Cleveland Pops Orchestra

The Cleveland Pops Orchestra with Carl Topilow performs the highest quality symphonic pops music to entertain and enrich a wide and diverse audience and provides educational programs to develop an enduring appreciation of music, both enhancing the richness and vibrancy of Northeast Ohio living.

The Cleveland Pops Orchestra, founded in 1994 by Conductor Carl Topilow and his late wife Shirley Morgenstern, presented its first series concert on October 12, 1996, at the Wolstein Center with renowned vocalist Jack Jones. Previously, the orchestra had played for the Red Cross Ball, at the Cleveland Zoo, and two trust fund concerts sponsored by the Cleveland Musicians Union Local 4. After performing a season at the Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square, the orchestra began performing its series concerts in 2000 at Severance Hall and has been performing there ever since.

Since 1996, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra has been playing the music of Broadway, Hollywood, jazz, rock, and light classics, filling a void in Cleveland’s rich cultural arts scene. Playing to large and diverse audiences, its entertaining concerts create an experience that evokes an upbeat and joyful emotional reaction.

In addition to its Severance Hall and Playhouse Square concerts, the orchestra performs free concerts in communities throughout northeast Ohio, as well as for musical attractions and events in Cleveland. Its community educational programs feature an in-school residency for students K-3, the Cleveland Pops Youth Orchestra, and an annual young artists competition.

The Cleveland Pops has also been hired to play by many outside organizations. These performances have included two concerts with Andrea Bocelli, and concerts for the Cleveland Browns, the Montessori Schools, the Cleveland Clinic, the Mozart Effect, the Music of Queen, the Irish Tenors, Oktoberfest, and concerts at St. Ignatius, Westlake, Avon Lake, and Norwalk High Schools. We also have performed for the Playhouse Square production of Strictly Gershwin and the new Cleveland Ballet’s performance of Dracula, along with an upcoming performance of The Music of Pink Floyd for Live Nation. The orchestra’s three CDs feature selections from many of its live performances. Our professional musicians are from Northeast Ohio, and we belong to the Local 4 musicians union.

The Pops has brought 29 seasons of critically acclaimed musical attractions to enthusiastic audiences of all ages. As one of our region’s outstanding performing arts organizations, the Pops has proven to be both a cultural and economic asset to the Greater Cleveland community.

The Cleveland Pops Orchestra is one of the few independent symphonic pops orchestras in the nation and relies on support like yours to bring the finest in symphonic pops music to Ohio.