Program features Williams’s Broadway hits, pop-star ballads, and movie score classics, including "Sweetest Days," "Colors of the Wind," "Love Is," "Dreamin’," "Save the Best for Last," and more
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (October 30, 2023) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will continue its PNC Pops Series at Orchestra Hall on November 18–19 with a program conducted by Enrico Lopez-Yañez and featuring pop and film music icon Vanessa Williams. The program will include Williams’s Broadway hits, pop-star ballads, and movie score classics including "Sweetest Days," "Colors of the Wind," "Love Is," "Dreamin’," "Save the Best for Last,” and more.
Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today. Having sold millions of records worldwide, she has also achieved numerous #1 and Top 10 hits on various Billboard Album and Singles charts. Her critically acclaimed work in film, television, recordings, and the Broadway stage has been recognized by every major industry award affiliate including four Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, three SAG award nominations, seven NAACP Image Awards, and three Satellite Awards.
Earlier this month, Lopez-Yañez was appointed as the DSO's next Principal Pops Conductor, to commence with the 2024–2025 season. He will return to Orchestra Hall later this season to conduct Disco Fever, a program of 1970s boogie hits with vocalists Maiya Sykes and B.Slade on May 17–19. You can learn more about Enrico here. Vanessa Williams will take place on Saturday, November 18 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 19 at 3 p.m. at Orchestra Hall.
Tickets for these performances start at $19 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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VANESSA WILLIAMS
PNC Pops Series
Saturday, November 18 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 19 at 3 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Enrico Lopez-Yañez, conductor
Vanessa Williams, vocalist
Pop and film music icon Vanessa Williams joins the DSO for Broadway hits, pop-star ballads, and movie score classics, including "Sweetest Days," "Colors of the Wind," "Love Is," "Dreamin’," and "Save the Best for Last."
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About Enrico Lopez-Yañez
Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony and Pacific Symphony, as well as the Principal Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Presents. This season, Lopez-Yañez has been named Principal Pops Conductor Designate of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a position he will begin in the 2024–2025 season. 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 and arranger, he has been commissioned to write for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Omaha Symphony, and has had his works performed by orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, National Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Utah Symphony, among others.
Lopez-Yañez has conducted concerts with a broad spectrum of artists including Nas, Patti LaBelle, Ledisi, Itzhak Perlman, Stewart Copeland, Kenny Loggins, Trisha Yearwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Leslie Odom Jr., Renee Elise Goldsberry, Portugal. The Man, Cody Fry, Hanson, The Beach Boys, Kenny G, and more. Lopez-Yañez also conducts the annual Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th fireworks show, which is televised annually on CMT, reaching millions of viewers across the nation.
This season Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Ben Rector, Cypress Hill, Tituss Burgess, Vanessa Williams, Lyle Lovett, Jefferson Starship, Guster, Ben Folds, and Arturo Sandoval. He will appear with the Minnesota Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony, as well as make return appearances with the Indianapolis Symphony, National Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and more. Previously, Lopez-Yañez has appeared with orchestras throughout North America including the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony, among others.
Lopez-Yañez is the recipient of the 2023 “Mexicanos Distiguidos” Award by the Mexican government, an award granted to Mexican citizens living abroad for outstanding career accomplishments in their field. As an advocate for Latin music, he has arranged and produced shows for Latin Fire, Mariachi Los Camperos, and The Three Mexican Tenors, and collaborated with artists including Aida Cuevas and Lila Downs.
As Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. Symphonica manages a wide breadth of pops, family, and educational productions that “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” (Lima Symphony). As a sheet music publishing house, Symphonica Productions represents a diverse offering of genres and composers, including Grammy Award nominee Clarice Assad, Sverre Indris Joner, Andres Soto, Charles Cozens, Vinicio Meza, and more.
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, and 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).
Connect on social media @enricolopezyanez or visit enricolopezyanez.com for more information.
About Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today. Having sold millions of records worldwide, Williams has also achieved numerous #1 and Top 10 hits on various Billboard Album and Singles charts: Pop, Dance, R&B, Adult Contemporary, Holiday, Latin, Gospel, and Jazz.
Her critically acclaimed work in film, television, recordings, and the Broadway stage has been recognized by every major industry award affiliate including four Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, three SAG award nominations, seven NAACP Image Awards, and three Satellite Awards. Her platinum single "Colors of the Wind," from Disney’s Pocahontas, won the Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
A graduate of Syracuse University, Williams is a strong advocate for equal rights, especially concerning the gay community and minorities. She was honored with the Human Rights Campaign “Ally for Equality” Award for her humanitarian contributions. Williams also achieved a career pinnacle with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
Williams’s charitable endeavors are many and varied, embracing and supporting such organizations as Concerts for America, Special Olympics and several others. Vanessa is involved with and committed to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
An accomplished concert artist, Williams appears regularly with prestigious symphony orchestras around the world.
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 performance schedule that features the PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in metro area venues, as well as eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation 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.
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.