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NJSO presents ‘Vistas and Landscapes’ program featuring Copland and Dvořák

Jan 19, 2016

Thu, Feb 25, at bergenPAC in Englewood

Sat, Feb 27, at NJPAC in Newark

Sun, Feb 28, at NJPAC in Newark

NJSO Associate Principal Cello Stephen Fang performs Dvořák’s Silent Woods and Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody
Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts program that also includes Appalachian Spring and ‘New World’ Symphony
NJSO Accents include #CelloYou, College Night, Newark Museum tour, artist talkback

NEWARK, NJ (January 19, 2016)—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents a program of works inspired by vistas and landscapes from America to Bohemia, including music by Copland, Dvořák and Popper, February 25–28 in Englewood and Newark. NJSO Associate Principal Cello Stephen Fang performs Dvořák’s Silent Woods and Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody. Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts the program, which also includes Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony.

Performances take place on Thursday, February 25, at 7:30 pm at bergenPAC in Englewood and Saturday, February 27, at 8 pm and Sunday, February 28, at 3 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

“Being a featured soloist with the NJSO is quite literally the realization of a lifelong dream for me,” Fang says. “I grew up in New Jersey watching this orchestra, I came close to performing a solo with the NJSO when I was in high-school (placing second in an NJSO concerto competition) and I’ve been a member of the NJSO for eight wonderful seasons. The fact that I’m soloing with my orchestra, my colleagues, makes these performances so much more meaningful. Silent Woods is a beautiful tone poem, and this Hungarian Rhapsody by one of Dvořák’s contemporaries, David Popper, is a virtuosic piece.”

Music Director Jacques Lacombe says: “Steve Fang brings such a positive energy to the Orchestra. He’s fun to watch—he is a great musician and is so expressive when he plays. Pairing the two works he’ll perform with Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony creates a rhapsodic program [combining] Czech, Hungarian and American influences.”

NJSO Accents include #CelloYou—an immersive daylong experience for amateur cellists that culminates in a Prelude Performance—and a post-concert College Night on February 27, as well as a pre-concert “Vistas and Landscapes” tour of the Newark Museum’s American Art Collection and collection of 19th-century landscapes with curator Trisha Bloom and a post-concert artist talkback with Fang on February 28. #CelloYou and the Newark Museum tour require additional charge and advance registration; details are available at www.njsymphony.org/celloyou and www.njsymphony.org/museumtour, respectively.

The Orchestra will accept non-perishable food donations at all performances as part of its annual food drive, which will benefit food banks across New Jersey.

TICKETS

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

Vistas and Landscapes: Copland and Dvořák

Thursday, February 25, at 7:30 pm | bergenPAC in Englewood

Saturday, February 27, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark

Sunday, February 28, at 3 pm | NJPAC in Newark

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor

Stephen Fang, cello

DVOŘÁK Silent Woods

POPPER Hungarian Rhapsody

COPLAND Appalachian Spring

DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey generously sponsors the February 25 performance.

Full program information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/vistas-landscapes-copland-dvorak.

NJSO ACCENTS

Inspired by the concerts and designed to inspire audiences, NJSO Accents are pre- or post-concert events that complement the concert experience and provide audience members with more opportunities to personally connect with the music and music makers. Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/accents.

NJSO Food Drive
Non-perishable food items will be accepted at all performances.

www.njsymphony.org/fooddrive

Prelude Performance—Sat, Feb 27
Pre-concert performance in the lobby features NJSO cellists and #CelloYou workshop participants beginning one hour before the performance.

#CelloYou—Sat, Feb 27
A new full-day workshop with NJSO cellists, with a pre-concert performance in the lobby. Additional charge.

www.njsymphony.org/celloyou

College Night—Sat, Feb 27, after the concert
$10 tickets for college students include the concert and a post-concert party.

www.njsymphony.org/college

Vistas and Landscapes Tour—Sun, Feb 28, before the concert
Tour the Newark Museum’s renowned American Art Collection with curator Trisha Bloom, and view its collection of 19th-century landscapes. $15 per person; reservations required.

www.njsymphony.org/museumtour

Artist Talkback—Sun, Feb 28, after the concert
Meet cellist Stephen Fang and learn about his artistic journey.

The Prudential Foundation generously sponsors NJSO Accents in Newark.

THE ARTISTS

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor

Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in Oslo and is in his 16th season as music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He is also the founder and artistic director of Caminos del Inka, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to performing and promoting the music of the Americas.

Harth-Bedoya has appeared as a regular guest conductor with major American orchestras and at North American summer festivals. He also has led top orchestras throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South America.

Equally at home in the theater, Harth-Bedoya conducted the 2015 world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, for Santa Fe Opera. Other notable operas include the Jonathan Miller production of La Bohème at English National Opera and five productions of Golijov’s Ainadamar.

An active recording artist, Harth-Bedoya has recordings on Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, CSO Resound and AVIE.

Born and raised in Peru, Harth-Bedoya received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School.

Stephen Fang, cello

Associate Principal Cellist Stephen Fang is proud to be in his ninth season as a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. His most recent solo appearance with the NJSO was in 2008, performing Ernest Gold’s Exodus Rhapsody.

Prior to winning his position at the NJSO, he earned his bachelor’s and graduate degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was the winner of the 2003 Ellis A. Feiman Memorial Award for Achievement in Cello and the 2003 Dr. Bennett Levine Memorial Award for Achievement in Chamber Music. He also served as assistant principal of both the Aspen Festival Orchestra and Akron Symphony Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, he won the grand prize at the 30th Annual Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and first prize at the 56th and 59th Annual Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competitions.

Fang studied with preeminent professors and principal cellists of major orchestras, including Carter Brey, Richard Aaron, Desmond Hoebig, Stephen Geber and Eric Kim.

He plays on a cello (named Bessie) made in 2007 by Michèle Ashley.

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.

Under the bold leadership of Music Director Jacques Lacombe, the NJSO 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 the State Theatre 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 performances, NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project. The NJSO’s REACH (Resources for Education and Community Harmony) chamber music program annually brings original programs—designed and performed by NJSO musicians—to a variety of settings, reaching as more than 22,000 people in nearly all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

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.