PRESS RELEASES

If you need additional information, please contact our Communications & External Affairs Manager,

Victoria McCabe, by phone at 973.735.1715, or by e-mail at vmccabe@njsymphony.org.

(Click here for the Press Release Archive)

NJSO PRESENTS MAHLER 9

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Lacombe says that something inherent in Mahler’s music makes his Ninth Symphony a perfect capstone for the classical season. “You can’t come out of a performance of Mahler’s music and be unchanged,” the music director says. “There is something that happens when you hear a piece like that; both performers and listeners come out of it transformed somehow by the deep messages that are in his music.

NJSO PRESENTS 'THE COMPOSER IS DEAD' FAMILY CONCERT

Release Date: May 2, 2012

On Saturday, June 2, at 2 p.m., the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Nathaniel Stookey’s The Composer is Dead—which features text by Lemony Snicket—for the final program of its 2011–12 Family concert series at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. The Composer is Dead is an imaginative musical murder mystery tour through all the sections of the orchestra; the concert is perfect for the whole family. NJSO Education & Community Engagement Conductor Jeffrey Grogan conducts; Narrator Ben Steinfeld, an NJSO family-concert audience favorite, takes center stage as the Inspector.

NJSO PRESENTS BERNADETTE PETERS

Release Date: April 27, 2012

Broadway legend Bernadette Peters joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) for “An Evening with Bernadette Peters,” the final program in the NJSO’s 2011–12 POPS series, on Saturday, June 2, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.

NJSO PRESENTS SCHUBERT 9: THE GREAT
Release Date: April 5, 2012
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) presents Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, “The Great,” in Newark, Princeton and New Brunswick May 17–20. Guest conductor Christoph König leads the Orchestra in a program that also features operatic music of Mozart, Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Soprano Olga Peretyatko performs the legendary “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen” (“Queen of the Night” aria) from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, “Ah! non credea mirarti” from Bellini’s La Sonnambula and “Ah! tardai troppo … O luce di quest’anima” from Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix.

NJSO PRESENTS ANNUAL SPRING GALA
Release Date: March 28, 2012

On Wednesday, April 11, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) will host its annual spring fundraising event at the Harborside Financial Center Atrium. The evening begins with cocktails and a silent auction at 6 p.m. Music Director Jacques Lacombe will then lead the Orchestra in a concert program featuring Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus Overture, The Blue Danube and Thunder and Lightning Polka. Special guest Greater Newark Youth Orchestra concertmaster Janice Cheon—the winner of the youth orchestra’s concerto competition—performs the first movement of Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3. The performance will be followed by dinner.

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NJSO PERFORMS AT CARNEGIE HALL ON MAY 9 IN SPRING FOR MUSIC FESTIVAL
Release Date: March 27, 2012

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) present a special concert program at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the second-annual Spring for Music Festival. The performance marks Lacombe’s Carnegie Hall debut. Renowned pianist Marc-André Hamelin performs Busoni’s Piano Concerto. The NJSO gives the Carnegie Hall premiere of Weill’s Symphony No. 1, “Berliner,” and soprano Hila Plitmann joins the Orchestra for Varèse’s Nocturnal. Both the Busoni and Varèse works feature the men of the Westminster Symphonic Choir.

NJSO PRESENTS SHAHAM & LACOMBE

Release Date: March 23, 2012

Renowned violinist Gil Shaham joins Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) for “Shaham & Lacombe,” a concert program the Orchestra will present in Newark, New Brunswick and Morristown April 27–29. Shaham and the NJSO will give the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Kaddish for Violin and Orchestra; Shaham also performs Berg’s Violin Concerto, “To the Memory of an Angel.” The program also includes Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3, for which the composer adapted music from his opera The Fiery Angel, and Mozart’s Masonic Funeral Music.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF THE GYPSY SPRIRIT
Release Date: March 16, 2012
Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Best of the Gypsy Spirit, a program that features gypsy-themed music including Brahms’ Hungarian Dances Nos. 5, 17 and 21; Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2; Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1; Strauss Jr.’s Gypsy Baron Overture and more.
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NJSO PRESENTS 15TH ANNUAL UJA BENEFIT CONCERT

Release Date: March 15, 2012

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) join the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ (UJC) to present the 15th annual benefit concert in support of the United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ (UJA) on Sunday, April 22, at 3 p.m., at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. Internationally renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

NJSO PRESENTS A SALUTE TO GILBERT & SULLIVAN

Release Date: March 13, 2012

A quintet of world-class vocalists join the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and guest conductor Christopher Larkin as the Orchestra celebrates one of the most legendary partnerships in musical history with “A Salute to Gilbert & Sullivan,” the third program of the NJSO’s 2011–12 POPS series, on Saturday, April 21 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.

NJSO LAUNCHES 'NJSO YOUNG COMPOSERS PROJECT'

Release Date: March 7, 2012

The application process is now open for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers Project. Out of the NJSO’s commitment to identifying and nurturing young talent, this project provides a unique training opportunity for promising New Jersey composers to create an original work for orchestra. Up to three selected students will collaborate closely with a mentor—acclaimed composer Behzad Ranjbaran—to develop new symphonic works. As part of the Orchestra’s New Jersey Roots Project, the NJSO will perform the winning Young Composers Project compositions at school-time and family concerts in spring 2013.

NJSO PRESENTS BEETHOVEN 3 & 5
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Beethoven’s Third and Fifth Symphonies on a program that runs March 30–April 1 in Newark and New Brunswick. The program opens with the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner and Montclair, New Jersey, resident George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 4 (Strands), which the Orchestra co-commissioned as part of its New Jersey Roots Project.
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NJSO PRESENTS WATTS PLAYS BRAHMS

Release Date: February 15, 2012

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) welcome renowned pianist André Watts back to the NJSO stage for performances of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 from March 22–25. The program, “Watts Plays Brahms,” also features Schumann’s Symphony No. 3.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF DVOŘÁK’S AMERICAN LEGACY
Release Date: February 3, 2012

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra celebrates the Best of Dvořák’s American Legacy in a program featuring both music of Dvořák and music of American composers he inspired. In addition to music from the titular composer’s “New World” Symphony and Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 1, the NJSO performs Copland’s Variations on a Shaker Melody, Ellington’s “Giggling Rapids” from The River, Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag and Sousa’s The Washington Post. Pianist Michelle Cann joins the Orchestra for Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Camptown Races.” John Morris Russell conducts.

NJSO ANNOUNCES 2012–13 SEASON
Release Date: January 29, 2012

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) today announced its programs for the 2012–13 concert season, conductor Jacques Lacombe’s third year as the Orchestra’s Music Director. The season, which opens September 28, exemplifies the high artistic standards and thoughtful programming that have made the NJSO—described by The Wall Street Journal as “a vital, artistically significant music organization”—one of the region’s cultural treasures. The season features 16 weeks of traditional classical programs, four pops programs in both Newark and New Brunswick and three family concerts, as well as several special concerts.

NJSO PRESENTS SPANISH INSPIRATION
Release Date: January 24, 2012

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Xian Zhang explore the wealth of music Spanish culture has inspired in a program featuring Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, Verdi’s La forza del destino Overture and Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite from February 24–26. Violinist Clara-Jumi Kang performs Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole. A special Spanish luncheon ticket package is available for the February 26 performance.

