New Jersey Ballet’s Nutcracker with the NJSO
2018–19 Season
An annual seasonal favorite enchants youngsters and grown-ups alike with splendid dancing, live orchestra, eye-popping special effects and a touch of holiday magic.
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
Based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffman
Handel’s Messiah
2018–19 Season
PATRICK DUPRÉ QUIGLEY conductor
MARGOT ROOD soprano
REGINALD MOBLEY countertenor
STEVEN SOPH tenor
CHARLES WESLEY EVANS baritone
MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY SINGERS
Heather J. Buchanan, conductor
Members of the NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert Live to Film
Presented by New Jersey Performing Arts Center
NJPAC’s Prudential Hall will transform into Halloween Town for this very special screening of Disney’s timeless holiday classic, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, with Danny Elfman’s score performed live by the NJSO.
THIAGO TIBERIO conductor
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert
2018–19 Pops Movie Series
After the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire has regrouped—with Darth Vader leading the hunt for Luke Skywalker. Star Wars and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra join forces for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in concert, featuring the iconic movie on the big screen with the NJSO performing John Williams’ legendary score live.
CONSTANTINE KITSOPOULOS conductor
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Emanuel Ax & Xian Zhang
2019 Winter Festival: Music Speaks
XIAN ZHANG conductor
EMANUEL AX piano
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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MOZART Piano Concerto No. 22
Ever the prolific creator, Mozart wrote three piano concertos while working on The Marriage of Figaro. No. 22’s expanded orchestra heralded a new age in symphonic writing.
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TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony
Gripping, one of the great program symphonies; forbidden romance is the subject of this musical tale, which follows its wizardly hero as he roams the Alps seeking transformation through forgetfulness.
Dawn Upshaw & Xian Zhang
2019 Winter Festival: Music Speaks
XIAN ZHANG conductor
DAWN UPSHAW soprano
JAY ANDERSON bass | FRANK KIMBROUGH piano | SCOTT ROBINSON clarinet
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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MARIA SCHNEIDER Winter Morning Walks (NJSO Premiere)
This poignant song cycle follows the singer on a series of walks in the woods, tracing a path back to wellness as winter gives way to early spring.
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MAHLER Symphony No. 4
The playful and the profound mingle in this life-affirming symphony; its idyllic finale aims to “gladden our senses, so that all awaken for joy.”
Daniil Trifonov & Xian Zhang
2019 Winter Festival: Music Speaks
XIAN ZHANG conductor
DANIIL TRIFONOV piano
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra
Famous for its use in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Strauss’ tone poem—dramatic, gorgeous, thrilling—is the kind of music musicians live to play.
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SCHUMANN Piano Concerto
Colorful, lively, embodying a love story for the ages. Schumann wrote this gorgeous concerto for his wife, Clara, who played the solo part in its premiere.
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SCRIABIN Poem of Ecstasy (NJSO Premiere)
Scriabin applied his remarkable gift for orchestral color to this immersive ode to rapture, a showcase for the abundant gifts of Music Director Xian Zhang.
Special Event: Chinese New Year Celebration Gala
Includes the Chinese New Year Celebration concert!
Chinese New Year Celebration Concert
2018–19 Season
Start a new tradition at the NJSO’s first-ever Chinese New Year celebration, conducted by Xian Zhang. Musical riches abound in this program that blends Eastern and Western musical traditions. Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture is beloved in China yet almost reminiscent of Copland’s America. Songs and arias from opera and traditional Chinese culture show that music bridges all cultures. Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with pianist Min Kwon brings all elements of this sumptuously crafted program together in a joyful performance.
Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto
2018–19 Season
HANS GRAF conductor
JEFFREY KAHANE piano
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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RAVEL Le tombeau de Couperin
Each of the four wistful and elegant movements commemorates a friend who died in battle during World War I. The oboe shines throughout.
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BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
Grand yet nuanced; generations of listeners have loved this piece, and critics have judged it to be among Beethoven’s greatest and most innovative works.
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SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 1
Shostakovich composed this sardonic work at 18; it was an enormous success, instantly bringing him international attention.
Debussy Masterworks
2018–19 Season
JUN MÄRKL conductor
INGRID FLITER piano
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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DEBUSSY Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Languid and sensual, suggesting the erotic reveries of a faun, the half-man, half-goat of Greek mythology.
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MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No. 1
“A celebration of life … and an explosion of happiness.” – Ingrid Fliter
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BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Moody, foreboding; it captures the ocean at dawn, on Sunday morning, under moonlight and during a storm.
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DEBUSSY La mer
Vivid and imaginative. As a young boy, Debussy’s parents had wanted him to join the French Navy; instead, he captured his impressions of the ever-changing sea in this work.
Zhang Conducts Brahms 4
2018–19 Season
XIAN ZHANG conductor
JOHANNES MOSER cello
Members of the NJSO HORN SECTION
Chris Komer principal | Andrea Menousek | Lawrence DiBello; Eric Reed horn
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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SCHUMANN Konzertstuck for Four Horns (NJSO Premiere)
Festive and virtuosic: 19th-century advances in the French horn made it possible for Schumann to compose the concerto. The NJSO’s horn section steps into the spotlight.
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ANDREW NORMAN Cello Concerto (East Coast Premiere and NJSO Co-Commission)
Named Musical America’s 2017 Composer of the Year while still in his 30s, Andrew Norman is one of his generation’s most celebrated composers, lauded by The Boston Globe for his “staggering imagination.”
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BRAHMS Symphony No. 4
Intricate, autumnal; the premiere of this ultimately satisfying masterpiece ignited a war of words in the press.