Backstage: NJSO celebrates 90 years of music

By Adam Parker-Lavine

A world-class orchestra with local roots, creative programming in concerts throughout the state, service to the community through education—these are qualities New Jersey Symphony Orchestra fans recognize in New Jersey’s state orchestra. These values have been the aim of the NJSO since its beginnings in 1922, and over its 90-year history, the Orchestra has continued to pursue these goals through the ever-changing musical and economic climate.

Today, the NJSO presents concerts featuring top-tier musical guests at seven venues throughout the state—in addition to summer concerts at outdoor venues—and provides educational and community engagement opportunities through the Greater Newark Youth Orchestras and other programs. The first 90 years of the Orchestra’s history have been a story of constant change and development in realizing this height and scope of musical achievement.

In 1922, the ensemble that would later be known as the NJSO gave its first concert at the Montclair Art Museum, a fittingly local venue for the beginning of an organization that has defined itself through its community connections. Phillip James led this group of only 19 string players, 12 of whom were women—which was unusual for an orchestra at the time but would become another defining characteristic of the Orchestra. The program included music by Purcell, Saint-Saëns and Veracini, as well as the world premiere of The Dark Road by American composer Cecil Forsyth.

The importance of music education also extends back to the beginning of the Orchestra’s history. In 1926, at the urging of businessman and cellist Russell B. Kingman, the orchestra began presenting concerts at Orange High School. Kingman’s goals were “[to exercise] an important educational function throughout the community” and encourage young people to more seriously pursue the study of music. The Orchestra also engaged major soloists during this time, including Pablo Casals in 1928 and Mischa Elman in 1929.

James left his position as conductor of the New Jersey Orchestra (as it was then called) in 1929. He spoke of the “challenge as well as the desire to make a group sound comparable with a major symphony orchestra by study, instruction and the building of all component parts.” He left a legacy of achieving high-level results with a small ensemble consisting primarily of non-professional musicians.

Rene Pollain, then assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Toscanini, would replace James as Music Director. He continued where his predecessor left off in making the Orchestra more polished and professional. An impressive roster of guest soloists graced the Orchestra’s stages during this period, including Harold Bauer, Rudolph Ganz, José Iturbi, Josef Lhévinne, Guiomar Novaes, Joseph Szigeti, Alfred Wallenstein and Efrem Zimbalist.

After Pollain died in France in 1940, Frieder Weissmann took over the NJSO baton for six years. He would expand the number of concerts in the Orchestra’s season and supervise its first recordings. During this time, as America’s young men were fighting WWII in Europe, the NJSO’s ranks were filled primarily by women.

Samuel Antek took over as music director in 1946. He had played under Toscanini at the National Broadcasting Symphony and with the NJSO as concertmaster under Pollain. Antek took responsibility for expanding the NJSO’s role in the New Jersey community, including radio broadcasts on WNJR, creating the “Music for Fun” series of children’s concerts, introducing the first outdoor pops concert on the estate of Augustus C. Studer of Montclair and establishing the first youth orchestras of the NJSO. Antek stated that his mission was “to share with more communities the inspiration of the concerts given by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.”

Mathys Abas succeeded Antek in 1958; he saw the Orchestra’s potential to serve the state as broadly as possible, and he again expanded the Orchestra’s reach within New Jersey, giving concerts in Livingston, Millburn, Montclair, Verona, Glen Ridge, South Orange, Passaic, East Brunswick and Newton.

Under its next two music directors, Kenneth Schermerhorn from 1962–68 and Henry Lewis from 1968–76, the Orchestra entered a new era of high-profile musical activity. Under Schermerhorn, the Orchestra performed nearly 40 concerts each season in more than 20 communities, and under Lewis—the first African-American music director of a major symphony orchestra—the Orchestra made its Carnegie Hall debut with renowned soprano (and Lewis’ wife) Marilyn Horne, who became a regular guest soloist with the Orchestra during the Lewis years. The NJSO was now an orchestra firmly tied to its hometown roots but also recognized nationally as a major regional orchestra. More highlights of the Schermerhorn and Lewis years include a television appearance on WNJU-TV featuring the music of Strauss and Sibelius; three outdoor concerts led by Lewis in 1968 in a vacant lot on Prince St.—the site of the 1967 Newark Riots—and one in Untermann Field that Lewis dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King; and a concert at Garden State Arts Center with the Orchestra featuring Luciano Pavarotti. The Orchestra would perform with Pavarotti again in 1984, in the first classical music program ever performed at Madison Square Garden.

The Orchestra gained even wider recognition under the direction of Hugh Wolff from 1985 until 1992. During this time, the Orchestra broadcasted live concerts on PBS, performed The Rite of Spring at Carnegie Hall to great acclaim and presented a retrospective of the works of Leonard Bernstein at Carnegie Hall in a concert praised by the composer himself. Mstislav Rostropovich led the Orchestra in a Kennedy Center concert, and the Orchestra made its first international tour to Ireland for the Adare Festival and a performance at Dublin’s National Concert Hall. The growth of the Orchestra’s reputation continued under Zdenek Macal, who increased the number of commissions and premieres performed by the orchestra, including works by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, George Walker and Richard Danielpour. It was also under Mácal that the NJSO stepped out as a major recording ensemble, releasing recordings of Dvořák, Mussorgsky and Glière on the Delos label.

Neeme Järvi succeeded Macal in 2003. The esteemed Estonian conductor championed Scandinavian music during his tenure with the NJSO, introducing New Jersey audiences to new works and raising the Orchestra’s artistic profile.

Under its current music director, Jacques Lacombe, the NJSO is still following the purpose that was originally laid out by Phillip James—to present world-class music while serving the needs of its local communities. The Orchestra now performs regularly at seven venues statewide and reaches many more through education and community engagement concerts. It continues to provide instruction and performance opportunities for young musicians through the Greater Newark Youth Orchestras and the NJSO Early Strings Program.

Since its inception, the NJSO has attracted some of the greatest international talent in the classical music world as guest soloists, including Pablo Casals, Joseph Szigeti and Percy Grainger among its earliest guests. The NJSO continues to present top-notch performers, including in recent years Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, André Watts and Marc-André Hamelin. The Orchestra has also been active in seeking out new and undiscovered talent. Pianists Lang Lang and Yuja Wang, both enjoying acclaimed international careers now, each performed with the NJSO when they were still students at the Curtis Institute. In the 2012–13 season, the Orchestra showcases more names to watch out for—pianist Alexander Ullman and violinist Augustin Hadelich, talented rising stars on the cusp of fame.

Commissions from major composers have continued under Lacombe, including a new work by Steven Mackey to be presented in 2013. Through the New Jersey Roots Project, the Orchestra has also explored overlooked and new repertoire from the Garden State, an affirmation of the organization’s commitment to artistic excellence in our own communities.

Join the NJSO this season as we celebrate 90 years of music—visit us on Facebook as we look back at historical highlights (see below), and share your favorite memories of your history with the NJSO on our Facebook wall.

Adam Parker-Lavine is the NJSO’s communications intern. The Princeton native currently studies at Oberlin College.