Sarasota Orchestra Pops celebrates the hits of Paul Simon, Neil Diamond and James Taylor

Singer and pianist Michael Cavanaugh once saw himself as a piano bar kind of guy until he was discovered by the ultimate “Piano Man” and his career turned into something quite different.

Cavanaugh was working at a piano bar in Las Vegas when Billy Joel stopped in one night and was impressed by what he heard. Joel invited Cavanaugh to play his music in the Broadway dance show “Movin’ Out,” which director and choreographer Twyla Tharp created to tell a story from Joel’s hit songs.

Cavanaugh played Joel’s hits from a perch above the stage for most of the show’s three-year Broadway run. It brought him unexpected attention and launched Cavanaugh on a new path as a touring artist frequently performing with symphony orchestras.

“When Billy saw me in the piano bar in Las Vegas and invited me to do his show, it changed everything,” Cavanaugh said.

But there’s more to the musician’s repertoire than Billy Joel.

He has developed orchestral arrangements for several different shows. One is dedicated to Joel’s music and another focused on Elton John. His latest, a tribute to Paul Simon, James Taylor and Neil Diamond, brings Cavanaugh back to perform for a mostly sold-out Sarasota Orchestra Pops concert.

The first time he joined an orchestra, Cavanaugh said he was “blown away” by the sound washing over him. ‘It was hard to keep my composure. That was in 2008 and my first time was with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. What a way to get broken in. But I was overtaken by the way the music surrounded me.”

He’s gotten used to that sound but still recognizes how “organically powerful” an orchestra sounds with “no subwoofers or a DJ blasting through a huge PA system. This is a simple way to say it, but I feel like we’re putting the songs on steroids. I love the simple versions. If you give me James Taylor with his acoustic guitar, it’s incredible. But when you add all these different colors, the strings and percussion, I think it’s an amazing way to hear these incredible songs.”

Conductor Christopher Confessore leads the pops concert that will feature such hits as “Sweet Caroline,” “Your Smiling Face” “The Sound of Silence” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

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Simon, Taylor and Diamond were part of Cavanaugh’s life growing up.

“Definitely, all their records were played in my household,” he said. “My dad turned me on to Billy Joel, but he played a lot of Paul Simon and James Taylor. That had an influence on me.”

There are no clear parallels among the musicians aside from the fact that they are all singer-songwriters who emerged in the 1960s, with Simon and Taylor coming from more of a folk tradition, and Diamond building his early success as a pop/rock songwriter.

“What brings them together is the roots, all of them starting with a guy with their acoustic guitar,” he said.

Singer Songwriters Featuring Michael Cavanaugh

Sarasota Orchestra Pops, conducted by Christopher Confessore. 7:30 p.m. March 1, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. March 2. Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $55-$120. 941-953-3434; sarasotaorchestra.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Orchestra Pops salutes icons of 1960s folk and pop