Xian Zhang Conducts Brahms

Award-winning composer Dorothy Chang wrote her inspirational and bright Northern Star as part of a larger collection of commissions from several Canadian composers in 2017. New Jersey Symphony Music Director Xian Zhang performed it for the first time in Vancouver in 2018.

Michelle Cann makes a triumphant return to the Symphony stage for the first time since 2014 with Strauss’ light, virtuosic and witty Burleske for Piano and Orchestra.

Brahms’ final symphony balances autumnal hues with virtuosic power. Scaling the heights of this monumental work is an orchestral and emotional feat of Mount Everest proportions—and one musicians relish playing.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival will share dynamic contemporary poets offering dramatic readings between the orchestral works during the performances at NJPAC in Newark.