NJSO PRESENTS A VALENTINE TREAT
Release Date: January 13, 2012
Three Broadway stars join the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Thomas Wilkins as the Orchestra sets the mood for Valentine’s Day with “A Valentine Treat,” the second program of the NJSO’s 2011–12 POPS series, on Saturday, February 11.

NJSO & OPERA NEW JERSEY PRESENT PUCCINI'S TOSCA
Release Date: January 6, 2012

Continuing a multiyear partnership that has thrilled New Jersey audiences, Opera New Jersey and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Puccini’s tragic masterpiece Tosca, in Princeton and Newark in February. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center partners with the two organizations to present the Newark performance.

NJSO PRESENTS RENEE FLEMING

Release Date: January 2, 2012

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) present Renée Fleming with the NJSO, a one-performance-only program on Sunday, January 29, at 3 p.m. in NJPAC’s Prudential Hall. The incomparable soprano Renée Fleming joins the Orchestra for a program featuring Ravel’s Shéhérazade and other favorites.
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NJSO PRESENTS FIRE: LIGHT & LEGEND

Release Date: December 23, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Fire: Light & Legend, the third and final program in the Orchestra’s 2012 Winter Festival—FIRE. The festival’s closing program touches on the earliest days of the symphony with Haydn’s “Fire” Symphony, and it reaches forward into the contemporary with Kaija Saariaho’s cello concerto Notes on Light, performed by Anssi Karttunen—the Finnish cellist for which Saariaho wrote the work. The program’s finale is a new vision for a Beethoven classic—The Creatures of Prometheus—and the true capstone of the NJSO festival.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF PLAYING WITH FIRE
Release Date: December 20, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Best of Playing with Fire, the second program in the Orchestra’s 2012 Winter Festival—FIRE. “Best of Playing with Fire” looks at musical stories of characters that have made a deal with the devil. From Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld Overture to Dompierre’s Les Diableries to Gounod and Berlioz’s depictions of the story of Faust, the NJSO presents a host of diabolical scores featuring characters who tempt fate by playing with fire. The program features bass Ben Wager and NJSO violinist Héctor Falcón.

NJSO PRESENTS THE HERO'S FIRE
Release Date: December 13, 2011
Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra kick off 2012 with The Hero’s Fire, the first program in the Orchestra’s 2012 Winter Festival—FIRE. Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin joins the NJSO for Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire (Symphony No. 5); Arc3design collaborates with the Orchestra to create a special lighting environment for these performances.

NJSO PRESENTS 2012 WINTER FESTIVAL: 'FIRE"

Release Date: December 1, 2011

This January, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) presents its 2012 Winter Festival: FIRE—the second season of a multi-year odyssey spotlighting the symbolic power of natural elements that have inspired composers for centuries. The festival, which runs from January 6–22, encompasses three concert programs celebrating fire in music. From multiple orchestral reflections on the legend of Prometheus to Kaija Saariaho’s scintillating cello concerto Notes on Light, the NJSO explores the powerful musical creations fire has inspired. Performances will take place at six of the Orchestra’s venues throughout the state of New Jersey.

NJSO PRESENTS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS WITH BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL

Release Date: November 4, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) kicks off its first 2011–12 NJSO POPS concert series with “Home for the Holidays with Brian Stokes Mitchell”—a festive concert program of timeless carols and holiday favorites featuring Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. Constantine Kitsopoulos conducts; the Masterwork Chorus and New Jersey Youth Chorus also join the Orchestra onstage.

NJSO PRESENTS ATHLETES OF THE ORCHESTRA (NJSO FAMILY SERIES)

Release Date: October 25, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) kicks off its 2011–12 Family concert series with “Athletes of the Orchestra”—a creative program that highlights all of the “players” of an orchestra—on Saturday, November 26, at 2 p.m. at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. Featuring a musical lineup that includes Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme and Von Tilzer’s classic “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the program is perfect for the whole family.

NJSO PRESENTS JÄRVI RETURNS

Release Date: October 21, 2011

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Conductor Laureate Neeme Järvi returns to the NJSO podium for a program of Scandinavian and Russian music that features NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick’s annual concerto with the Orchestra. Wyrick will perform Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto. The program also features Halvorsen’s Suite ancienne—a work inspired by Grieg’s Holberg Suite—and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2.

NJSO PRESENTS KAHANE: THE PIANIST CONDUCTOR

Release date: October 5, 2011

Pianist-conductor Jeffrey Kahane joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) for a performance where he will play and conduct Beethoven’s landmark Third Piano Concerto. The program also features Brahms’ stirring Variations on a Theme of Haydn and Jalbert’s colorful Chamber Symphony.

NJSO PRESENTS LISZT THE PIANIST

Release date: September 26, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and Music Director Jacques Lacombe celebrate the 200th anniversary of Liszt’s birth with a program featuring both of the composer’s piano concertos, along with his moving tone poem Les Préludes. The performance also includes Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll. Pianist André Laplante joins the Orchestra as soloist.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF BACH

Release date: September 16, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra opens its four-concert 2011–12 Best of … series with Best of Bach, a program celebrating one of the most influential and enduring composers in music history. Three NJSO musicians—Concertmaster Eric Wyrick, Principal Flute Bart Feller and flutist Kathleen Nester—and soprano Ava Pine appear as soloists on a program that includes Brandenburg Concertos No. 3 and No. 4, excerpts from cantatas including “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and “Wachet auf” and more. David Lockington conducts.

NJSO LAUNCHES 2011–12 SEASON WITH OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION CONCERT
Release date: September 8, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra usher in the Orchestra’s 2011–12 season with an Opening Night Celebration featuring the incomparable mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. The festive program of American and French music begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, October 14, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. The Orchestra also performs orchestra-only “An American in Paris” concerts on Saturday, October 15, in Morristown and Sunday, October 16, in Newark.

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS THIRD ANNUAL WILLIAM AND JUDITH SCHEIDE CONCERT: ‘EXPLORING MENDELSSOHN AND THE GUTENBERG BIBLE’

Release date: July 7, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents the Third Annual William and Judith Scheide Concert—Exploring Mendelssohn and the Gutenberg Bible—at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton on Thursday, July 21, at 8 p.m. The all-Mendelssohn program features the composer’s Festgesang (“Festive Hymn”) and Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang” (“Hymn of Praise”), both written in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable-type printing press.

NJSO PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

Release Date: May 10, 2011

Michael Feinstein, the five-time Grammy-nominated interpreter of the Great American Songbook, joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for a program celebrating the music of “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” Frank Sinatra. The June 11 concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) closes the NJSO’s 2011–12 POPS series in grand style.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF BALLET

Release Date: April 28, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Best of Ballet, the final program in the Orchestra’s 2010–11 Best of … series, during the first week of June. The program features dazzling ballet music from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Bernstein’s Fancy Free.

