NJSO presents College Night on April 5 at State Theatre in New Brunswick

$10 STUDENT TICKETS INCLUDE EXCLUSIVE POST-CONCERT PARTY WITH ENTERTAINMENT BY STUDENT PERFORMERS

TWEET SEATS OFFER OPPORTUNITY FOR SOCIAL-MEDIA COMMENTARY

Sat, Apr 5, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick
 

NEWARK, NJ (March 10, 2014)—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra hosts its third and final College Night of the 2013–14 season on Saturday, April 5, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick—the Orchestra’s first College Night event at the New Brunswick concert hall. A special $10 student ticket includes entrance to the NJSO’s 8 pm performance of Verdi’s Requiem and a post-concert all-student party with light refreshments and live entertainment provided by performing groups from various New Jersey colleges and universities.

The NJSO will provide free round-trip bus transportation to the concert from select New Jersey college campuses. Pick-up times and locations will be posted at www.njsymphony.org/college as buses become available.

The Orchestra has set aside a block of tickets as Tweet Seats, from which college students can post live concert commentary on social media. The NJSO (@NJSymphony) will tweet live commentary during the performance.

The NJSO’s first two College Nights of the season brought more than 200 students to NJPAC in Newark across concerts on November 1 and March 2. Over the two performances, attendees included students from the College of Saint Elizabeth, Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, William Paterson University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers–Newark, Kean University, Drew University, Caldwell College, Essex County College, Ramapo College, Rider University and Seton Hall University, as well as students from Mercy College in New York, Chipola College in Florida and the University of Wisconsin.

The April 5 concert program features Music Director Jacques Lacombe conducting Verdi’s mammoth Requiem with soprano Marianne Fiset, mezzo-soprano Janara Kellerman, tenor Russell Thomas, bass Peter Volpe and the Montclair State University Chorale. Thomas returns to NJSO stages after The Star-Ledger praised his “compelling performance” of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Orchestra in January, noting his “bright, cutting and expressive” tenor.

Fittingly, the NJSO’s College Night program features the Montclair State University Chorale, a Garden State university ensemble with whom the Orchestra has had a long artistic relationship. “We’ve had many performing experiences with Montclair State’s choral ensembles and with Heather, who is one of the best chorus masters with whom I’ve ever worked,” Lacombe says. “The chorus has a real energy and spontaneity of youth—we are fortunate to have a chorus at such a high level as one of our partners.”

Verdi masterfully deals with a requiem’s subject matter, the music director says: “It has all the elements that come with dealing with the end of one’s life. There is a powerful sincerity in this piece.

“Verdi’s work is one of the most theatrical requiems of all time—Verdi was, first of all, a man of the theater, and special moments like the trumpet fanfare come from [that tradition]. You have to experience the Requiem’s Dies Irae at least once in your life—to be in a concert hall and hear its shocks, its big slams.”

Program notes and additional concert information are available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/verdis-requiem. For more information on College Night, visit www.njsymphony.org/college.

TICKETS
College Night student tickets are $10 and include the concert and post-concert party. Regular concert tickets start at $20. Student tickets are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org/college (using promo code COLLEGE14) or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476); Tweet Seats are available by phone only.

College students interested in performing at the post-concert party can contact Rebecca Ludkiewicz, Marketing and Social Media Manager, at rludkiewicz@njsymphony.org or 973.735.1716.

Alumni groups interested in meeting and networking with current college students prior to the concert and at intermission can contact Terri Campbell, Sales Consultant, for group rates and sales at tcampbell@njsymphony.org or 973.735.1717.