WE ARE PROUD TO INTRODUCE
A NEW POPS ORCHESTRA FOR NEW YORK CITY
THE INAUGURAL MEMBERS OF
MENU:
ABOUT POPS OF COLOR
Pops of Color is New York City’s first Pops orchestra composed entirely of musicians of color, celebrating diversity in Pops and orchestral music through performance of the music of artists of color.
Pops of Color seeks to build awareness of the immense contribution artists of color have made to popular music, and aims to balance the inequities musicians of color face in the orchestral world.
We raise awareness through the creation and presentation of the highest caliber musical concerts, and in tandem, focus on the development and execution of educational programming in NYC public schools as our baseline mandate - ensuring that students in New York City, and their respective networks, have access to concerts and musical content that reflects them and their communities.
MEET THE MAESTRO
SEAN MAYES
Based between New York & Toronto, Sean Mayes enjoys a varied career internationally as a conductor, music supervisor, orchestrator & composer between Broadway, theatre, opera, classical & Pops worlds.
Mayes is the Artistic Director and Founder of Pops of Color, the new resident Pops orchestra of the historic Town Hall in New York City, which is composed entirely of musicians of color, focusing exclusively in repertoire that artists of color have contributed made to popular music.
Additionally, Mayes is the Worldwide Music Supervisor of Disney’s THE LION KING, and Music Supervisor & Co-Orchestrator for ALI: The Musical, based on the life of Muhammad Ali, composed by conductor Teddy Abrams & rap icon Q-Tip. His new opera Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White, orchestrated and conducted by Mayes, made its World Premiere with the Canadian Opera Company in June 2024.
Select credits include The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration (Conductor & Orchestrator, Chicago Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival); Black Broadway (Conductor; American Pops Orchestra, PBS National Broadcast); RENT: In Concert (Music Supervisor, National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center); MJ (Assistant Conductor; Broadway); Hadestown (Associate Conductor; Broadway); An Evening With André De Shields (Music Director & Orchestrator, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra); MANDELA (Conductor; Young Vic Theatre, London, UK); The Color Purple (Music Director, Canadian Premiere).
Passionate about arts advocacy & education, Mayes is the author of three books: Reframing the Musical, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019; An Inconvenient Black History of British Musical Theatre, Bloomsbury, 2021; and Conversations in Color: Exploring North American Musical Theatre, Bloomsbury, 2023. When not on the move, Sean cherishes his time at home in Brooklyn with his love, Lori, and their curly bundle of dog, Bilbao. @maestromayes
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FEATURED ARRANGER
CAMILLE THURMAN
Saxophonist, Vocalist, Composer, Educator, Founder of "The Haven Hang" & U.S. Cultural Ambassador
“Imagine if Sarah Vaughan played saxophone like Dexter Gordon. That’s approximately the effect when singer and tenor saxophonist Camille Thurman performs."
—Downbeat Magazine
“You’re hard-pressed to find rising talents more exciting than Camille Thurman."
—The New York Times
Remember the name Camille Thurman. As an accomplished composer, esteemed saxophonist, vocalist, and unique interpreter of the jazz tradition, she is quickly becoming one of the leading standard bearers of the art form, making a considerable and dynamic contribution to the legacy of jazz while paying tribute to its heroes. Camille is known for her distinct musical approach to classic and original repertoire that highlights her powerhouse ability as both a
virtuosic saxophonist and vocalist.
The New York City native has amassed several distinctive honors for her musicianship: NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Jazz Album, recipient of the SOUTH Arts Creative Jazz Road Artistic Residency Grant, Downbeat Magazine’s Critics Poll Nominee for Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist, Female Vocalist and Jazz Artist (2023, 2022, 2021 & 2020), two-time winner
of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award, a recipient of the Fulbright Scholars Cultural Ambassador Grant and Chamber Music of America Performance Plus Grant (Sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation) among others. Thurman also has four full-length recordings as a leader to her credit. Her upcoming project, “Fortitude,” is a collaboration with master drummer Darrell Green and his quartet.
Thurman was the first woman in 30 years to tour and perform full-time internationally with the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as a saxophonist/woodwind doubler (2018-2020 season). A respected bandleader, she has headlined numerous notable concert venues and jazz festivals worldwide, including the Kennedy Center and Alice Tully Hall.
Thurman was chosen by the U.S. State Department under the Fulbright Scholarship grant to tour and perform in Paraguay and Nicaragua as a bandleader. American Music Abroad Cultural Exchange Program and the U.S. State Department recently selected her to travel and perform in Africa as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador: Cameroon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, and
Mauritania. In May 2020, Camille founded “The Haven Hang: Young Lioness Musician Q&A/ Virtual Mentorship Series.” The Haven Hang serves as a virtual mentorship platform for young female musicians, with an initiative to mentor, share advice, and support young women pursuing careers in music and the performing arts. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of
Jazz Performance at McGill University.
The dynamic musician endorses D’Addario Woodwinds & Co. saxophone reeds, Henri Selmer Paris saxophones, and Key Leaves saxophone products.
For more information on Camille Thurman, please visit www.camillethurmanmusic.com.
Social Media Handles:
TicTok: @camillethurman Instagram: @camillethurman Facebook: Camille Thurman Music