GREATER NEWARK YOUTH ORCHESTRAS PRESENT ANNUAL SPRING CONCERT

Release Date: April 25, 2011

The Greater Newark Youth Orchestras—the youth orchestras of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra—will present their 21st annual Spring Concert on Saturday, May 7, at Science Park High School in Newark. The event features the Greater Newark Youth Orchestra (GNYO), Greater Newark Chamber Orchestra (GNCO) and Greater Newark Violin Ensemble (GNVE). The program showcases the student musicians of the youth orchestras in a concert perfect for the whole family.

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NJSO PRESENTS PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (NJSO Family Series)

Release Date: April 20, 2011

On Saturday, May 21, at 2 p.m., the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for the final program of its 2010–11 Family concert series at Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). The concert program features original puppetry from theatrical troupe Blair Thomas & Co.; NJSO Education & Community Engagement Conductor Jeffrey Grogan conducts.

NJSO AND NJPAC PRESENT SPECIAL EVENTS WITH COMPOSER DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN (DBR)
Release Date: April 15, 2011

Captivating Haitian-American composer and performer Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) participated in several special events at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark during the week of April 4. The events surrounded the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s (NJSO) April 7–10 performances of DBR’s new symphonic work, Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents—a co-commission with the Sphinx Commissioning Consortium.

NJSO PRESENTS MAHLER 3
Release Date: April 13, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 as the grand finale of the Orchestra’s 2010–11 classical season. Mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel, the Montclair State University Chorale women and the American Boychoir join the NJSO for the blockbuster symphony .

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NJSO PRESENTS SPRING INTO MUSIC: 'MUSIC YOU CAN TASTE'
Release Date: April 12, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra hosts its black-tie spring event at the Morris Museum in Morristown. Spring into Music: “Music You Can Taste” will include cocktails, dinner and the annual silent auction, as well as performances by the NJSO and a quartet of student musicians from the Orchestra’s Greater Newark Youth Orchestra.

NJSO PRESENTS 14TH ANNUAL UJA BENEFIT CONCERT
Release Date: April 8, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra joins the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ (UJC) to present the 14th annual benefit concert in support of the United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ (UJA) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, in Morristown. The program honors community philanthropists and New Jersey’s “First Couple” of Jewish overnight camp, Elisa Spungen Bildner and Rob Bildner of Upper Montclair.

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COMPOSER DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN TO PRESENT SPECIAL EVENTS WITH NJSO AND NJPAC

Release Date: March 25, 2011

Captivating Haitian-American composer and performer Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) will participate in several special events at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark in advance of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s (NJSO) performance of DBR’s new symphonic work, Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents—a co-commission from the Sphinx Commissioning Consortium. The NJSO concert program runs April 7, 8 and 10 in Newark and April 9 New Brunswick.

NJSO PRESENTS A SALUTE TO JOHN WILLIAMS

Release Date: March 23, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra lights up the concert stage with the legendary film music of John Williams on April 16 and 17 in Newark and New Brunswick. The NJSO POPS program—“A Salute to John Williams”—explores the prolific film composer’s most epic scores and magical themes.

NJSO PRESENTS TCHAIKOVSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO

Release Date: March 7, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcome violinist Vadim Gluzman back to the NJSO stage on a program headlined by Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. On the program, which runs April 7–10 in Newark and New Brunswick, the Orchestra presents a new work, Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents, from captivating Haitian-American composer and performer Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR). Barber’s Symphony No. 1 opens the program.

NJSO PRESENTS MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN

Release Date: February 18, 2011

Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin returns to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra stage to perform Strauss’ witty Burleske and Mozart’s lively Concert Rondo in D on a program that runs in Newark and New Brunswick during the last week of March. “We are pleased to welcome two returning artists to the NJSO,” says Music Director Jacques Lacombe. “Marc-André Hamelin is a longtime friend of mine from Canada, and he is one of the best pianists in my opinion. He is going to shine on our stage in these two works by Mozart and Strauss.

NJSO ANNOUNCES 2011–12 SEASON

Release Date: February 15, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra today announced its programs for the 2011–12 concert season, conductor Jacques Lacombe’s second year as the Orchestra’s Music Director. The season, which opens October 14, exemplifies the high artistic standards and thoughtful programming that have made the NJSO—described by The Wall Street Journal as “a vital, artistically significant music organization”—one of the region’s cultural treasures. In addition to 12 weeks of traditional classical programs, there are four Best of … presentations, four pops programs and three family concerts, as well as several special concerts. The October 14 Opening Night Celebration, featuring mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, presents a vibrant and wide-ranging program of both elegant French repertoire and distinctly American classics.

2011–12 Season Calendar

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF SPANISH FLAIR

Release Date: February 10, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performs a spicy program of Latin-tinged music in “Best of Spanish Flair,” the Orchestra’s third Best of … series program of the 2010–11 season. Captivating guitarist Oren Fader, an in-demand performer of both classical and contemporary repertoire, performs Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.

NJSO PRESENTS AN ITALIAN EXCURSION

Release Date: February 4, 2011

The charm of Italy has captivated composers for centuries—the country’s art, culture and people have inspired music from composers of all nationalities. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s “An Italian Excursion” program explores Italian-flavored works by non-Italian composers. Engaging conductor and violinist Augustin Dumay leads the program from the podium and solos as well.

NJSO PRESENTS ARABIAN NIGHTS

Release Date: January 25, 2011

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra explore stories of adventure and tapestries of orchestral color in “Arabian Nights,” an exotic program featuring Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Nielsen’s Aladdin Suite and Behzad Ranjbaran’s Seemorgh: Persian Trilogy for Orchestra.

NJSO PRESENTS JACQUES & THE DIVAS
Release Date: January 14, 2011

Three Broadway stars join the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe as the Orchestra sets the mood for Valentine’s Day with “Jacques and the Divas,” the second program of the NJSO’s 2010–11 POPS series on Saturday, February 12.

NJSO PRESENTS CARNIVAL OF THE CREATURES (NJSO Family Series)

Release Date: January 12, 2011

On Saturday, February 12, at 2 p.m., the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents the world premiere of Bruce Adolphe’s Carnival of the Creatures with the composer appearing as the narrator. Music Director Jacques Lacombe conducts the program—the second in the NJSO’s 2010–11 Family concert series and the third annual Gretchen Lochner Gonzales Memorial Concert—at Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).

NJSO PRESENTS WATER! FANTASY & FABLES

Release Date: January 7, 2011

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra caps its 2011 Winter Festival, “Water,” with a fanciful program of watery fairytales led by Conductor Laureate Neeme Järvi. “Water! Fantasy & Fables” features the suite from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Dvorák’s menacing tone poem The Water Goblin. Captivating young mezzo-soprano J’nai Bridges joins the Orchestra for Elgar’s song cycle Sea Pictures.

NJSO & OPERA NEW JERSEY PRESENT MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Release Date: January 6, 2011

Continuing a multi-year partnership that has thrilled New Jersey audiences, Opera New Jersey and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Madama Butterfly, Puccini’s opera masterpiece of a tragic love story, in Princeton and Newark in February. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center partners with the two organizations to present the Newark performance.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF WATER

Release Date: December 22, 2010

Composers throughout history have been fascinated with the element of water, and on the second program of its 2011 Winter Festival, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe explore the vast musical landscapes the element has inspired in “Best of Water.”

