Relaxed Performances
Enjoy classical music in a comfortable environment at these upcoming Relaxed Performances!
These performances, which are all Thursday matinees and Discover concerts at NJPAC, are designed to accommodate the differing needs of our patrons of all abilities and provide additional support for patrons with physical and cognitive disabilities, while delivering an enjoyable experience for all.
More information on Relaxed Performances can be found by clicking here.
Rhapsody in Blue
Plus Works by Florence Price & Carlos Simon
Tito Muñoz conductor
Michelle Cann piano
New Jersey Symphony
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Florence Price Piano Concerto in One Movement
An American genius, Florence Price mixes luscious lyricism with ragtime stomp. This recently unearthed gem won Cann—the leading interpreter of Price’s piano music—a 2023 GRAMMY.
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George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
United Airlines knows a good tune when it hears one, and that melody is the heartbeat of Gershwin’s classic. But not before the famous swooping clarinet solo gets this piece of the Roaring Twenties underway.
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Carlos Simon Zodiac (Northeast Premiere, New Jersey Symphony Co-Commission)
Carlos Simon is one of America’s leading contemporary composers, and in his latest music, a proud co-commission of the New Jersey Symphony, Simon gives voice to all 12 zodiac signs—the music at turns fiery, ethereal, and soaring.
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Aaron Copland Suite from Billy the Kid
Cowboy songs, folk tunes, and a visionary composer—all the ingredients that made Copland’s wild-west ballet a hit in the ‘30s and a favorite still.
Discover Rhapsody
in Blue
New Jersey Symphony Family Concert
Tito Muñoz conductor
Michelle Cann piano
New Jersey Symphony
Discover what makes a live orchestra concert so special. We’ll take a deep dive into one of the greatest American piano concertos, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, followed by Copland’s lively Suite from Billy the Kid.
Romeo & Juliet
Featuring The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Xian Zhang conductor
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
New Jersey Symphony
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Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Tchaikovsky gives you all the passion and drama of Shakespeare’s two young lovers, as the New Jersey Symphony becomes a storyteller in real time.
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Sergei Prokofiev Selections from Romeo and Juliet
Considered too difficult, even undanceable at its unveiling, Prokofiev’s ballet with scene after scene of strikingly original music soon became the treasure of every ballet house the world over.
Bartók’s Concerto
for Orchestra
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Ruth Reinhardt conductor
Eva Gevorgyan piano
New Jersey Symphony
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Béla Bartók Romanian Folk Dances
Informed by his numerous research trips across Hungary, this short and spry set of folk dances bursts with Transylvanian flavor and energy.
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Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2
There are moments here that make time, and your breath, stand still. If ever you need evidence of the human spirit’s capacity for beauty, look to this remarkable creation of 20-year-old Chopin.
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Béla Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
Every section of the orchestra gets the spotlight to dazzling effect, and the Concerto’s last moments are some of the most thrilling in all classical music.
Discover Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony
New Jersey Symphony Family Concert
Xian Zhang conductor
New Jersey Symphony
Discover the storytelling power of classical music! Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony was one of his only works that depicts very specific scenes and storylines, which we’ll dive into measure by measure in this concert.
Mozart’s Requiem
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Xian Zhang conductor
Mei Gui Zhang soprano
Taylor Raven mezzo-soprano
Eric Ferring tenor
Dashon Burton bass-baritone
Montclair State University Chorale | Heather J. Buchanan, director
New Jersey Symphony
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Gabriel Fauré Pavane
A slowly winding melody that started as a simple little five-minute piano solo. But when Fauré orchestrated his Pavane and added the rich sound of a chorus, he made magic and his greatest hit.
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Gustav Mahler Songs of a Wayfarer
Come enjoy one of the finest voices in America: bass-baritone Dashon Burton sings the suite of beautiful songs Mahler wrote as he took solace in nature after being spurned in love.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem
A swansong full of fire, grace, and a transcendent prayer that the human spirit will live on. Mozart’s Requiem was left maddeningly incomplete at his all-too-early death, but is nevertheless his final masterpiece.
Joshua Bell Leads Mendelssohn’s “Italian”
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Joshua Bell conductor & violin
New Jersey Symphony
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Felix Mendelssohn The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)
The music swells and surges just as the waves off Scotland’s coast carried the young Mendelssohn past moody cliffs and caves and sent him reaching for his score paper.
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Édouard Lalo Symphonie espagnole
Though called a “symphony,” this is where superstar Joshua Bell stands and lets his Stradivarius violin sing the silvery songs of Spain.
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Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4, “Italian”
“The jolliest piece I’ve ever done,” wrote an ecstatic young Mendelssohn to his parents back in Berlin, after arriving in Italy and falling in love with its sunshine, sidewalk tunes, coast, and effervescent colors—all of which he poured into his Fourth Symphony.