“Under music director Jacques Lacombe, the performance was mesmerizing from its first notes to its conclusion—and one of the most compelling classical performances in New Jersey so far this season.”

Read the article [nj.com]

"Most impressive was Rimsky-Korsakov’s 'Scheherazade,' which was masterfully crafted by Lacombe and played with rich, unified sound and vibrant expressivity by the NJSO. The music often pushed to the brim of excess but never went overboard. And, in the work’s many solos, the principal players seemed to feed off of each other, showing the orchestra all around to be in excellent form."

Read the article [nj.com]

“Ranjbaran believes in music as a social and sometimes political force. In ‘Seemorgh,’ with its focus on mountain landscapes in moonlight and at sunrise, the societal function is one of preserving and refreshing a sense of community that knows no bounds. ‘I think that there’s an inherent truth in all cultures and that is the respect for others and respecting others’ ideas,’ Ranjbaran says. ‘Music reflects that unity, that sense of inner peace that exists in all nations and in all people.’”

Read the article [nj.com]

“The centuries-old epic ‘1001 Arabian Nights’ makes a handy jumping off point for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra program coming up in a series of concerts ... The traditional symphonic repertoire is rife with interpretations of this medieval collection and Maestro Jacques Lacombe has chosen two excellent examples, Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1888 ‘Scheherazade’ and Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 1919 ‘Aladdin Suite.’ To those, Lacombe has added a contemporary work, Behzad Ranjbaran’s ‘Seemorgh: Persian Trilogy for Orchestra.’”

Read the article [dailyrecord.com]

“Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) perform Iranian-born composer Behzad Ranjbaran’s Seemorgh: Persian Trilogy for Orchestra on the NJSO’s ‘Arabian Nights’ program this weekend in Newark, Morristown and New Brunswick. Praised for its ‘lush exoticism’ by American Record Guide, Seemorgh appears as part of the NJSO’s New Jersey Roots Project, an initiative celebrating the music of composers who were born in New Jersey or whose artistic identity was shaped by time spent in the Garden State.”

Read the article [payvand.com]

AN ITALIAN EXCURSION
March 11–13
The melodic verve and fleet pacing of Italian opera energized classical and early Romantic composers. That spirit can be heard in Mozart’s tuneful works for violin and orchestra, in Schubert’s Italian overture and in Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, brimming with Italianate warmth and wit.

BEST OF SPANISH FLAIR
March 17–20
This sizzling program reveals the soul of Iberia. Romantic selections from Bizet’s Carmen and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez offer a view from the Old World. Latin-American rhythms pulse through Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, Copland’s El Salón México and Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat.

MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN RETURNS
March 24–27
Lauded as a performer “whose abilities defy the imagination,” pianist Marc-André Hamelin stars in Mozart’s lively Concert Rondo and Strauss’ witty Burleske. A northern sun warms the snowy landscapes of Sibelius’ First Symphony.