NJSO PRESENTS WATER! FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA

Release Date: December 20, 2010

Music Director Jacques Lacombe leads Water! From the River to the Sea, the first program in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2011 Winter Festival. The element itself takes center stage as percussionist David Cossin performs Tan Dun’s unique Water Concerto, which features water as a solo instrument.

NJSO LAUNCHES MULTI-YEAR WINTER FESTIVAL EXPLORATION OF 'MAN & NATURE'

Release Date: December 1, 2010

This January, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra launches a new artistic initiative entitled “Man & Nature: Exploring the Elements in Music,” a multi-year Winter Festival odyssey spotlighting the symbolic power of natural elements that have inspired composers for centuries. The opening series of this new multi-year initiative, which runs from January 7–23, encompasses three concert programs exploring Water in music. Performances will take place at all seven of the Orchestra’s venues throughout the state of New Jersey.

NJSO PRESENTS HAPPY HOLIDAYS WITH THE CANADIAN BRASS

Release Date: December 1, 2010

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra opens its 2010–11 POPS series with a perennial favorite, as the ageless Canadian Brass return to the NJSO stage for “Happy Holidays with the Canadian Brass.” The performance takes place on Saturday, December 11, at 8 p.m. at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.

MEDIA ALERT!

NJSO PRESENTS "THE HERO'S JOURNEY' FAMILY CONCERT PROGRAM

PRE-CONCERT ADVENTURES BRING YOUNG CONCERTGOERS CLOSER TO THE MUSIC
Release Date: November 26, 2010
At 1 p.m., the Orchestra presents a Pre-Concert Adventure in the Prudential Hall lobby. The activities, which are free to ticketholders, will feature “Instrument Petting Zoos” and other musical attractions. Children will learn about different instrument families and styles of music, and they will have the chance to create their own instrument to take home.
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MEDIA ALERT!
YEFIM BRONFMAN WITHDRAWS FROM NJSO PROGRAM FOR MEDICAL REASONS

Release Date: November 1, 2010

Pianist Yefim Bronfman has withdrawn from his engagements with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for its program of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto this weekend for medical reasons. Bronfman said: “I was very eager to return to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra stage for my repeat engagement with the Orchestra. I regret that I will not be able to perform in New Jersey this weekend, but I look forward to appearing with the NJSO again in the future.” The NJSO is thrilled to announce that pianist Yuja Wang will perform the Brahms concerto with the Orchestra.

NJSO PRESENTS "THE HERO'S JOURNEY' FAMILY CONCERT PROGRAM

Release Date: October 26, 2010

On Saturday, November 27, at 2 p.m., the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents “The Hero’s Journey”—the first program in its 2010–11 Family concert series—at Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). The concert program highlights musical depictions of heroism from classical and modern composers; NJSO Education & Community Engagement Conductor Jeffrey Grogan conducts.

NJSO SEEKS ARTIST SUBMISSIONS
Release Date: October 21, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and City Without Walls Gallery (cWOW)—a Newark-based urban art gallery—are seeking artist submissions for an initiative that will bring visual and musical art forms together for a special concert experience at the NJSO’s “Arabian Nights” performances in Newark, Morristown and New Brunswick in February 2011.

NJSO PRESENTS ENIGMA VARIATIONS

Release Date: October 19, 2010

On Thanksgiving weekend, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe present a vibrant program featuring Elgar’s timeless Enigma Variations and NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick performing Princetonian Edward T. Cone’s Concerto for Violin and Small Orchestra, as part of the Orchestra’s New Jersey Roots Project. The program also includes Webern’s orchestration of Bach’s “Ricercare” from The Musical Offering.

NJSO FREE BLOCK PARTY TO FEATURE LOCAL ENSEMBLES

Release Date: September 22, 2010

NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe joins NJSO musicians, concertgoers, community members and friends for the event, which celebrates music of various traditions and introduces the Orchestra’s new musical leader to the community. Lacombe will conduct the combined choirs of Bethany Baptist Church and Metropolitan Baptist Church, and other local artists—including the Bradford Hayes Jazz Quartet, vocalist Kevin Maynor, the Luisito Ayala Orchestra salsa band and an NJSO chamber ensemble—are slated to perform as well.

NJSO PRESENTS BRONFMAN PLAYS BRAHMS

Release Date: September 23, 2010

International piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman returns to New Jersey Symphony Orchestra stages from November 5–7, when he will perform Brahms’ First Piano Concerto with the Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Jacques Lacombe.

NJSO PRESENTS RUSSIAN TALES

Release Date: September 21, 2010

On the final weekend of October, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jacques Lacombe leads the Orchestra in “Russian Tales,” a captivating program featuring Prokofiev’s dramatic Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninoff’s lyrical Second Piano Concerto, performed by dynamic young pianist Dudana Mazmanishvili.

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO RELEASE RECORDING OF CARMINA BURANA WITH MUSIC DIRECTOR JACQUES LACOMBE

Release Date: September 15, 2010

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra yesterday announced the release of a recording of Orff’s Carmina Burana under the baton of Music Director Jacques Lacombe. The recording draws from two performances in November 2008 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; the program marked the first time Lacombe conducted the Orchestra. The announcement of the CD release coincides with Lacombe’s inaugural performance as the NJSO’s new Music Director.

NJSO ANNOUNCES $32 MILLION COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN FOR OPERATING
AND ENDOWMENT SUPPORT

Release Date: September 14, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra today announced the public phase of a historic fundraising initiative on behalf of one of the state’s premier cultural jewels. The NJSO’s $32 Million Comprehensive Campaign—“An Incomparable Sound. A Cultural Treasure.”—is the Orchestra’s unprecedented effort to invest in world-class orchestral concerts, reach nearly 250,000 patrons each year and help contribute to the culture of New Jersey.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF MOZART

Release Date: September 10, 2010

On its first Best of … series program of the 2010–11 season, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra celebrates one of the most influential composers in history. Best of Mozart presents a unique look at the musical genius, a child prodigy who crafted some of the most famous and important music in the classical literature. The program includes Mozart’s Overtures to The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni and movements from the “Jupiter” Symphony, Symphony No. 1 and “Haffner” Symphony. Tchaikovsky’s “Mozartiana” Suite—the program’s only non-Mozart work—is the Russian composer’s tribute to his musical icon.

NJSO HOSTS FREE BLOCK PARTY AFTER SEPT. 26 NJPAC PERFORMANCE

Release Date: September 3, 2010
On September 26, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra partners with several organizations to host a free outdoor block party celebration. The block party, to be held outside of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, kicks off immediately following the Orchestra’s 3 p.m. concert, or approximately 4:30 p.m. The outdoor event is open to all.

NJSO PRESENTS ROMEO AND JULIET
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Composers throughout history have paid tribute to the most famous star-crossed lovers in all of literature—William Shakespeare’s tragic couple Romeo and Juliet—with some of the most romantic music in the entire classical canon. On the first weekend of October, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra looks at musical interpretations from three very different composers—Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Delius.

