Winter Festival recap: Sarah Chang, Shakespeare Theatre thrill
The NJSO’s 2014 Winter Festival, “Sounds of Shakespeare,” featured violinist Sarah Chang in a virtuosic arrangement of Bernstein’s West Side Story in all six NJSO venues as part of a multifaceted residency, as well as a creative performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with actors from celebrated artistic partner The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
Check out press and highlights from the Winter Festival:
Sarah Chang
In a two-week residency generously sponsored by Bank of America, Chang performed Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite in all six of the Orchestra’s performance venues statewide over the next two weekends. A passionate advocate for arts education, Chang visited University Heights Charter School for a special event with students in NJSO CHAMPS and gave a masterclass for students in the NJSO Youth Orchestras.
Her performances drew raves from press and audiences. “Sarah Chang made magic with the violin,” wrote Examiner.com. “This music was clearly going to be fun for her to play, and it was apparent Ms. Chang felt the music in every fiber of her being, with a great deal of physicality in her playing,” said Princeton Town Topics. The Star-Ledger wrote that Chang “delivered a flashy performance.”
Chang’s visits to the Orchestra’s flagship education programs inspired the students—and adults!—in attendance. Read a recap and Examiner.com feature on the CHAMPS visit.
Read more about Chang's residency:
- Star-Ledger: Violinist takes on ‘cool’ Shakespeare theme and students with NJSO
- Asbury Park Press: Do you know Sarah Chang?
- Broadway World Interviews: Violinist Sarah Chang
- Classical TV shares Q&A with Sarah Chang
Shakespeare Theatre actors perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet
Continuing a celebrated partnership, the NJSO welcomed actors from The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet in a special performance of Prokofiev's suite dedicated to the Bard's great tragedy.
The Star-Ledger called the performance “moving,” “sensitively lighted and thoughtfully staged, from a moment in which the star-crossed lovers held hands across a small platform to pulse-quickening sword fights ... Underscoring the drama, Lacombe culled a colorful rendition of the Prokofiev. The orchestra brought character and crispness to light flourishes that corresponded with the town awakening and suspense to zagging and pounding chase motives illustrating conflict between Tybalt and Mercutio. Excerpts were skillfully woven into the text, not always in order, as with the ballet's gnashing Act III introduction, which started off this performance off on a dramatic note.”
“Their passionate performance ended in an incandescent blaze,” Examiner.com wrote, hailing the production as “a unique, powerfully moving experience.”