About Us

Our Mission:

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.

Our Vision:

To provide access to live music experiences and education to all people, regardless of age, race, or socioeconomic levels, in order to unite people through shared love and appreciation of symphonic pops music.

What Do We Do?

The Cleveland Pops Orchestra delivers orchestral performances unlike any other, which entertain audiences of all ages. The most popular music of stage, film, and television come to life, creating an experience that evokes an emotional reaction and response to the art of music. The orchestra enriches the community through its performances and through music education.

Actual Music, the orchestra’s principal education program, conducts in-school courses for children from pre-K to second grade, introducing underprivileged students to music rudiments, dance, vocal, and instrument music performance. Since 2009 this program has been serving over 400 underprivileged students in the region, and it’s growing rapidly each year.

The Cleveland Pops: entertaining, enriching, educating.

Our History

The Cleveland Pops Orchestra was founded in 1993, fulfilling the dreams of both conductor Carl Topilow and CEO Shirley Morgenstern, to bring the best of symphonic pops music to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio and fill a void in the life of Cleveland’s cultural art. After a lot of hard work and support from the community and friends, the Pops orchestra made its first public debut on October 12, 1996.

Since then, the Pops has brought one season after another of critically acclaimed musical attractions to enthusiastic audiences of all ages. As one of the top performing arts groups, the Pops are responsible for attracting out of town visitors to its concerts and events and has proven to be both a cultural and economic asset to the Greater Cleveland community.

The 65 piece orchestra performs six subscription concerts each year, an annual holiday performance and a New Year’s Eve concert and dance. The sounds that make up the Pops includes the music of Broadway, Hollywood, jazz, big band, light classics, and patriotic marches.

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