NJSO PRESENTS BEETHOVEN'S NINTH
Release Date: August 16, 2010
For its first subscription program of the 2010–11 season, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, led by new Music Director Jacques Lacombe, presents Beethoven’s immortal Ninth Symphony in a unique programming format. Between movements of the Ninth, the NJSO adds a distinctive element—excerpts from touchstone speeches by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy and Susan B. Anthony—to emphasize the symphony’s themes of liberty, the human spirit, fraternity and compassion.
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NJSO PRESENTS GALA OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION

Release Date: August 12, 2010

A new era for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra begins on September 14, when Jacques Lacombe takes the podium for a Gala Opening Night Celebration—his inaugural concert as the Orchestra’s 13th Music Director. To mark the occasion, special guests Joshua Bell and Jeanine De Bique join Lacombe for a program highlighting the new music director’s love of music from the orchestral to opera and ballet. The concert, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, begins at 7 p.m.

NJSO PRESENTS SUMMER CONCERTS AT VENUES ACROSS THE STATE
Release Date: June 6, 2010
Beginning Friday, June 25, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra continues its annual tradition of presenting summer concerts in venues throughout New Jersey. Jeffrey Grogan conducts each of these performances that include selections from opera classics like Faust and Don Giovanni, featuring soloists from Opera New Jersey. Audiences will also enjoy popular tunes from such musicals and movies as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Wizard of Oz. The summer concerts reflect the NJSO’s commitment to bringing live symphonic music to communities throughout the state.
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NJSO SELECTED TO PERFORM IN 2012 SPRING FOR MUSIC FESTIVAL AT CARNEGIE HALL
Release Date: May 19, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has been selected as one of six orchestras that will participate in the second annual Spring for Music festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City in May 2012. The innovative festival invites North American orchestras to propose a concert program that is adventurous and creative; the festival directors select the orchestras that best demonstrate “imaginative, meaningful and deliberate thought behind the selection of pieces, the sequence of pieces, the program structure and the presentation of pieces.”

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF COMPOSERS AT THE KEYBOARD
Release Date: April 30, 2010

Fresh off the heels of his critically acclaimed debut as Music Director Designate of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Jacques Lacombe returns to the NJSO podium for a program that explores the “Best of … Composers at the Keyboard.”
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NJSO PRESENTS HITCHCOCK: SYMPHONY AT THE MOVIES

Release Date: April 16, 2010

Suspense, drama, intrigue and murder, Hitchcock style, are on tap when the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Hitchcock: Symphony at the Movies, the final program of the Orchestra’s 2009–10 POPS series. The NJSO will perform music from some of the most fascinating Hitchcock film scores as scenes from the classic films play on a projection screen above the orchestra.

NJSO PRESENTS THE FIREBIRD
Release Date: April 12, 2010
Fairy tales have long had a special place in the classical repertoire. Composers from Tchaikovsky to Rimsky Korsakov have drawn inspiration from timeless fables, illuminating masterful stories for children and adults alike. The NJSO’s three-concert 2009–10 Family series closes on May 15 by unleashing the most famous magical bird in the classical canon—Stravinsky’s The Firebird tells the Russian fable about a handsome prince drawn to an enchanted garden by the exotic Firebird, who helps the prince free his beloved princess from the spell of an evil ogre.

NJSO PRESENTS MAHLER 5
Release Date: April 6, 2010
Capping off a successful season with some of the classical world’s most acclaimed guest conductors, Christoph König leads the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in its final subscription series concert of the 2009–10 season. Featuring two of the 20th century’s greatest composers—friends and rivals Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler—the NJSO performs Strauss’ Four Last Songs and Mahler’s masterful, “tragedy-to-triumph” Symphony No. 5.

NJSO PRESENTS TWO MASTERS: BRAHMS & DVOŘÁK
Release Date: March 22, 2010
On April 22, 2010, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra launches a new era with Two Masters: Brahms & Dvořák, Jacques Lacombe’s first appearance with the NJSO since being named the Orchestra’s Music Director Designate.

NJSO PRESENTS PATTI LUPONE: COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA

Release Date: March 4, 2010
Stage legend Patti LuPone brings her theater pedigree, signature voice and star power to Newark as she joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for An Evening with Patti LuPone: Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda. With an attitude and style that is distinctly her own, LuPone takes center stage for a program packed with songs from musicals in which she could have played, should have played, did play and will play.

NJSO PRESENTS STRAUSS: DON JUAN

Release Date: February 23, 2010

With a touch of Teutonic romance, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Strauss. Rife with the influences of the classical and Romantic periods—plus hints at early 20th-century music—the NJSO’s “Strauss: Don Juan” program offers a multi-faceted world of simultaneously lush and intimate melodies.

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NJSO ANNOUNCES 2010–11 SEASON
Release Date: February 18, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra today announced its programs for the 2010–11 season of classical, Best of …, pops and family concerts. The season, which kicks off September 14 with a Gala Opening Night Celebration featuring violinist Joshua Bell and soprano Jeanine De Bique, marks the beginning of Jacques Lacombe’s tenure as the NJSO’s 13th Music Director. The wide-ranging opening night program showcases Lacombe’s love of music from the orchestral to opera and ballet.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF ... FAIRY TALES

Release Date: January 29, 2010

In classical music, fairy tales aren’t just child’s play. Some of the most important composers of all time have brought these stories to life. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is one of the most mesmerizing works in all of classical music—a Russian composer telling the Arabian story of One Thousand and One Nights.

MEDIA ALERT!

DENYCE GRAVES WITHDRAWS FROM CARMEN PRODUCTION FOR MEDICAL REASONS

Release Date: January 28, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Opera New Jersey and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) announce that mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves has withdrawn from her Carmen engagements due to a direct order from her doctor to rest her vocal cords for six to eight weeks.
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NJSO PRESENTS PETER AND THE WOLF
Release Date: January 15, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Prokofiev’s beautiful rendering of the classic tale Peter and the Wolf in a Family concert on Saturday, February 13, at NJPAC in Newark. The concert is also the annual “side-by-side” concert for the NJSO’s celebrated Greater Newark Youth Orchestra (GNYO); the training orchestra will perform alongside the NJSO for a selection of works. A fitting Pre-Concert Adventure brings Atka, a male wolf from New York’s Wolf Conservation Center, to NJPAC for concertgoers to see.
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NJSO PRESENTS LOVE SONGS OF HOLLYWOOD & BROADWAY
Release Date: January 13, 2010
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra sets the mood for Valentine’s Day with Love Songs of Hollywood and Broadway, the second program of the 2009–10 NJSO POPS series, on Saturday, February 13. From timeless classics of Porter and Berlin to the slinky jazz of Chicago, the NJSO and a trio of guest vocalists present love songs from the stage and the silver screen—and sometimes both.

