Audrey Logan & Ilya Serov with the Reading Pops Orchestra
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2025 3:00 PM
MILLER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Trombone-playing singer-songwriter Aubrey Logan hails from the picturesque surroundings near Seattle, WA. Raised by her two music-educator parents, she began her artistic endeavors as a child singing in theatre and in church, Thoughtful songwriters like Billy Joel & Carole King influenced her early childhood via her singing mother and trumpet-playing father, as well as the soulful musicianship of American horn bands such as Chicago, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Steeley Dan, and more. Things took an intriguing turn when she picked up the trombone at the age of 12, igniting her passion for the jazz tradition.
Aubrey possesses a distinct yet truly unique voice, able to take a song from practically any era or genre and really making it her own, through surprising vocal melisma, scatt jazz interludes and a blissful warm tone that expands over her entire catalogue of originals to innovatively-arranged hits.
Her accolades are as impressive as they are extensive, from clinching victory in the prestigious Shure Montreux Voice competition in 2009 to securing a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she stands as an alumna. Notably recognized as a top trombone player by Downbeat magazine, Aubrey has graced stages globally, touring alongside renowned artists like Dave Koz & Postmodern Jukebox. For as much success as Aubrey has had in her career, she doesn't take herself too seriously. You’ll catch her often making highly entertaining and humorous jabs at her own craft on stage or posts on her social platforms parodying overly serious jazz musicians, overplayed Christmas music, or social media trends.
Aubrey attained the #1 Billboard spot for contemporary jazz with the Dave Koz & the Summer Horns album, "From A to Z," alongside the success of her own album "Where the Sunshine is Expensive." Aubrey's musical footprint can be traced from Seattle to Boston to LA, and now Austin, TX, where she continues to captivate audiences with her extraordinary vocals and unmatched Jazz finesse.
A seasoned performer, Aubrey Logan has toured extensively with her band across Europe and the US, performing her music to students and fans alike through engaging clinics and performances at various institutions. Her musical prowess has also led her to collaborate with symphonies and orchestras nationwide, with both her original compositions and covers being brought to life by esteemed orchestras like the Seattle Symphony, Boston Pops, and Cincinnati Symphony.
In a recent heartwarming ode to motherhood, Aubrey is gearing up to release a single in honor of Mother's Day, reflecting her newest role as a mom. Looking ahead, she is also currently immersed in creating her debut big band album set to unveil in late 2024, promising yet another dimension of her artistry to be enjoyed by music enthusiasts worldwide. Exuding lively youthfulness mingled with veteran musical maturity, Aubrey has a voice that seamlessly weaves through her songs with raw and natural elegance.
Award-winning trumpeter /singer /guitarist /band leader Ilya Serov has a passion for jazz that knows no bounds. A talented young musician with an old soul, Ilya brings an infusion of imagination, vision and energy to the many shades of America’s original musical art form. Possessing both chops and charisma, his live performances and recordings have attracted a solid following among jazz fans and seasoned musicians alike.
Ilya’s experiences on the jazz scene have recently led him to expand his creative interests in a significant new direction that blends jazz with elements of soul and R&B. In November 2021 he released his third studio album, Just Friends, which features platinum-selling saxophonist Dave Koz and other award-winning artists: keyboardist Greg Manning, saxophonist Alex Hahn, vocalist Matt Cusson and guitarist Kay-Ta Matsuno. The album features 11 songs, and the first three singles on the album are Serov’s original compositions. “Chillin’,” his first original single, was composed and released in 2020 during the isolation and introspection brought on by the global pandemic. “Heat” (featuring Dave Koz) and “Ironic” were both released in 2021. Both tracks received considerable international airplay, and “Heat” made it on the Billboard Top 30 Smooth Jazz Chart. In November 2021, Ilya was nominated as Breakout Artist of the Year by Smooth Jazz Network.
Just Friends also features Serov performing on a new instrument he created in collaboration with the UK’s Andy Taylor, a trumpet maker who specializes in building unique quality instruments. The instrument, which he dubbed the “Jazzohorn,” has a flugelhorn base and the shape of a saxophone, with its own unique sound and nuanced palette.
