Nomination), and Junie B. Jones (Lucille Lortel Nomination). A former staff songwriter for Walt Disney Feature Animation, she has composed for The Middle, Wonderpets, and Peg + Cat. Goldrich has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and international festivals. She studied at USC’s Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program and has taught master classes at top universities.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a robust performance schedule that features classical, pops, jazz, and family concerts, plus community performances. Enrico Lopez-Yañez was named Principal Pops Conductor in 2023, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard serves as the orchestra’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair, and Tabita Berglund began her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor in the 2024–25 season. A dedication to broadcast innovation and technology began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
The DSO’s distinguished history of recordings—many led by its renowned music directors—spans nearly a century, beginning with the orchestra’s first 78 rpm singles with Ossip Gabrilowitsch released on the Victrola label in 1928. A steady recording output has continued since then, with highlights including more than 20 releases with Paul Paray for Mercury’s Living Presence series, and 27 under the baton of Neeme Järvi, mostly on the Chandos label. In the 1970s, the DSO took part in the historic Black Composers Series for Columbia Records led by its then-Associate Conductor Paul Freeman and later made several acclaimed recordings with Antal Doráti for the Decca label. More recently, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, the DSO recorded music by Rachmaninoff, Copland, and John Williams for the Naxos label, earning its first GRAMMY® nomination in 2017 for Copland’s Third Symphony / Three Latin American Sketches. The first recording with Jader Bignamini, of Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony, will be released in 2025 on the Pentatone label.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.