NJSO & OPERA NEW JERSEY PRESENT BIZET'S CARMEN
Release Date: January 8, 2010

Internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves will perform the opera’s iconic title role. Metropolitan Opera veteran Richard Leech performs the role of Don José, and Luis Ledesma performs that of Escamillo, the dashing toreador. Joseph Rescigno conducts. The performance will be sung in French with English supertitles.
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NJSO PRESENTS VERDI'S REQUIEM
Release Date: December 23, 2009
Closing the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Italian Winter Festival with an operatic bang, NJSO Conductor Laureate Neeme Järvi returns to the podium to conduct Verdi’s Requiem. Maestro Järvi concluded his tenure as NJSO Music Director last May—a tenure that, according to The Star-Ledger, left “an indelible mark on the orchestra—one of the country’s top 20.” His return to the NJSO stage to conduct the Requiem is tantamount to his much-anticipated encores during his seasons with the Orchestra.
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NJSO'S GREATER NEWARK YOUTH ORCHESTRAS TO HOLD AUDITIONS JAN. 9
Release Date: December 9, 2009

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Greater Newark Youth Orchestras (GNYO) will hold auditions for select instruments on Saturday, January 9, 2010. GNYO currently has openings for viola, cello, bass, bassoon, French horn, trombone and tuba players. Acceptance into the GNYO program is based on audition requirements that demonstrate ability and the Orchestras’ instrumental needs. GNYO is open to New Jersey middle-and high-school students.

NJSO PRESENTS BEST OF ITALIAN OPERA
Release Date: December 1, 2009
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra celebrates the grand Italian operatic tradition in Best of … Italian Opera. The program is part of the 2010 Winter Festival—“Italy: Land of Song & Expression.” Guest conductor David Wroe and Schola Cantorum on Hudson join the NJSO to present rousing overtures and choruses from opera greats including Verdi, Rossini, Puccini and Leoncavallo.

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NJSO PRESENTS SARAH CHANG & THE FOUR SEASONS
Release Date: November 23, 2009
Praised by The New York Times as “one of the most consistently satisfying violinists currently active,” Sarah Chang kicks off the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2010 Winter Festival—“Italy: Land of Song & Expression.” In a performance bound to heat up the middle of a New Jersey winter, Chang will perform Vivaldi’s virtuosic The Four Seasons. The violinist, who recorded the Vivaldi work two years ago, counts this piece as one of her favorites.

NJSO'S GREATER NEWARK YOUTH ORCHESTRAS PRESENT
20TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY & CONCERT
Release Date: November 23, 2009
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Greater Newark Youth Orchestras herald the holiday season with their 20th annual Holiday Party & Concert. The event—to be held on Saturday, December 19, at Wilkins Theatre at Kean University—features the Greater Newark Youth Orchestra (GNYO) and Greater Newark Chamber Orchestra (GNCO).
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NJSO PRESENTS RONAN TYNAN

Release Date: November 13, 2009

Original Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra to present “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” a program of heartwarming classics full of holiday spirit. Tynan brings his uplifting vocal stylings to such beloved Christmas carols as “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night” and other selections from his album “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” He also presents the traditional Irish favorites that endeared him to millions worldwide. In a special appearance, the New Jersey Tap Ensemble will perform Victor Herbert’s March of the Toys.

NJSO PRESENTS MEET THE ORCHESTRA

Release Date: November 12, 2009
Strings. Woodwinds. Brass. Percussion. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra introduces orchestra families to New Jersey families in “Meet the Orchestra,” the first program in the NJSO’s 2009–10 Family concert series. The music of legendary composers like Dvorák, Copland, Strauss, Holst and Beethoven welcomes the young and young at heart to the live orchestral experience on Saturday, November 28.

NJSO PRESENTS MOZART'S JUPITER
Release Date: November 8, 2009

In celebration of Robert Schumann’s 200th birthday in June 2010, the NJSO presents the composer’s rarely performed Violin Concerto in D Minor. Described by soloist and NJSO concertmaster Eric Wyrick as “the perfect ‘Schumann year’ work,” the concerto is a rarity that was all
but forgotten from the time of the composer’s death to the early 20th century. Its level of difficulty makes for a virtuosic evening under Wyrick’s bow.

MEDIA ALERT!
Conductor Michael Stern steps in for Miguel Harth-Bedoya to lead 'Two Pianos: Two Sisters'

Release Date: October 27, 2009

Due to illness, conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is unable to appear with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for “Two Pianos: Two Sisters” classical concert programs Oct. 29–Nov.1. In his absence, conductor Michael Stern takes the podium for the Naughton twins’ highly anticipated performance of Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos.
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NJSO Appoints Jacques Lacombe as Music Director

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees and CEO André Gremillet announced today the appointment of conductor Jacques Lacombe as the Orchestra’s 13th Music Director, effective September 1, 2010, for a threeyear term. Maestro Lacombe becomes Music Director Designate effective October 20, 2009. He succeeds Neeme Järvi, who led the Orchestra from 2004 to 2009 in an extremely successful tenure.

NJSO Presents The Pianist Conductor

Continuing its season featuring some of the world’s most exciting guest conductors, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcomes Maestro Olli Mustonen to the podium—and the piano bench. In a throwback to the times when composers would often simultaneously perform and conduct their own pieces, Mustonen makes his American conducting debut with NJSO.

NJSO Presents Best of Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky’s musical legacy is one like no other. Beloved by the masses for the magnificent ballets no holiday season would be complete without, the Russian composer’s catalogue spans nearly every genre, from incidental music to operas and concertos. In Best of Tchaikovsky, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s first program in its 2009–10 Best of … series, the NJSO explores both the iconic and the obscure in the composer’s repertoire.

NJSO Presents Two Pianos: Two Sisters
Keyboard wunderkinds Christina and Michelle Naughton bring their sister act to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra this month. The identical twins will take their seats at two pianos for Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor, adding a touch of jazz and exoticism by way of Paris to an evening otherwise steeped in the German Romantic tradition. And while Schumann’s Overture to Genoveva and Brahms’s Second Symphony may evoke the German and Austrian Alps, the Poulenc concerto will be the Herculean peak of the evening.

NJSO Presents From Russia to Americas
Fresh from the BBC Proms and Moscow’s landmark Bolshoi Theatre, pianist Stephen Hough joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for a haunting-yet-exhilarating program of pitch-perfect seasonal music from Russia to the Americas. Exciting Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra also returns to the NJSO’s repertoire with the East Coast premiere of his Sinfonía No. 4—the first work commissioned by the Sphinx Commissioning Consortium.

NJSO Presents Fantastic Obsessions
Praised by The New York Times for his “literate musicianship,” conductor Hans Graf will usher in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2009–10 season with a vibrant bang bound to enliven the Garden State. Maestro Graf leads the Orchestra in a program featuring Berlioz’s masterful Symphonie fantastique, as well as the overture to Rossini’s La scala di seta. NJSO principal flutist Bart Feller takes center stage for Ibert’s rare gem of a Flute Concerto. Teeming with vivacity, passion and even hints of eroticism, the concert will give audiences a taste of what promises to be an unforgettable NJSO season.

NJSO Appoints Vice President of Education & Community Engagement
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has appointed Marshell Jones Kumahor to its Vice President of Education & Community Engagement position. In this capacity, Kumahor will oversee the NJSO’s array of education programs...
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NJSO & NJPAC Present Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
On the night of last year’s Grammy Awards broadcast, the country watched international piano superstars Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang transform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with a special two-piano arrangement. The collaboration was so electric that the two virtuosos conceived a duo tour currently playing to audiences worldwide. On Saturday, August 1, at 8 p.m., the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and New Jersey Performing Arts Center present “Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra”—a one-night-only performance at NJPAC in Newark.

