NJSO closes season with works by Brahms, Mahler, Bernstein
June 7, 8 and 10 at NJPAC in Newark
June 9 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank
- Gil Shaham performs Brahms’ Violin Concerto
- Program features Mahler’s First Symphony, Bernstein’s Overture to Candide
- Music Director Xian Zhang conducts
- NJSO Accents include Prelude Performances
NEWARK, NJ—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Xian Zhang close the 2017–18 season with a blockbuster program featuring works by Brahms, Mahler and Bernstein, June 7–10 in Newark and Red Bank. Lauded violinist Gil Shaham returns to New Jersey for Brahms’ Violin Concerto. In her first NJSO performances of Mahler’s work, Zhang conducts the composer’s monumental First Symphony.
In celebration of Bernstein’s role in bringing Mahler’s music to mass audiences—and of the 100th anniversary of the American composer’s birth—the program opens with the Overture to Candide.
Performances take place on Thursday, June 7, at 1:30 pm; Friday, June 8, at 8 pm and Sunday, June 10 at 3 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; and Saturday, June 9, at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank.
NJSO Accents include Prelude Performances by NJSO CHAMPS student musicians on June 8 and by the NJSO Youth Orchestras’ Anne Lieberson Ensemble on June 10. Prelude Performances begin an hour before the concert.
Concert tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).
THE PROGRAM
Shaham Plays Brahms
Thu, June 7, at 1:30 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Fri, June 8, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Sat, June 9, at 8 pm | Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank
Sun, June 10, at 3 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Xian Zhang, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide
BRAHMS Violin Concerto
MAHLER Symphony No. 1
NJSO ACCENTS:
Prelude Performance—Fri, June 8, before the concert
Come early and cheer on the young performers from NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project) as they perform in the lobby of NJPAC.
Prelude Performance—Sun, June 10, before the concert
Come early and hear the extraordinary Anne Lieberson Ensemble from the NJSO’s Youth Orchestras perform in the lobby of NJPAC.
Full concert information is available at www.njsymphony.org/shaham.
The June 7 performance is generously sponsored by Delta Dental. The June 10 performance is generously sponsored by Bank of America.
THE ARTISTS
Xian Zhang, conductor
In an acclaimed first season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Xian Zhang “clearly made her mark,” NJ Advance Media writes. “Now it’s time to see how high [the Orchestra] can soar.” Zhang continues her tenure in 2017–18 with performances of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Mahler’s First Symphony and Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony, among others.
In September 2016, Zhang assumed the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, becoming the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra; the season culminated in a televised BBC Proms performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, anticipating the start of a two-year project devoted to the composer’s complete symphonies. Her 2017–18 BBC NOW season includes a concert tour of Wales. Zhang is also Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, following completion of her tenure as Music Director from 2009–16.
Forthcoming engagements include returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orquesta Nacional de España and Savonlinna Opera Festival, as well as debuts with the San Francisco Symphony and NAC Orchestra, Ottawa. Zhang is a regular conductor of the London Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras; recent highlights include her debut with The Cleveland Orchestra and a gala concert with Renée Fleming and the China NCPA Orchestra.
Born in Dandong, China, Zhang made her professional debut conducting The Marriage of Figaro at the Central Opera House in Beijing at the age of 20. She trained at Beijing’s Central Conservatory, earning both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and serving one year on its conducting faculty before moving to the United States in 1998. She was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, then became its Associate Conductor and first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
Gil Shaham, violin
Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time: his flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit has solidified his renown as an American master. The Grammy Award winner is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.
Highlights of recent years include the acclaimed recording and performances of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin. In the coming seasons—in addition to championing these solo works—he will join his longtime duo partner, pianist Akira Eguchi, in recitals throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Appearances with orchestras regularly include the Berlin, Israel, Los Angeles and New York philharmonics; Boston, Chicago and San Francisco symphonies; Orchestre de Paris, as well as multi-year residencies with the orchestras of Montreal, Stuttgart and Singapore.
Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, earning multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Many of these recordings appear on Canary Classics, the label he founded in 2004. His most recent recording in the series, 1930s Violin Concertos, Vol. 2—which includes Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto and Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2—was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Shaham received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990 and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in 2008. In 2012, he was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and lives in New York City.
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.
Music Director Xian Zhang—a “dynamic podium presence” The New York Times has praised for her “technical abilities, musicianship and maturity”—continues her acclaimed leadership of the NJSO. 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 State Theatre New Jersey 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; NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles, currently led by José Luis Domínguez; and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). NJSO musicians annually perform original chamber music programs at community events in a variety of settings statewide through the NJSO Community Partners Program.
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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