Paul Gemignani has been the music director for more than 40 Broadway and West End shows, including Follies, Pacific Overtures, Candide, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Dreamgirls, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Crazy For You, Passion, High Society, and Kiss Me Kate. Mr. Gemignani has made recordings with the American Theatre Orchestra in addition to many cast albums; appeared as guest conductor with numerous orchestras; and is a regular guest conductor at the New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera Company, and the New York City Ballet. His film work has included Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp, Kramer vs. Kramer, Reds, and Eyewitness. Mr. Gemignani received the 2001 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award (1994), and a special Drama Desk Award (1989) for “consistently outstanding musical direction and commitment to the theater.” In 2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of musical arts from the Manhattan School of Music; in 2006 he received a Prime Time Emmy Award for Best Musical Direction for a Great Performances presentation of South Pacific; and the Drama League of New York honored him for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre in 2008. Mr. Gemignani served as the music director of the New York Philharmonic’s concert performance of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies in September 1985; in May 2008 he was the conductor and music supervisor of the Orchestra’s semi-staged performances of Camelot; and in March 2010 he conducted the Philharmonic’s production of SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert, which aired on PBS and was released on DVD in November 2010. On January 24, 2011, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. 

Lonny Price most recently directed the stage and film versions of the New York Philharmonic’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, which played in more than 700 movie theaters across the country. Mr. Price also directed the stage and film versions of Sondheim: The Birthday Concert!, for which he received a 2011 Emmy Award. Mr. Price’s other Philharmonic collaborations include the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of Camelot; Candide (broadcast on Great Performances); and Sweeney Todd. He won an Emmy for his 2000 semi-staged production of Sweeney Todd with the San Francisco Symphony. Mr. Price directed the Emmy Award–winning production of Sondheim’s Passion, starring Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and Michael Cerveris broadcast on Live From Lincoln Center. 

On Broadway, he directed Audra McDonald in 110 in the Shade, Danny Glover in Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” ... and the Boys; Joan Rivers in Sally Marr and Her Escorts (which he co-wrote with Ms. Rivers and Erin Sanders); Jenn Colella in Urban Cowboy; and himself in A Class Act, for which he earned a Tony nomination and the book of which he co-wrote with Linda Kline. Lonny Price’s Off-Broadway directorial work includes Visiting Mr. Green, Grown Ups, and Stopping Traffic. He made his opera directing debut at the Houston Grand Opera directing Audra McDonald in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine and Michael John LaChiusa’s Send. He recently finished shooting his first feature film, “Master Harold” ... and the Boys, and has directed several episodes of ABC’s Desperate Housewives. As an actor, he appeared on and Off-Broadway in a variety of plays and musicals, including Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” ... and the Boys, Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and Lanford Wilson’s Burn This. On film he is best remembered for playing Neil Kellerman, the hotel owner’s grandson in Dirty Dancing. For his acting work, he has received Obie, Theatre World, Drama League, and Drama-Logue awards.

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and actress. With a record-tying five Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a long list of other accolades to her name, she is among today’s most highly regarded performers. Blessed with a luminous soprano and an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling, she is equally at home on Broadway, opera stages, film, and television. In addition to her theatrical work, she maintains a major career as a concert and recording artist, regularly appearing with leading international orchestras. After four seasons playing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC’s hit television series Private Practice, Ms. McDonald returned to Broadway in 2012, winning her fifth Tony and her first in the leading actress category for her role in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. The honor places her in the illustrious company of Broadway legends Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury as the only people in Tony history to win five performance awards. Born into a musical family, Audra McDonald grew up in Fresno, California, and received her classical vocal training at The Juilliard School. An ardent proponent of marriage equality, Ms. McDonald sits on the advisory board of the advocacy organization Broadway Impact and has been featured in campaigns for Freedom to Marry and NOH8. Of all her many roles, her favorite is that of mother to her daughter, Zoe Madeline.

