Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank
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Red Bank Saturday Evenings
Buy Series Renew SeriesStarting at just $17 per concert!
Saturday evenings at 8 pm
Dawn Upshaw & Xian Zhang
2019 Winter Festival: Music Speaks
XIAN ZHANG conductor
DAWN UPSHAW soprano
JAY ANDERSON bass | FRANK KIMBROUGH piano | SCOTT ROBINSON clarinet
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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MARIA SCHNEIDER Winter Morning Walks (NJSO Premiere)
This poignant song cycle follows the singer on a series of walks in the woods, tracing a path back to wellness as winter gives way to early spring.
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MAHLER Symphony No. 4
The playful and the profound mingle in this life-affirming symphony; its idyllic finale aims to “gladden our senses, so that all awaken for joy.”
Debussy Masterworks
2018–19 Season
JUN MÄRKL conductor
INGRID FLITER piano
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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DEBUSSY Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Languid and sensual, suggesting the erotic reveries of a faun, the half-man, half-goat of Greek mythology.
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MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No. 1
“A celebration of life … and an explosion of happiness.” – Ingrid Fliter
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BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Moody, foreboding; it captures the ocean at dawn, on Sunday morning, under moonlight and during a storm.
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DEBUSSY La mer
Vivid and imaginative. As a young boy, Debussy’s parents had wanted him to join the French Navy; instead, he captured his impressions of the ever-changing sea in this work.
Xian Conducts Mozart
2018–19 Season
XIAN ZHANG conductor
SIMONE DINNERSTEIN piano (pictured)
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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WALTON Suite No. 2 from Façade
Sassy, comedic and very British; in its debut, poet Edith Sitwell sat behind a screen and recited her poems set to music through a megaphone, scandalizing the audience.
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MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23
Warm and tender; its sublime, melancholy Adagio speaks of heartbreak and acceptance.
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MOZART Symphony No. 40
Mozart’s second-to-last symphony crackles with a powerful dramatic tension, a musical “appeal to eternity” as his life was cut short.
Blockbuster All-Orchestral Season Finale
2018–19 Season
XIAN ZHANG conductor
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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MENDELSSOHN Selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Whimsical, sparkling, emotional—was more joyous music ever put to paper? Closes with the famous Wedding March, which in its full orchestral form is a marvel.
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RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2
The superlatives rack up when describing this glorious work: stunning, titanic, sweeping—even sweetly intimate in spots. A perfect conclusion to the season.