New PSO principal Pops conductor is Byron Stripling

Jazz trumpeter Byron Stripling is the new principal Pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His first concerts in his new post will be in October 2020. Next season he’ll conduct three of the pops’ seven weekends of concerts. The PNC Pops season will be announced in February.

“I want to make the orchestra accessible to everybody,” says Stripling. “Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler are all favorites of mine, but there is a place where we can put the Pops orchestra on stage and play all kinds of music – jazz, folk, rock and pop. This orchestra is so incredible, the highest caliber of musicians in the world. We want to put the orchestra front and center.”

Stripling most recently conducted the Pops in June 2019, leading “Unforgettable,” a program in tribute to Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie. He also was a guest artist in June 2017 on a program called “All that Jazz” saluting the artistry of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

“Byron Stripling is an exceptional musician, showman and orchestra leader whose infectious joy for making and sharing music had made him one of the most sought-after artists for pops orchestras,” said symphony President and CEO Melia Tourangeau. “We are thrilled to bring his artistic vision into powerful partnership with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians. … We know that Pittsburgh will find magic in this new Pops era.”

He will hold the Henry and Elsie Hillman Principal Pops Conductor Chair.

Stripling, 58, was born in Decatur, Ga., and graduated from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. His father was a classical singer and his mother a former dancer and writer. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife of 21 years Alexis (Wilson), a former dancer and writer. They have two children, Juliette and Paloma.

He is artistic director of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, and was principal trumpet and soloist in the Count Basie Orchestra under Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He also starred as Louis Armstrong in the musical “Satchmo.”

Stripling believes in the power of live music to give people “a sense of humanity.” Partly this is due to being around others in audience, rather than sitting at home with an electronic device. It’s also seeing the musicians performing in front of you, having to deliver without a safety net. He’s looking forward to “leading the orchestra in way that serves everyone, orchestra and audience.”

The symphony created the principal pops conductor position for Marvin Hamlisch in 1994. Hamlisch was the quick-witted Broadway and film composer whose hits included “A Chorus Line.” He won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards, as well as the Pulitzer Prize in drama. The position has been unfilled since his death in 2012.

A principal Pops conductor can provide artistic focus for programming, increase the Pops presence in the community and serve as a stimulus for ticket sales.