Violinist Joshua Bell’s stunning virtuosity, beautiful tone, musical intelligence, and charismatic stage presence have brought him universal acclaim. Mr. Bell is an Avery Fisher Prize recipient, Musical America’s 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year, and was recently named music director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. In summer 2012, Mr. Bell and Edgar Meyer premiered a new concerto for violin and double bass by Mr. Meyer at Tanglewood, Aspen, and the Hollywood Bowl. Mr. Bell launched the San Francisco Symphony’s 2012–13 season, followed by appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston, Seattle, Cincinnati, and Detroit symphonies. Additional fall highlights include a South-African tour, a European tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and a recital tour with pianist Sam Haywood. In 2013 Mr. Bell tours Europe with the New York Philharmonic and the U.S. with The Cleveland Orchestra, and he performs with the Tucson, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Nashville symphony orchestras. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Joshua Bell has recorded more than 40 CDs, garnering Mercury, Grammy, Gramophone, and Echo Klassic Awards.  His discography encompasses critically acclaimed performances of most of the major violin concerto and solo repertoire, including the Oscar-winning soundtrack to The Red Violin. Recent releases include French Impressions with pianist Jeremy Denk, At Home With Friends, the Defiance soundtrack, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Bell received his first violin at age four, and at age 12 he began serious study with Josef Gingold at Indiana University. Two years later Mr. Bell came to national attention in his debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, followed by his Carnegie Hall debut at age 17. Mr. Bell is senior lecturer at the Jacobs School of Music at his alma mater, Indiana University. 

Raúl Esparza recently starred in the Broadway production of Leap of Faith. He made his New York debut in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show. Other Broadway credits include Arcadia, Speed-the-Plow (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), The Homecoming (Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award), Company (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Taboo (Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award), and Cabaret. He appeared in Shakespeare in the Park’s Twelfth Night and Off-Broadway in The Normal Heart, Comedians, and tick, tick... BOOM!, which earned him an Obie Award. In 2005, he received the HOLA José Ferrer Acting Award. Outside New York, Mr. Esparza portrayed Che in the national tour of Evita and starred in the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration: Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along. Regional credits include work at Steppenwolf, Goodman in Chicago, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Coconut Grove Playhouse, and the Ahmanson in Los Angeles. Raúl Esparza made his film debut in Sidney Lumet’s 2006 Find Me Guilty. Other films include Wes Craven’s My Soul to Take and GWB. Mr. Esparza’s television credits include recurring roles on A Gifted Man, Pushing Daisies, and Law & Order: SVU in addition to numerous guest-star appearances.

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award–nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. Mr. Feinstein has received national recognition for his commitment to celebrating America’s popular song and preserving its legacy. In 2007 he founded the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, master classes, and the annual High School Vocal Academy and Competition. Michael serves on the Library of Congress’s National Recording Preservation Board, dedicated to the survival and availability of America’s sound-recording heritage. Mr. Feinstein earned his fifth Grammy nomination in 2009 for The Sinatra Project from Concord Records. The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The Good Life was released last year. The first two seasons of his PBS TV series, Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook, are now available on DVD; the third season will air in 2013. For his nationally syndicated public radio program Song Travels, Michael Feinstein interviews and performs alongside luminaries like Bette Midler, Moby, and Rickie Lee Jones. His new book, The Gershwins and Me, featuring a new CD of Gershwin standards, was published by Simon & Schuster. Feinstein serves as artistic director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, home to an annual international Great American Arts festival, live programming, and a museum for his rare memorabilia. In 2010, he became director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2013, he will replace the late Marvin Hamlisch as the conductor of the Pasadena Pops.

A three-time Olivier Award–winner, Maria Friedman is best known as an interpreter of the works of Stephen Sondheim, starring in Sunday in the Park with George (National Theatre), Passion, Sweeney Todd (with Bryn Terfel), and Merrily We Roll Along. In concert, she has starred in Follies and A Little Night Music and sang at Sondheim’s 80th birthday celebrations in New York, Washington, D.C., and London. Other musicals include The King and I (Albert Hall), Ragtime, Lady In The Dark (National), The Witches of Eastwick, Chicago, The Woman In White (London and Broadway, Theatre World Award), Blues In The Night, and Ghetto. In 1994 the Donmar Warehouse presented the Olivier Award–winning Maria Friedman: By Special Arrangement, transferring to the Whitehall Theatre. In 2008 a new version of the show Maria Friedman: Re-arranged transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Trafalgar Studios. On screen, Maria played the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond as well as the role of Trish Baynes in Casualty. Concerts include three sell-out seasons at New York’s Cafe Carlyle and appearances with Michel Legrand and Marvin Hamlisch. Recordings include Maria Friedman Sings the Great British Songbook.