NJSO Presents A Midsummer Celebration: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Beethoven’s epic Ninth Symphony on a special concert program—“A Midsummer Celebration”—on Thursday, July 23, at Richardson Auditorium in Princeton... This concert is presented through the generosity of Princeton residents William and Judith Scheide.
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NJSO Announces Summer Performances Across New Jersey

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra continues its annual tradition of presenting summer concerts in parks throughout New Jersey. Jeffrey Grogan conducts each of these live performances that include selections from opera classics like Carmen and Don Giovanni, featuring soloists from Opera New Jersey. Audiences will also enjoy the familiar strains of uniquely American melodies during the series of concerts spread from late June to late July. The summer parks concerts reflect the NJSO's commitment to bringing live symphonic music to communities throughout New Jersey.

NJSO Presents Best of Nature
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra closes its 2008–09 classical season with spring in full bloom, and, appropriately, its final program celebrates the wonders of the outdoors. “Best of Nature” culls musical reflections of nature from classical works both iconic and obscure, highlighting composers from Britten to Dvorák—the latter’s contribution featuring the NJSO’s own principal cellist, Jonathan Spitz.

NJSO Presents Scheherazade: Arabian Tales Family Concerts
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2008–09 Family concert series concludes with exotic flair on Saturday, May 16, at NJPAC in Newark, as the Orchestra presents “Scheherazade: Arabian Tales.”

NJSO Presents Broadway Goes British POPS Concert

Broadway goes British in the rousing final program of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2008–09 POPS season. On Saturday, May 16, Broadway luminaries Rob Evan, Capathia Jenkins, Doug LaBrecque and Christiane Noll join the NJSO, under the baton of Randall Craig Fleischer, to bring London’s West End and the Great White Way to NJPAC in Newark.

NJSO Announces Annual Radio Broadcast Series

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and The Merck Company Foundation are pleased to announce that Merck has signed on as a sponsor of the Orchestra’s annual radio broadcast series. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra broadcast series on WQXR 96.3 FM will launch in the fall of 2009, airing full NJSO performances.

NJSO Presents Järvi's Farewell
For his final subscription concerts as the Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Neeme Järvi has chosen a spectacular program: Beethoven’s immortal Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” with Swedish virtuoso Per Tengstrand as soloist, and Bruckner’s towering Symphony No. 7—works that not only display the maestro’s artistry on the podium but also testify to his deep affinity with the orchestra he has done so much to strengthen during the past four seasons.

NJSO Presents Spring Into Music: Getting Back to Our Roots
The New Jersey Symphony presents Spring Into Music: Getting Back to Our Roots, its black-tie spring fundraising event, at Gladstone’s beautiful Hamilton Farm Golf Club, one of New Jersey’s premier venues. The event, to be held on Saturday, April 18, at 6 p.m., will include cocktails and dinner, as well as a performance by the NJSO featuring its Greater Newark Youth Orchestra, a silent auction and a historic overview of the NJSO’s artistic milestones.

NJSO Presents Viva Italia!

Italy is the focus of Neeme Järvi’s penultimate program as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Each of the three works on this fascinating program represents a personal, sometimes complicated response to the land and its music, as viewed from the perspective of an outsider.

NJSO Food Drive Surges Past Goal
Halfway through its Orchestras Feeding America food drive, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has received an estimated 2,000 pounds of food and has almost tripled its goal of collecting 100 grocery bags of donated items. The Orchestra will donate all items it receives to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

NJSO Presents Tchaikovsky's Pathétique

The Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet joins forces with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra to present the East Coast debut of Interchange, a concerto composed especially for the LAGQ by Brazilian guitarist/composer Sergio Assad, an acclaimed performer in his own right.... Andrew Grams, one of the most exciting young conductors on the American scene, leads the NJSO in a program that also includes Tchaikovsky’s tragic Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique"...

NJSO Announces 2009–10 Season
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra today announces its programs for the 2009–10 season of classical, pops and family concerts. The NJSO also announces that Neeme Järvi, the Orchestra’s Music Director from 2005 to 2009, has been appointed Conductor Laureate and Artistic Advisor.
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2009–10 Season on the web
2009–10 Season Brochure PDF (4mb)

NJSO Presents Swingin' with Sinatra and Dorsey
Popular music is an ever-changing genre, but some voices and some songs never die. The music of Ol’ Blue Eyes—that’s Hoboken’s own Frank Sinatra—and his old pal Tommy Dorsey remains as potent and cherished as it was the first time these two legends stepped up to a microphone.

NJSO Presents Slavic Fire

The NJSO will perform under the baton of rapidly rising young conductor James Gaffigan. Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen, known among connoisseurs for his burnished sound and immaculate technique, takes the solo role in the Beethoven, continuing the NJSO’s season-long traversal of the five concertos in numerical order.

NJSO Presents Russian Passion

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has long been noted for its excellence in Russian repertoire, earning acclaim for its “Russian Romantics” Winter Festival in 2007 and its Rachmaninoff Festival in 2000. On the first weekend of March, Rossen Milanov—hailed by The Chicago Tribune as “one who bears watching by anyone who cares about the future of music”—takes the podium to lead the NJSO in a rich and rewarding Russian program.

NJSO Presents Vienna: Old & New

Release Date: February 4, 2009

The spirit of Vienna—elegant and gracious, with a hint of mischief—runs through the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s “Vienna: Old & New” program, which runs from Feb. 27–Mar. 3 at NJPAC in Newark. Renowned conductor Gerard Schwarz, born in Weehawken to Austrian parents, is an especially fitting choice to lead the NJSO for this occasion.

MEDIA ALERT!
Special Guest Steps in for Peter Nero

Release Date: February 3, 2009

Due to illness, Peter Nero regrettably is unable to perform his POPS engagement with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra this Saturday, February 7, at NJPAC in Newark. In his absence, conductor Elizabeth Schulze leads a trio of exciting soloists in a program certain to put its audience in a romantic mood right before Valentine's Day.
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NJSO Presents Best of Shakespearean Romance

Release Date: February 2, 2009
“If music be the food of love, play on.” The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra acknowledges William Shakespeare’s famous quote in a program recognizing both the Bard and the proximity of Valentine’s Day. The NJSO presents “Best of Shakespearean Romance,” an ode to the myriad musical efforts the Bard’s works have inspired. Composers from Mendelssohn to Tchaikovsky to Sibelius have drawn on the playwright’s classic love stories, setting to music the tales of Shakespearean romances like Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

NJSO Presents Carnival of the Animals Family Concert

Release Date: January 22, 2009

No experience seems quite comparable to the exotic idea of a jungle safari. No experience, that is, except for Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals. The composer’s captivating work brings the safari to the concert hall—no bug spray or jungle hats required.

NJSO Presents A Romantic Evening with Peter Nero

Release Date: January 16, 2009

“He has the gift of seeing a song as no one has seen it before,” The Buffalo News has raved about Pops conductor-pianist Peter Nero. On Saturday, February 7, Nero brings that unique creativity to Newark, as he joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for its first POPS program of 2009.

