William Shatner, Ben Folds, National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Steven Reineke
Biography William Shatner, Ben Folds, National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Steven Reineke
William Shatner
has cultivated a career spanning over 70 years as an award-winning actor, director, producer, writer, recording artist, and equestrian. He is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable figures and a major philanthropist.
His accomplishments in television, film, and stage would take a great deal of time and more space than allotted here.
In 1966, Shatner originated the role of Captain James T. Kirk in the television series Star Trek. The series spawned a feature film franchise where Shatner returned as Captain Kirk in seven of the Star Trek movies, one of which he directed.
Shatner played the title role in the hit television series T.J. Hooker before hosting television’s first reality-based series, Rescue 911.
He won Emmys and his first Golden Globe® for his portrayal of eccentric lawyer Denny Crane on both The Practice and Boston Legal. Shatner has received four more Emmy® nominations as well as other Golden Globe® and SAG Award® nods.
In April 2011, Shatner launched his hugely popular one-man show, Shatner’s World on Broadway. He toured in Australia and New Zealand, followed by tours in Canada and over 50 cities in the United States.
Shatner currently is the host and executive producer of The UnXplained on the History Channel. From the producers of Ancient Aliens and The Curse of Oak Island, the one-hour, non-fiction series explores the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries.
His love of music inspired him to record the critically acclaimed album Has Been. In September 2021, Shatner released the autobiographical album titled Bill with tracks featuring Joe Jonas, Brad Paisley, and Joe Walsh to name a few. In October 2020, The Blues album quickly reached number one on Billboard’s Blues chart. Shatner previously released the country music album, Why Not Me, in August 2018 with Jeff Cook and Heartland Records. Quickly following that, Shatner experienced much success with Shatner Clause, a holiday album released in October 2018 which peaked at number two on the Billboard chart.
Off the screen and broadcast waves, Shatner has authored nearly 30 best-sellers in both the fiction and non-fiction genres. His autobiography, Up Till Now, was a New York Times best-seller and was followed by Shatner Rules which was released in October 2011. William Shatner’s book, Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man, was released in February 2016 appearing on the New York Times bestseller list. Shatner also released Live Long And... What I Might Have Learned Along the Way in September 2018 and most recently, Boldly Go, a fascinating and timely collection of essays in which Shatner reflects on key events from his 90-years of life, was released in October 2022.
Shatner has been successful in another area—horse breeding. A longtime dedicated breeder of American Quarter Horses, he has also experienced enormous success with the American Saddlebred, developing and riding world champions and has won numerous world championships in several equine events. His passions for horses and philanthropy were united when he started the Hollywood Charity Horse Show in 1990, which benefits childrens’ and veterans’ charities in Southern California.
Shatner continues to act, write, produce, and direct while still making time to work with charities and further his passion in equestrian sports. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Ben Folds
is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation.
The Emmy®-nominated singer-songwriter-composer has created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records.
For the past three decades, he’s toured as a pop artist, while also performing with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras. A New York Times Best Selling author and podcast host, Ben also composes for film, tv, and theatre, guest stars in films and tv, and serves as the Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
A longtime advocate for arts and music education funding, Ben launched a music education charitable initiative in his native state of North Carolina entitled “Keys For Keys,” which provides funds and keyboards to existing nonprofits that provide free or affordable music lessons to interested school-age children. On the national level, he’s active as a member of Americans For The Arts and the Arts Action Fund.
Steven Reineke
is one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music and is in his second decade as music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Principal Pops Conductor of the Houston and Toronto Symphony Orchestras.
Reineke is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.
On stage, Reineke creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, and Ben Folds, among others.
As the creator of hundreds of orchestral arrangements, Reineke’s work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands perennially.