Internationally renowned singer, songwriter, and actor Josh Groban has entertained fans across the globe with his multi-platinum albums and DVDs, electrifying live performances and comedic film and television appearances. Over the last year and a half alone, the 30-year-old Los Angeles native has released his fifth studio album, the platinum-selling Illuminations; completed a sold-out world tour; and appeared in the feature film Crazy, Stupid, Love and on NBC’s The Office. Mr. Groban first broke through in 2001 with his self-titled double-platinum debut album, followed by the multi-platinum Closer, featuring the smash hit “You Raise Me Up,” and the double-platinum Awake. In 2007 he became the best-selling recording artist of the year thanks to sales of Awake and his Grammy-nominated Christmas album, Noel —  the best-selling album of 2007. According to Billboard, Mr. Groban is the only artist to have two albums appear on the Top 20 best-selling albums list of the past decade. In 2010 Mr. Groban released the Rick Rubin-produced Illuminations, which debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart (his fourth consecutive Top 5 chart bow) and reached platinum status two months later. In 2011 Mr. Groban launched the “Straight to You” world tour to the U.S., Europe, and South Africa. During the tour, Mr. Groban partnered with Americans for the Arts to launch a joint text-to-give campaign to raise money for his newly created Find Your Light Foundation, dedicated to enriching the lives of young people through arts education. Mr. Groban has been featured on The Simpsons, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and Glee; co-hosted Live With Regis and Kelly; and paid tribute to Oprah Winfrey during Finale Week of her long-running series. Mr. Groban shot the big-screen workplace comedy Coffee Town. Mr. Groban is currently recording songs for his next record, due early 2013.

Megan Hilty stars in NBC’s musical drama Smash as Ivy Lynn. She recently signed to Sony Music in a partnership between Sony Masterworks and Columbia Records, and her new album will be released next spring. Ms. Hilty most recently appeared as Lorelei Lee in the Encores! production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at New York City Center. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and made her Broadway debut as Glinda in Wicked, and reprised the role in both the national tour and in Los Angeles. After receiving rave reviews for her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes in Broadway’s 9 to 5: The Musical, Ms. Hilty was honored with nominations for Lead Actress in a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Drama League Awards, and L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. She starred in Two by Two as part of the Reprise Series in Los Angeles opposite Jason Alexander, Steven Weber, and Faith Prince. Megan Hilty has also performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and at Feinstein’s in New York City. Her voice has been featured on Disney’s The Secret Life of Magic Gourd, Phineas & Ferb, Glenn Martin DDS, American Dad, Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games, Robot & Monster, and as Snow White in Shrek the Third. Her voice will also be heard as Rosetta in Disney’s Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings. Ms. Hilty is currently in production on Summertime Entertainment’s animated film Dorothy of Oz with Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Dancy, and Lea Michele. Her television credits include guest-starring roles in Melissa & Joey, Bones, The Closer, Desperate Housewives, CSI, Shark, Ugly Betty, Eli Stone, and The Suite Life of Zach & Cody. Megan Hilty made her New York Philharmonic debut in December 2012 in One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch, a special New Year’s Eve concert saluting the late composer-conductor.

Kelli O’Hara has established herself as one of Broadway’s great leading ladies. She currently stars in the ten-time Tony-nominated Broadway musical Nice Work If You Can Get It opposite Matthew Broderick, for which she received her fourth Tony nomination for Lead Actress in a Musical. Ms. O’Hara garnered rave reviews for her recent role as Cathy Whitaker in the musical adaptation of Far From Heaven at Williamstown Theater Festival. She earned her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for her role in The Light in the Piazza in 2005. In 2006 she joined Harry Connick, Jr. on Broadway in the Tony-winning production of The Pajama Game and received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Ms. O’Hara starred in the Tony-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, garnering Tony and Drama Desk nominations. In 2011 Ms. O’Hara made her Public Theater debut in King Lear and in 2010 starred as Ella Peterson in City Center Encores!’ production of Bells Are Ringing. In addition to her critically acclaimed performance as Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, Ms. O’Hara has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, at the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra with Marvin Hamlisch, and with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart. She has performed three times at the Kennedy Center Honors, in tributes for Barbara Cook, Jerry Herman, and Barbra Streisand. Her film and television credits include Sex and the City 2, Blue Bloods, The Key to Reserva, The Dying Gaul, Alexander Hamilton, NUMB3RS, All My Children, and the animated series Car Talk. Ms. O’Hara’s voice can be heard on numerous cast recordings, and her two solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World, are currently available on Ghostlight Records.