NJSO Presents America and Beyond

Release Date: January 9, 2009

The Richardson Auditorium in Princeton and the State Theatre in New Brunswick will echo with Slavic and American sounds when JoAnn Falletta leads the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in music by Barber, Copland, Dvorák and Kodály in “America and Beyond.”

NJSO Presents Idyllic Impressionism

Release Date: January 5, 2009

Week three of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 Winter Festival, Paris: Fantasy & Discovery, brings the festival to a stunning close with a program that centers on two emblematic masterworks of Impressionism, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe Suites for orchestra. The sensual reveries of these two pieces are well balanced by the antic energy of Milhaud’s Le boeuf sur le toit and the virtuoso dazzle of Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, with Siberian violinist Mikhail Simonyan in the solo role. Kristjan Järvi, known for his sensitive command of this repertoire—and as the son of NJSO Music Director Neeme Järvi—conducts.

NJSO Presents Majesty & Mischief

Release Date: December 16, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra continues its exploration of French music in the second week of its 2009 Winter Festival, Paris: Fantasy & Discovery. Maestro Neeme Järvi conducts a program of favorites and hidden gems from the Belle Époque, the era lasting from 1870 to the First World War.

NJSO Presents Best of Vienna

Release Date: December 11, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra waltzes into 2009 with a rousing New Year’s program modeled after the world famous
Viennese New Year’s Day concerts. The NJSO’s “Best of Vienna” features the waltzes, polkas and other dance like music that scores of people flock to see in Europe; best of all, no trans Atlantic trip is required.

Paris: Fantasy & Discovery—The 2009 Winter Festival

Release Date: December 5, 2008
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra explores French music from 1870 to the First World War in its 2009 Winter Festival, Paris: Fantasy & Discovery, from January 9–25. Three weekends of concerts—conducted by two generations of Järvis, Neeme and Kristjan—bring a piquant mix of old favorites and new discoveries from this fruitful period, justly known as the Belle Époque “Beautiful Era.”
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Canadian Brass

Release Date: November 26, 2008

Continuing a tradition not quite as old as Christmas shopping (but certainly less hectic), Canadian Brass return to New Jersey for a holiday POPS engagement with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. This must-see performance will include holiday favorites alongside classics, musical surprises and the beloved brass quintet’s famous antics. The New Jersey Youth Chorus also appears on the program.

NJSO Presents Classical Variations

Release Date: October 31, 2008

In the second installment of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven piano-concerto cycle, Simone Dinnerstein, one of the most acclaimed American pianists to emerge in recent years, joins the NJSO to perform Beethoven’s noble and touching Piano Concerto No. 2 with Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer on the podium. The work is the centerpiece of a program that traces the ripples of the Classical revolution, from the generation immediately following Beethoven—Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, “Tragic”—to Prokofiev’s purposely titled “Classical” Symphony, composed more than 100 years later...

Carmina Burana

Release Date: October 10, 2008

Carl Orff’s magnificent Carmina Burana forms the centerpiece of a New Jersey Symphony Orchestra program that revolves around life’s elemental pleasures—courtship, carousing and nature itself. Debussy’s delicate and cheerful Danse, orchestrated by Ravel, and Janácek’s playfully dramatic Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen. These exciting pieces, filled with driving, folkish rhythms and vibrant orchestral colors, sound as fresh today as they did in the early years of the 20th century when they were composed.
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NJSO's new series debuts with 'Best of Beethoven'
Release date: October 3, 2008

The inaugural program of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Best of … series opens with the most famous four notes in history and then explores the music and the man behind them. “Best of Beethoven” probes deeper into the composer’s canon, unearthing little-known gems like his Romance Cantabile and painting a more stylistically diverse portrait of one of the most revered figures in all of music. The program also takes a closer look at Beethoven himself; readings from his letters will punctuate the musical selections and illuminate the composer’s inspirations and emotions...

Vocal superstar Linda Eder sings Judy Garland Songbook with the NJSO

Release Date: October 1, 2008

For electrifying vocalist Linda Eder, three singers influenced her more than any of the other pop, jazz and classical musicians she was exposed to as a child. “From the time I was a kid,” she says, “my ‘teachers’ were Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Eileen Farrell.” On Saturday, October 18, Eder pays homage to one of those teachers, joining the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for a Judy Garland-themed evening in the first installment of the NJSO’s 0809 POPS season...

NJSO receives $1M anonymous donation in honor of Dr. Victor Parsonnet

Release Date: September 26, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra today announced the receipt of a $1 million anonymous donation in honor of Dr. Victor Parsonnet. The donation coincides with the Orchestra’s Opening Night Celebration, a gala event paying tribute to the NJSO’s Board Chairman Emeritus. The donor wishes to both celebrate and acknowledge the outstanding leadership and dedication of Dr. Parsonnet as the NJSO’s Board Chairman from 1991–2007...

'Magma' erupts in the Garden State: Star percussionist Evelyn Glennie returns

Release Date: September 19, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, noted for its skill in contemporary repertoire, welcomes back charismatic percussionist Evelyn Glennie for the North American premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s explosive Symphony No. 4, “Magma,” for which the composer will be present. Tüür’s Estonian compatriot Neeme Järvi conducts.

Mendelssohn's 200th, Brahms's First: NJSO performs with Vadim Gluzman

Release Date: September 11, 2008

One of the Romantic era’s defining figures takes center stage as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra inaugurates its season-long celebration of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn. Johannes Brahms—Mendelssohn’s Romantic successor—is represented by his stirring Symphony No. 1. Rising Netherlands-born conductor Mischa Santora leads the Orchestra in an evening of music that exemplifies the warmth and passion of 19th-century German Romanticism at its finest...

NJSO opens 2008–09 season with Pictures at an Exhibition

Release Date: September 5, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra opens its exciting 2008–09 season with a program that showcases both the virtuosity of its players and the magnificence of its sound...It’s a fitting introduction to a season that The Star-Ledger called “the NJSO’s most exciting in recent memory”...

Opening Night Celebration to Honor Dr. Victor Parsonnet, Chairman Emeritus

Release Date: August 13, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will honor Dr. Parsonnet for his extraordinary philanthropy on Friday, September 26, 2008, in a special Opening Night Celebration, wrapped around the Orchestra’s first performance of its 86th season.

NJSO Announces AIG/NJSO Broadcast Series on WQXR 96.3 FM

Release Date: May 21, 2008

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Neeme Järvi are proud to announce the Orchestra’s annual radio broadcast series. The AIG/New Jersey Symphony Orchestra broadcast series on WQXR 96.3 FM launches on May 27 and airs Tuesday evenings at 9:05 p.m. through August 19...The first program presents the first-ever broadcast of Darryl Kubian’s 3-2-1 for Acoustic and Electric Violin and Orchestra. A member of the NJSO’s first-violin section, Kubian composed the concerto for NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick...

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Columbia U. study assesses NJSO's Newark Early Strings Program, finds improved student performance

Release Date: April 28, 2008

"A Columbia University Teachers College February 2008 assessment report finds that the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Newark Early Strings Program (NESP) successfully meets its myriad stated goals. The document analyzes 'the impact of the Program on students’ academic success and self-esteem, as well as the impact of the Program on the school and community.'"