Hilary Hahn joins NJSO for Brahms’ Violin Concerto

Feb 10, 2014

PROGRAM INCLUDES STRAVINSKY’S THE FIREBIRD SUITE (1945) AND SALONEN’S GIRO

NJSO MUSIC EDUCATION NIGHT ON MARCH 15 INTRODUCES #OrchestraYou

NEWARK, NJ (February 10, 2014)—Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for Brahms’ Violin Concerto on a program that also features Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite (1945) and Salonen’s Giro March 13–16 in Newark, Princeton and Morristown. Yan Pascal Tortelier conducts. The March 15 performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark is the NJSO’s Music Education Night event, which ends with #OrchestraYou—a special post-concert session in which audience members can perform their own orchestral instruments alongside NJSO musicians (advance registration is required).

Performances take place on Thursday, March 13, (1:30 pm) and Saturday, March 15, (8 pm) at NJPAC in Newark; Friday, March 14, (8 pm) at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton and Sunday, March 16, (3 pm) at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. Classical Conversations begin one hour before the performances March 14–16.

“Hilary Hahn is such a fine artist with a lot of powerful energy,” Lacombe says of the violinist who last appeared with the NJSO for performances of Barber’s Violin Concerto in the 2004–05 season. “She is at the top of the violin world right now. The Brahms work she will perform is one of the most important violin concertos ever written.

“This program is one of contrasts. The Brahms concerto is very different aesthetically from the Salonen and Stravinsky works. The Firebird is one of the masterworks of the 20th century; it has some stylistic connections with Salonen’s Giro—modern Russian composers have had a great influence on Scandinavian composers. [Salonen and Stravinsky] also fit into our season-long theme presenting the work of composers who were (and are) also conductors.”

MUSIC EDUCATION NIGHT
The NJSO celebrates music educators, music students and their families with Music Education Night at the March 15 performance at NJPAC in Newark. The evening’s centerpiece is the first ever #OrchestraYou—audience members can bring their own orchestral instruments and perform alongside NJSO musicians in a special post-concert session led by NJSO Education & Community Engagement Conductor Jeffrey Grogan in the Prudential Hall lobby. (Participants must register in advance; there is no charge for ticketholders who wish to participate.)

Opening the evening, a concert prelude in the lobby will feature young student performers. An “Inspiration Wall” will exhibit tales written by our NJSO musicians about music teachers who inspired them; attendees can add their own inspirational stories to add to the wall.

Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/musicednight.

For information on special ticket rates for educational groups and schools, contact Terri Campbell, Sales Consultant, at tcampbell@njsymphony.org or 973.735.1717.

TICKETS
Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online here or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

FOOD DRIVE
The NJSO is partnering with The Community FoodBank of New Jersey to fight hunger. At NJSO subscription concerts in March, the Orchestra and volunteers will collect non-perishable food items to donate to the Community FoodBank, which assists more than 900,000 people in 18 counties across New Jersey. Patrons can bring food donations to the concert hall and drop off items at a collection table in the lobby at the performances on March 13, 15 and 16.

More details, a full list of concerts at which the Orchestra will collect food donations and a list of acceptable food items are available at www.njsymphony.org/fooddrive.