NJSO concertmaster previews this weekend’s NJSO program

Examiner.com speaks with NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick in advance of his annual concerto with the Orchestra; Wyrick performs Strauss’ Violin Concerto on a program that also includes Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.

While preparing for this week’s concert series with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Eric Wyrick took time Tuesday afternoon, March 18, 2014, to speak with Examiner.com about his special role as soloist. He will perform a work he calls “unjustifiably neglected,” namely, “Concerto in D Minor for Violin and Orchestra,” Op. 8, by Richard Strauss, which premiered in 1882 when the composer was just aged 18.

The concert series starts Friday evening, March 21, at Newark’s Prudential Hall, and continues through Sunday afternoon, March 23, in two other New Jersey venues. The program opens with Karl Goldmark’s concert overture “In Springtime,” Op. 36 (1889), and concludes with “Symphony No. 5 in D Minor,” Op. 47 (1937), of Dmitri Shostakovich. Guest conductor Gerard Schwarz will wield the baton ...

As the star of the evening, Eric Wyrick will concentrate on the Strauss work, which he describes as “fascinating, definitely deserving of more attention, with shades of Mendelssohn, impish, and lots of fun” ...

What’s it like being concertmaster at NJSO? The violinist responds, “My colleagues are a terrific group of people, very conscientious and communicative. There’s a special atmosphere at our Orchestra and I’m really proud of it.”

Read the full interview at examiner.com.

After Friday evening’s performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, Wyrick will participate in a special session with New Jersey-native Olympic bobsled pilot Jazmine Fenlator. Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/sochi.