All tickets on sale for 2016–17 season

• Music Director Xian Zhang conducts seven programs in debut season
• Opening weekend features violinist Sarah Chang with guest conductor Teddy Abrams; pianist Yefim Bronfman joins Zhang for blockbuster season finale
• Pinchas Zukerman joins NJSO for three-program Winter Festival
• Pops highlights include Raiders of the Lost Ark, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, best of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
• NJSO presents concerts at six venues statewide

Newark, NJ (August 1, 2016)—All tickets are now on sale for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s 2016–17 season—Music Director Xian Zhang’s critically anticipated debut as the NJSO’s artistic leader. The season offers classical concerts featuring masterworks of the repertoire and performances by acclaimed guest artists, pops programs from film concerts with live orchestral accompaniment to classic duets of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and family programs that tell exciting stories through great orchestral music. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

Patrons can use the NJSO’s online select-a-seat option to choose their seats for most concerts at the NJSO’s six venues statewide: the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, State Theatre in New Brunswick, bergenPAC in Englewood, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton and Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. Tickets for most concerts start at $20; all children’s tickets for family concerts are $10.

The season opens September 23–25 in Newark and New Brunswick, showcasing violinist Sarah Chang in Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Ravel’s Tzigane on a program with Bernstein’s On the Town: Three Dance Episodes and Copland’s Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes under the baton of guest conductor Teddy Abrams.

WQXR placed Zhang’s arrival in New Jersey in the top two of its classical stories to watch in 2016. In her first concerts as NJSO Music Director, Zhang conducts a trio of Tchaikovsky scores—Symphony No. 5, Piano Concerto No. 1 and Polonaise from Eugene Onegin—October 27–30 in Newark, Princeton, New Brunswick and Morristown.

She leads a program featuring Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Haydn’s Symphony No. 102 and Adagio from Piano Trio No. 40 and Strauss’ Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, November 3–6 in Englewood and Newark. The Orchestra celebrates the new music director’s arrival at a gala event at NJPAC in Newark on November 5; event packages include a pre-concert cocktail party and a post-concert dinner.

Zhang has garnered acclaim for her rapport with the NJSO since her first guest appearance in 2010, and press praised her most recent performances with the Orchestra in April as a preview of her upcoming tenure. The New York Times wrote: “The dynamic performances Zhang led … proved that hers is a name worth memorizing. On the podium she is a pint-size bundle of energy … [S]he also showed herself to be a natural communicator, brimming with enthusiasm and humor.”

The Star-Ledger wrote that Zhang “won over the crowd with both her remarks and her musicianship. And like any good trailer or overture, it left you wanting more. ... A good music director isn't just a conductor; she’s also a communicator and a leader.”

Highlights of the music director’s first season include performances of Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with Kirill Gerstein; Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto with Lukáš Vondráček; and Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, “Great,” and Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with Jennifer Koh. She also leads a program featuring Ravel’s Bólero, Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto with Principal Tuba Derek Fenstermacher, Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and Tan Dun’s Internet Symphony No. 1, “Eroica.”

The NJSO welcomes legendary violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman for a three-weekend Winter Festival. As Winter Festival Artistic Director, Zukerman performs great works of the violin repertoire by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Bach while conducting two of the Festival’s three programs. The Festival also honors Zukerman’s legacy as a teacher; he will mentor young musicians through an innovative residency with the NJSO’s education and community engagement programs.

Zhang closes her first season at the helm of the NJSO with a blockbuster finale that pairs Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony with Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman.

Pops concerts include live performances of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Bugs Bunny at the Symphony; a classic rock tribute featuring hits of Elton John and more; famous Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald duets on the eve of Fitzgerald’s centennial and a “Dancing and Romancing” program of song and dance standards from the golden age of Hollywood musicals.

The NJSO presents all five pops programs at NJPAC in Newark on Saturday evenings and—in collaboration with the State Theatre—in New Brunswick on Sunday afternoons. The Orchestra expands its pops offerings at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank to three concerts on Friday evenings, including Raiders of the Lost Ark with live orchestral accompaniment, the Armstrong and Fitzgerald program and “Dancing and Romancing” concert.

Family concerts in the Victoria Theater at NJPAC in Newark include a November 26 “Pirates on the High Seas” program features music from Hans Zimmer’s Pirates of the Caribbean, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and more; the February 11 program explores Prokofiev’s classic Peter and the Wolf. Each concert has two showtimes and features special pre-concert events designed to bring young concertgoers closer to the music and music makers.

Full series and schedule information is available at www.njsymphony.org/subscribe. The full season calendar is available at www.njsymphony.org/events.

 

TICKETS & SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES

Tickets are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). Tickets for most concerts start at $20; children’s tickets for family concerts are $10.

Subscriptions for classical, pops and family series are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org/subscribe or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). Patrons who purchase tickets to three or more classical and pops concerts at any venue can save compared to buying single tickets with a “Compose Your Own” series. Full information is available at www.njsymphony.org/cyo. Patrons who purchase tickets to three or more pops concerts at any venue can choose a “Pops Pick” ticket package; full information is available at www.njsymphony.org/pops.

Through the Orchestra’s Class Pass program, students can purchase rush tickets for $10 or—with the $25 Star-Ledger/nj.com Class Pass Unlimited—can attend an unlimited number of concerts during the 2016–17 season. (Student rush tickets are available on the day of the concert, beginning 90 minutes before the performance, and are subject to availability.) Full information is available at www.njsymphony.org/classpass.

Groups of 10 or more receive discounts on individual ticket prices. More information and rates are available at www.njsymphony.org/groups.

 

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Named “a vital, artistically significant musical organization” by The Wall Street Journal, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra embodies that vitality through its statewide presence and critically acclaimed performances, education partnerships and unparalleled access to music and the Orchestra’s superb musicians.

The NJSO welcomes new Music Director Xian Zhang in the 2016–17 season. The Orchestra presents classical, pops and family programs, as well as outdoor summer concerts and special events. Embracing its legacy as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and regularly performs at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. Partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, universities and civic organizations remain a key element of the Orchestra’s statewide identity.

In addition to its lauded artistic programming, the NJSO presents a suite of education and community engagement programs that promote meaningful, lifelong engagement with live music. Programs include school-time Concerts for Young People performances, NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). The NJSO’s REACH (Resources for Education and Community Harmony) chamber music program annually brings original programs—designed and performed by NJSO musicians—to a variety of settings, reaching more than 22,000 people in nearly all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

For more information about the NJSO, visit www.njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org. Tickets are available for purchase by phone 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or on the Orchestra’s website.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.

 

PRESS CONTACT

Victoria McCabe, NJSO Senior Manager of Public Relations & Communications | 973.735.1715 | vmccabe@njsymphony.org

 

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