Xian Zhang conducts Prokofiev and Strauss with the New Jersey Symphony
NEWARK, NJ—Music Director Xian Zhang, now in her 10th season with the New Jersey Symphony, takes the podium for concerts that include Richard Strauss’ epic tone poem, Ein Heldenleben, and the debut of young Italian American violinist Francesca Dego performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2.
Anton Webern’s Im Sommerwind opens the program, inspired by the poem of the same name. It is a perfect musical depiction of summer day in bucolic surroundings, written in the late romantic style just before the composer changed course to less traditional forms.
Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 is known for its melodic opening movement that leads to an exuberant finale, complete with castanets, triangle, and snare drum. Violinist Francesca Dego makes her New Jersey Symphony debut in these concerts and brings “playing that combines tonal purity, verve, and an evident delight in the unexpected” (Gramophone).
Concluding these concerts is Strauss’ ambitious Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), an autobiographical journey highlighting the composer’s personal struggles and successes. A monumental work performed in one movement, Ein Heldenleben provides multiple solo cadenzas for the concertmaster and concludes in a grand cathartic coda.
Performances take place on Friday, April 10, at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 12, at 2 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; and Saturday, April 11, at 7:30 pm at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.
Xian Conducts Prokofiev & Strauss
Friday, April 10, 7:30 pm | New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 pm | Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank
Sunday, April 12, 2 pm | New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark
Xian Zhang conductor
Francesca Dego violin
New Jersey Symphony
Anton Webern Im Sommerwind
Sergei Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2
Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben
Tickets are available at njsymphony.org.
Xian Zhang
2025–26 marks the GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning conductor Xian Zhang’s 10th season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony, and her inaugural season as the Music Director of the Seattle Symphony with whom she has been a long-term collaborator since her debut in 2008. Zhang has also been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the NCPA Orchestra in Beijing, beginning this season. Following her tenure as Music Director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano between 2009–16, she continues as their Conductor Emeritus.
With the New Jersey Symphony, Zhang has commissioned composers such as Wynton Marsalis, Jessie Montgomery, Qigang Chen, Chen Yi, Steven Mackey, Thomas Adès, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Christopher Rouse, Vivian Li, Gary Morgan, Christian McBride, Paquito D’Rivera, and Allison Loggins-Hull. She is also responsible for introducing their annual Lunar New Year celebration. Under her artistic leadership, the New Jersey Symphony won two awards at the mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards in 2022 for their concert films, including EMERGE which was conducted by Xian Zhang, directed by Yuri Alves and co-produced with DreamPlay Films.
As a guest conductor, Zhang appears regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Her Deutsche Grammophon recording with the latter (Letters for the Future with Time For Three, released 2022) won GRAMMY awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
2025–26 highlights include returns to The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, and National Arts Centre Ottawa. In Europe, she returns to Netherlands Radio Philharmonic with a performance at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and makes her debut at the Finnish National Opera conducting Tosca. This follows her huge success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she recently conducted Madama Butterfly and Tosca to great acclaim:
“The success of Kurzak’s performance was due in no small part to Xian Zhang’s sensitivity as a conductor. Zhang has an exceptional ear for balance, as well as the ability to draw the softest, most transparent tones imaginable from the orchestra. […] With such skills and obvious audience appeal, Zhang should prove a valuable addition to the Met’s conducting staff.” – New York Classical Review
Other recent highlights include subscription programs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Houston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (including Brahms Requiem at Carnegie Hall), and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
Zhang previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
Francesca Dego
Violinist Francesca Dego is celebrated for her compelling interpretations and flawless technique. Recent engagement highlights include North American appearances with the Dallas Symphony a playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Fabio Luisi, St Louis Symphony Orchestra with John Storgårds, Houston Symphony with Andrés Orozco-Estrada playing Brahms Concerto, National Symphony at both the Kennedy Center in Washington and Wolf Trap Festival, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Utah Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and NACO Ottawa. On the world stage, Francesca has performed with NHK Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, West Australian Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, and Queensland Symphony. Recent European highlights have included Orchestre de Champs Elysées with Philippe Herreweghe, Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orquesta de Castilla y León, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Brucknerhaus Linz, Swedish Radio Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre, Philharmonia (London), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé (Manchester), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the top Italian orchestras.
Francesca’s 2025-26 season includes debuts with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 conducted by Jonathon Heyward; Seattle Symphony and Austria’s Erl Festspiele performing Busoni’s Violin Concerto; New Jersey Symphony and The Phoenix Symphony with conductor Xian Zhang; Dortmunder Philharmoniker performing Brahms Violin Concerto; and Granada Symphony and Enescu Philharmonic performing Barber’s Violin Concerto. She returns to Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and Teatro Carlo Felice Orchestra. Francesca will be a resident artist at Wigmore Hall in the 2026-27 season, where she will perform in recitals.
In 2023, Francesca made her recording debut with the London Symphony Orchestra as the first artist to be featured on Apple Classical in A New Dawn with Bologne’s Chevalier de St Georges Concerto No. 2 with conductor Jonathon Heyward. Francesca plays an Antonio Stradivari violin on loan from J & A Beare.
New Jersey Symphony
The New Jersey Symphony is a GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning orchestra. Under the direction of the Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony performs more than 60 concerts at mainstage venues across the state, including Newark, Princeton, New Brunswick, Red Bank and Morristown as well as schools and public spaces statewide. Programming at the Symphony reflects an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion while providing students across the state unparalleled opportunities to achieve musical excellence through its Youth Orchestra and other outreach programs. In 2024, the Symphony announced it would continue to deliver its statewide activities from a new, permanent office, rehearsal and concert space in Jersey City, set to open in January 2027.
For more information about the New Jersey Symphony, visit 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.
Press contact
Geoffrey Anderson, New Jersey Symphony, Vice President of Marketing & External Affairs
973.735.1713 | ganderson@njsymphony.org
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