Serov’s original music has been featured on radio stations across the globe, including on SiriusXM Radio, expanding his fan base to include smooth jazz aficionados worldwide.
Ilya Serov is driven today not only by his desire to preserve jazz as an American treasure, but by his mission to engage and educate new generations of listeners. He continues to focus exclusively on contributing his time and talent to the world of jazz - its past, present and future.
The Reading Pops Orchestra is a professional 55-piece orchestra made up of musicians from the Reading and Berks area, and the surrounding counties.
Conductor Wes Fisher established the group in 1969. J. Carl Borelli, Henry Gass, Frank Siekman, Lewis “Skip” Norcott, and Paul Cusano have also held the baton to lead music that is “popular classics” and “classic pop.” More recently Charles Weiser shared conducting with our current director Willis M. Rapp, retired as Music Department Chair at Kutztown University. These names read like a list of “Who’s Who” in music in Reading.
The orchestra performs all around Berks County playing a wide variety of music including recognizable classics and overtures of Von Suppe, Handel, Strauss, Dvorak, Bizet, and Mozart. We cover American contemporary composers such as George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Morton Gould. Popular tunes from Broadway musicals by composers such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin as well as Hollywood soundtracks by the likes of John Williams, and others are programmed. Music of LeRoy Anderson, the “father” of the Pops genre, is often featured as well. The orchestra even swings! The versatility of the musicians is evident in “the group within a group” when the woodwind section doubles on saxophones creating the Pops Big Band. Rousing marches round out the repertoire of this lighter musical style ensemble.
The performance schedule of annual events consists of the Sunday with the Pops Series, performed at the Miller Center for the Arts, RACC, where name artists such as Livingston Taylor, the Four Freshmen, Tribute to the Beatles Classical Mystery Tour, and Ann Hampton Calloway, to name a few, are highlighted. This series also includes appearances during the Berks Jazz Festival, which have included the New York Voices, Keiko Matsui, Rick Braun, Chuck Mangione, Julien Labro, and others.
The Reading Pops Orchestra performed an all Gershwin program with pianist Clipper Erikson as part of the KU Presents! Series in October of 2014, a highlight for the orchestra musically and in audience appreciation.
The annual Father’s Day Concert, since the orchestra’s inception, showcases local talent. This concert is sponsored in part by the Reading Musical Foundation. The Wyomissing Recreation department presents the Pops in a Concert in the Park at the Stone House to an appreciative audience enjoying the lovely setting. In December, music of season is celebrated with a Vesper Service hosted by the St. Daniel’s Lutheran Church congregation of Robesonia, and with Berks Ballet Theatre for The Nutcracker.
Customarily the community concerts include outstanding vocal and instrumental soloists, ensembles from within the organization, or noted members of our musical communities, and premiers of new pieces by area composers. This gives the local talent a chance to perform with an orchestra and promote the rich culture that is alive in Berks County. Students often gain their first experience performing with a professional orchestra, sitting side by side with teachers and mentors. Talented youth from the Berks County High School shows are often featured as soloists at a summer concert, a rare opportunity for young musicians to perform with an orchestra
The Reading Pops Orchestra has appeared at the Reading City Park Bandshell, sponsored in part by Berks Arts and the Reading Eagle. Past events have also included an afternoon of music sponsored by the Friends of the Robesonia Library, participation in the Gring’s Mill Amphitheater concert series, and a long running Pops Dinner Concert series, and the Muhlenberg Fine Arts concert series.
The costs of the concerts are shared by the sponsoring organizations, through an appropriation from the Reading Musical Foundation, of which the Reading Pops is an affiliate; corporate giving; an annual Gift of Music fundraising campaign; grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Berks Arts; and the U.S. Recording Industry’s Music Performance Trust Fund, administered through the American Federation of Musicians, Local 135-211. The orchestra is a non-profit 501c(3) corporation, and registered with the Bureau of Charitable Giving of Pennsylvania.
The mission of the Reading Pops Orchestra is to promote the musical arts in Reading and Berks county through the preservation of a professional orchestra for the performance of public concerts, and to provide a variety of historical and educational presentations of the classic pops repertoire, exposing the greater community to different musical art forms.