VOCAL | Megan Hilty 

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's 2015-16 Pops series opens in style when Broadway actress Megan Hilty takes the stage with the orchestra — led by Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik. Hilty first garnered attention when, while serving as a standby for Glinda in Stephen Schwartz's hit musical "Wicked," she made her Broadway debut performing alongside Idina Menzel in 2004.

Multiple drama awards (for "9 to 5: The Musical") and numerous television appearances later, Hilty shot to prominence for her role as Ivy Lynn in the musical-within-a-musical "Smash," which aired on NBC in 2012 and 2013. Hilty possesses an archetypal "Broadway" voice: bright, clear, and chock-full of conviction, with shades of earnest melancholy when the music calls for it. In addition to singing popular Broadway selections, Hilty also interprets such adult contemporary songs as those on her 2013 debut album, "It Happens All the Time."

Megan Hilty will perform with the RPO on Friday, September 11, and Saturday, September 12, at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs Street. 8 p.m. $22-$99. Other highlights from the RPO's Pops series include: "Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Time" on October 23 and 24; Doc Severinsen's return on January 22 and 23; and "A Night at the Cotton Club II," an homage to the Jazz Age venue and the legendary music that defined it, on May 27 and 28, 2016. rpo.org.