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THE VOICE OF WHITNEY • A SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION

Mesa Arts Center - Tom and Janet Ikeda Theater [Mesa, AZ]

Event info
Date:November 22, 2025
Time:8:00 pm
Location:Mesa Arts Center - Tom and Janet Ikeda Theater
Address: 1 E Main St Mesa, AZ
Website:https://www.mesaartscenter.com/show-details/the-voice-of-whitney?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23088591829&gclid=CjwKCAjwmNLHBhA4EiwA3ts3mTdLJEE5tFiIP4iy9OnbR2wnvxry8NHJgk2aFF8KVu0dO2fBvOYEVBoC5ZgQAvD_BwE
Details

Experience Whitney Houston’s astounding musical legacy like never before. This new concert tribute features original master recordings of Whitney’s vocals set to new orchestrations of her biggest hits—including “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “Higher Love” and “I Will Always Love You”—accompanied by home movies, film performances, and never-before-seen footage. Presented in collaboration with the Estate of Whitney Houston, Park Avenue Artists, and Primary Wave Music.

Conductor: Sean Mayes 

Hailing from Toronto and based in New York City, 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, composed entirely of musicians of color and focusing exclusively in repertoire that artists of color have contributed made to popular music.

Additionally, Mayes is 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 & Pops of Color, Town Hall NYC); Lin-Manuel Miranda Spring Shout (Conductor; Pops of Color, Town Hall NYC); 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.
Mayes is proudly represented by Opus 3 Artists for worldwide orchestral conducting. When not on the move, Sean cherishes his time at home between Brooklyn & Toronto with his love, Lori, and their curly bundle of dog, Bilbao. www.seannmayesmusic.com | @maestromayes
 

Producers: David Lai, Ross Michaels, and Susannah KarronExecutive Producers: Pat Houston and Primary Wave

Music Music Director: David Lai

Director: Ross Michaels

Creative Project Manager: Susannah Karron

Video Editing for Concert Performance: Jordan Battiste and Ross Michaels

Original Animations: Jeremy Higgins

Worldwide Representation: Ben Schiffer, WME

Special Thanks: Dick Clark Productions, Sony Music Entertainment