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NEIL SEDAKA - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
An Ashford University Summer Pops Concert (Subscribe Now!)
Friday, August 10, 7:30pm
Saturday, August 11, 7:30pm

Matthew Garbutt, conductor
Neil Sedaka, vocals
Dick Palmobi, conductor

Singer. Pianist. Composer. He’s written and co-written more than 500 songs for artists including Connie Francis, The Carpenters, The Fifth Dimension, The Captain & Tennille and many more. Relive the days at the top of the charts with "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," "Calendar Girl," "Where The Boys Are," "Solitaire" and "Love Will Keep Us Together."

Concert will open with a musical tribute to our late principal pops conductor, Marvin Hamlisch.

Friday, August 10 - Sedaka               Saturday, August 11 - Sedaka

Singer. Songwriter. Composer. Pianist. These are just a few of the titles that can be used to describe Neil Sedaka. His impressive fifty-year career ranges from being one of the first teen pop sensations of the 50s, a relevant songwriter for himself and other artists in the 60s, a superstar in the 70s, remaining a constant force in writing and performing today. This is all thanks to the countless songs he has written, performed and produced that continue to inspire artists and audiences around the world.

Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939. Neil’s interest in music began at the young age of four, when he would listen to Make-Believe Ballroom on the radio. By the time he was eight years old, he had already begun his intensive classical piano training at the prestigious Julliard School of Music. Arthur Rubinstein voted Neil (at age 16) as one of the best New York High School pianists. Though Neil considered pursuing a Doctorate in music, Neil’s next choice became his chosen vocation.

Eager to gain acceptance from his peers at Abraham Lincoln High School, Neil began performing Rock and Roll outside of his classical training. At this time, he would form the Doo-Wop group The Tokens. It was his introduction, though, to his young neighbor Howard Greenfield that began one of the most prolific songwriting partnerships of the last half century, selling forty million records between 1959 and 1963.

Sedaka and Greenfield became one of the original creators of the “Brill Building” sound in the late fifties and early sixties when they were the first to sign with Don Kirshner and Al Nevins at Aldon Music. Aldon Music would go on to sign Neil Diamond, Carole King and Paul Simon among many others, and they became the center of the pop world.

Sedaka catapulted into stardom after Connie Francis recorded his song "Stupid Cupid." She then sang the theme song Neil and Howard had written for the 1960 MGM spring break classic, Where the Boys Are, which would be her biggest hit. As a result of these hits, Sedaka was able to sign a contract with RCA as a writer and performer of his own material. Sedaka soon recorded chart toppers "The Diary," "Oh! Carol," " Stairway to Heaven," "Calendar Girl," "Little Devil," "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen," "Next Door To An Angel" and "Breaking Up is Hard to Do," songs that have become a part of peoples' lives and can instantly take listeners back to special moments.

In 1964, the direction of American music changed drastically when The Beatles launched “The British Invasion.” It soon became very hard for most male solo artists to continue to pursue their careers in music. Due to his many talents as a songwriter, Neil was able to prevail, writing hit songs for artists including Frank Sinatra (“The Hungry Years”), Elvis Presley (“Solitaire”), Tom Jones (“Puppet Man”), The Monkees (“When Love Comes Knocking At Your Door”) and The Fifth Dimension (“Workin’ on a Groovy Thing”).

Neil’s journey continued in the UK with the release of his album Emergence in 1972. This was the first step of redefining himself as a solo artist. It was Elton John who decided to sign Neil to his up-and-coming record label Rocket Records and begin to reintroduce Neil to American audiences. The two albums he recorded for the Rocket label, Sedaka's Back in 1974 and The Hungry Years in 1975, both became top-selling albums around the world. His comeback was further heralded by two of his songs co-written with Phil Cody, "Bad Blood" and the quintessential "Laughter in the Rain," both reaching the #1 position on the music charts.

In Rolling Stone magazine, Sedaka was hailed as "the new phenomenon." The song "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" was re-released as a ballad in 1975, and made music history when it reached #1 on the charts, becoming the first song recorded in two different versions by the same artist to reach the Number One spot. During this time, Sedaka also helped to launch the career of The Captain and Tennille with their version of his "Love Will Keep Us Together," which won a Grammy® Award for Record of the Year and became a worldwide, number one hit.

The accolades showered on Neil Sedaka have been numerous. Among the honors he has received, Sedaka has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, has had a street named after him in his hometown of Brooklyn and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Neil has appeared on FOX’s hit Television show American Idol as a guest judge on a 2003 episode on which Clay Aiken performed Neil’s “Solitaire”; this saw an inevitable release, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 Singles chart, and was one of the top selling singles of 2004. In the same year, Neil Sedaka received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Popular Music / Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2006, Neil concluded a 10-city tour of the United Kingdom, where he filmed a live concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall for PBS. (This was later released as Neil Sedaka: The Show Goes On – Live at the Royal Albert Hall.) In 2007, Neil released The Definitive Collection, a career-spanning retrospective released in honor of his 50th Anniversary in show business. The Definitive Collection debuted at #22 on the Billboard Chart, marking the first time Neil has appeared on the chart since 1980. On October 26, 2007, Neil was honored with a tribute at Avery Fisher Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center. “Neil Sedaka: 50 Years of Hits”, a benefit for The Elton John AIDS Foundation, showcased Neil’s songs, with performances by Connie Francis, Dion, Paul Shaffer, Natalie Cole, Clay Aiken, Renee Olstead and The Captain and Tennille.

Sedaka has been married for forty-nine years to his wife, Leba, and they have two children. In 2009, with the collaboration of his children and grandchildren, Neil released Waking Up is Hard to Do, a collection of Neil Sedaka hits that have been reinvented as children’s songs. In addition to his extensive tour schedule, Neil has recently released The Music of My Life, a CD of brand new Sedaka material, produced by Grammy® Award Winner David Foster. “This is my best collection of songs in 57 years of songwriting. It might be my last set of pop songs, as I feel I cannot top these”, said Neil.

Neil has returned to his classical roots, composing his first symphonic piece, Joie de vivre, and his first piano concerto, Manhattan Intermezzo. In October 2010, Neil recorded these two pieces with the London Philharmonic at the famed Air Studios in London. Laughter in the Rain, the critically acclaimed musical that chronicles Neil’s rise, fall and rise again, just concluded its tour through the United Kingdom. All of these ventures will no doubt add to his legend – that of a consummate musician, an extraordinary vocalist and an ageless songwriting talent.

Neil Sedaka performs his signature song, "Breaking Up is Hard to Do", in 2008: