Neeme Järvi Conducts Tchaikovsky
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Neeme Järvi conductor
New Jersey Symphony
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Arvo Pärt Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
Arvo Pärt poured his emotions about the passing of composer Benjamin Britten into this evocative 1977 composition for strings and one lone chime.
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Still Symphony No. 1, “Afro-American”
With its elements of jazz and infusion of blues, William Grant Still’s most popular symphony remains relevant today. In 1930, it became the first symphony composed by an African American to be performed by a professional orchestra in the United States.
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Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
Filled with anguish and melancholy, Tchaikovsky’s symphony explores fate and how it shapes our lives. Former Music Director Neeme Järvi takes our audiences on a journey of power and reflection fueled by strings and brass.
Fauré’s Requiem
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Eric Jacobsen conductor
Tiffany Townsend soprano
Reginald Smith Jr. baritone
Montclair State University Chorale | Heather J. Buchanan, director
New Jersey Symphony
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Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin
Written during the horrors World War I, Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin is a bright reflection on lives lost during the war, with each movement dedicated to a friend who passed. The composer draws on the woodwind section—particularly the oboe—to tell these stories.
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Walker Lilacs
George Walker—a longtime Montclair resident—was among the greatest composers to call the Garden State home, and in 1996, he became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music. It was this passionate work for soprano and orchestra that garnered him that grand distinction.
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Fauré Requiem
This divine choral-orchestral masterpiece focuses Fauré’s view on the acceptance of a peaceful death. Conductor Eric Jacobsen joins the Symphony to lead this exquisite work.
Steven Mackey & Mozart
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Xian Zhang conductor
Meigui Zhang soprano
Jennifer Johnson Cano mezzo-soprano
Alicia Olatuja mezzo-soprano
Sean Panikkar tenor
Nathan Berg bass-baritone
Steven Mackey electric guitar
Princeton University Glee Club | Gabriel Crouch, director
New Jersey Symphony
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Mozart Symphony No. 25
Xian Zhang explores one of Mozart’s most gripping and dramatic symphonies, often recognized by audiences as the opening music for the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus.
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Steven Mackey RIOT (World Premiere, New Jersey Symphony Commission)
Fittingly, the New Jersey Symphony has tapped leading New Jersey composer and frequent Symphony collaborator Steven Mackey to celebrate the centennial with a new commission featuring original texts by former US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.
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Mozart Overture to Don Giovanni
Mozart perfectly sets the scene to one of the most popular operas of all time with an overture highlighting all of the drama, deception and damnation that follows.
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Bruckner Te Deum
The glorious Te Deum was a high point for composer Anton Bruckner, who called this joyful choral work “the pride of my life.”
Symphonie fantastique
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Gemma New conductor
George Li piano
New Jersey Symphony
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Sarah Gibson warp & weft
Sarah Gibson drew inspiration from artist Miriam Schapiro and the art of weaving for her melodic and colorful warp & weft, a true celebration of the creative process and art created by women.
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Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Pianist George Li wowed Symphony audiences with his stunning performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and returns to do the same with the dazzling keyboard pyrotechnics in Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
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Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Former Associate Conductor Gemma New returns to New Jersey stages to conduct Berlioz’s extraordinary Symphonie fantastique, a fantastic tale of thwarted love, dreams and witchcraft.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Xian Zhang conductor
Randall Goosby violin
New Jersey Symphony
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Chen Yi Landscape Impression (World Premiere, New Jersey Symphony Commission)
Pathbreaking composer Chen Yi was the first woman to receive a Master of Arts degree in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She brings her signature blend of Chinese traditional themes and Western orchestral forms to this new commission.
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Stravinsky Suite from Pulcinella
Everything old is new again! Stravinsky takes baroque-era music and spikes it with his inimitable sense of harmony and rhythm.
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Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Violinist Randall Goosby pulls out all the melodic and soulful stops of Tchaikovsky’s only violin concerto, one of the most beloved of the Romantic era.
Season Finale with Joshua Bell
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Xian Zhang conductor
Joshua Bell violin
Becky Bass vocalist
New Jersey Symphony
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Daniel Bernard Roumain Farah (Joy) for Voice and Orchestra (World Premiere, New Jersey Symphony Commission)
The New Jersey Symphony premieres an all-new commission from Resident Artistic Catalyst Daniel Bernard Roumain. A master storyteller, DBR will continue to wow New Jersey audiences with his genre-bending music.
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Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1
Passages of blazing fingerwork are balanced with moments of such serenity that time feels as if it may have stopped—perfect for the artistry of superstar Joshua Bell.
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Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky’s energetic and dark tale based on pagan rituals in Russia, was a truly groundbreaking masterpiece. While the premiere audiences rioted, it has subsequently become among the important and exhilarating musical works of the 20th century. Many audiences will find familiarity, as Stravinsky’s music became the iconic soundtrack to the dinosaur segment of Disney’s Fantasia.
Ellington & Dvořák: New Worlds
Opening Weekend! New Jersey Symphony Classical
Robert Spano conductor
Aaron Diehl piano
Aaron Diehl Trio
New Jersey Symphony
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Valerie Coleman Umoja
Coleman starts the season with a whisper, then a gorgeous melody rises evoking the power and sweetness of Umoja, the Swahili word for unity. The whole orchestra takes it up and you’re on the edge of your seat with this joyous, full-throated cry for community.
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Still Out of the Silence
A wedding present for his bride, Still’s Out of the Silence, brought out of silence by Aaron Diehl and the New Jersey Symphony, is a gentle and ethereal little hymn written in the depths of the Great Depression. Still’s wife said of it: “Only in meditation does one discover beauties remote from the problems of Earth.”
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Ellington New World A-Comin’
Ellington created this lush musical portrait of a “new world where there would be no war, no greed—where love was unconditional.” What better way to start the season than with the Aaron Diehl Trio and the genius of jazz, Sir Duke!
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Dvořák Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
A Czech visitor to America, Dvořák sought out and loved the songs of Indigenous and Black people. Blending their inspiration with his imagination, he created one of the most beloved concert works of all time.
Schumann’s Cello Concerto
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Joseph Young conductor
Sterling Elliott cello
New Jersey Symphony
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Jessie Montgomery New Work (New Jersey Symphony Co-Commission)
The BBC called Jessie Montgomery “one of the most distinctive and communicative voices in the U.S.,” and the New Jersey Symphony gives the East Coast debut of her new work.
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R. Schumann Cello Concerto
Heart-on-sleeve music, one gorgeous melody after another soaring from Sterling Elliott’s cello. The New Jersey Symphony backs him up with Schumann’s richest Romantic harmonies.
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Elgar Enigma Variations
Edward Elgar loved to spend his evenings bashing away at his upright piano, chomping on a cigar, making up tunes. This is how he created a kaleidoscopic set of variations on a mysterious melody—all of which made him a household name across the land.
Ruth Reinhardt Conducts Bartók & Mendelssohn
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Ruth Reinhardt conductor
Time For Three
Ranaan Meyer double bass | Nick Kendall violin | Charles Yang violin
New Jersey Symphony
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Mendelssohn The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)
Breathing deep the bracing Atlantic salt air for the first time, 20-year-old Mendelssohn fell in love with the moody islands off Scotland’s west coast. He painted them in music, full of sweeping melodies, quick-shifting swells and dramatic energy.
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Kevin Puts Contact
Time for Three call themselves “a classically trained garage band” and they wow audiences with limitless virtuosity across every kind of music. They join the New Jersey Symphony for this joyous, Grammy Award-winning masterpiece by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts.
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Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
Written on what many thought was his deathbed, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra gave the composer new life. 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.
Joshua Bell Leads the New Jersey Symphony
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Joshua Bell conductor and violin
New Jersey Symphony
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Mendelssohn Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
When needing an example of “genius,” look no further than this astounding product of a 17-year-old boy. Here are the lovers, the silliness and the quicksilver humor of Shakespeare’s comedy delivered in a dozen minutes of utter brilliance.
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Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
The violin leads the drama from the first bar of Mendelssohn’s masterpiece, but here too are moments of hold-your-breath beauty. These shimmer like moonlight on water when played by Joshua Bell, one of the world’s finest violinists.
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Beethoven Symphony No. 4
He could stir up musical storm clouds like a god, but Beethoven also could part them to let the most brilliant sunlight warm the soul. The Fourth is the composer at his sunniest, and Joshua Bell, violin still in hand, leads the New Jersey Symphony from the concertmaster’s seat.
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Augustin Hadelich
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Xian Zhang conductor
Augustin Hadelich violin
New Jersey Symphony
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Daniel Bernard Roumain i am a white person who __ Black people
This provocative piece for strings and percussion opens the concert with the feeling of a tender hymn, then it quickens with an edgy energy. Another vital contribution by our Resident Artistic Catalyst.
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Beethoven Violin Concerto
When Augustin Hadelich performs, time stands still. It is his own brand of magic, how he makes a classic like Beethoven’s serenely beautiful Violin Concerto sound as if it was written yesterday, just for him.
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Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
Mussorgsky poured out his feeling at the loss of a brilliant artist-friend in pieces originally meant for piano, and Ravel transferred these to an epic orchestral canvas using every imaginable color. The Newark Museum of Art will curate the artwork projected during the Pictures at an Exhibition performances in Red Bank and Newark.
The American Dream
New Jersey Symphony Classical
Xian Zhang conductor
Rob Kapilow conductor
JCC Young People’s Chorus @ Thurnauer
Young People’s Chorus of New York City®
New Jersey Symphony
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Still Darker America
Still wrote this in the 1920s to depict the struggles of his fellow African Americans, ultimately aiming to show “the triumph of a people over their sorrows through fervent prayer.” Tenderness and toughness mark this moving testament to resilience.
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Rob Kapilow We Came to America (World Premiere, Commissioned by the Thurnauer School of Music at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades)
In this nation of immigrants, we all have our stories. Inspired by in-depth source research, interviews with generations of immigrants, and melodies from many countries, composer Rob Kapilow has crafted an instant classic of compelling music for chorus and orchestra.
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Bernstein Three Dances Episodes from On the Town
The musical that gave the world “New York, New York,” On the Town was a hit from its wartime premiere. The story of three sailors on leave in Manhattan is filled with Bernstein’s signature restless energy, and made huge waves of its own in the 1940s with a racially diverse cast.
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Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
The tragedy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set on Manhattan’s fire escapes and sidewalks. These Symphonic Dances from West Side Story are a fountain of songs you love, from “Tonight” to “Maria” and the manic shout of “Mambo!”