NJPAC in Newark

Breathing deep the bracing Atlantic salt air for the first time, 20-year-old Mendelssohn fell in love with the moody islands off Scotland’s west coast. He painted them in music, full of sweeping melodies, quick-shifting swells and dramatic energy.

Time for Three call themselves “a classically trained garage band” and they wow audiences with limitless virtuosity across every kind of music. They join the New Jersey Symphony for this joyous, Grammy Award-winning masterpiece by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts.

Written on what many thought was his deathbed, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra gave the composer new life. Every section of the orchestra gets the spotlight to dazzling effect, and the Concerto’s last moments are some of the most thrilling in all classical music.

Still wrote this in the 1920s to depict the struggles of his fellow African Americans, ultimately aiming to show “the triumph of a people over their sorrows through fervent prayer.” Tenderness and toughness mark this moving testament to resilience.

In this nation of immigrants, we all have our stories. Inspired by in-depth source research, interviews with generations of immigrants, and melodies from many countries, composer Rob Kapilow has crafted an instant classic of compelling music for chorus and orchestra.

The musical that gave the world “New York, New York,” On the Town was a hit from its wartime premiere. The story of three sailors on leave in Manhattan is filled with Bernstein’s signature restless energy, and made huge waves of its own in the 1940s with a racially diverse cast.

The tragedy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set on Manhattan’s fire escapes and sidewalks. These Symphonic Dances from West Side Story are a fountain of songs you love, from “Tonight” to “Maria” and the manic shout of “Mambo!”

The New Jersey Symphony premiered this fantastic music in 2000, catching Ludwig at the launch of a career that now finds him Dean of Juilliard. Hear again, or for the first time, the promise of a young artist in full command of a virtuoso orchestra.

You can say you heard him when, because young pianist Tom Borrow has been named “the very definition of ‘one to watch’” (International Piano). He brings his jaw-dropping technique and poet’s soul to Mozart’s most dramatic concerto.

Brass choruses will make the hall ring in this most beloved of Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies. The composer wrestled with fate in his Fifth, and filled it from start to finish with musical electricity and hope.

Liszt was a fire-breather of a composer, perhaps inspired by the Greek god himself who gave humans fire. His Prometheus lets the orchestra tell the riveting ancient story of theft, punishment, and triumph.

Newark’s own Tyshawn Sorey has a dozen surprises up his sleeve in his new work, especially as he makes superstar soloist Jennifer Koh “disappear” into the orchestra. The effect is singularly haunting and beautiful.

The composer of four magnificent symphonies, Brahms also wrote reams of gorgeous chamber pieces. His Piano Quartet is arranged so vividly for orchestra that it could be Brahms' Fifth.

Blend Brazilian soul with Bach’s inspiration and you have this gorgeous 15-minute mini-symphony, Villa-Lobos’ joyous homage to his beautiful South American home.

Famed for her one-of-a-kind technique and stunning jazzy improvisations as encores, Montero puts it all together in her First Concerto, filled with Venezuelan heart and get-on-your-feet dance.

A Frenchman obsessed with Spain, Bizet brought the smoldering Spanish anti-heroine Carmen to life for the stage and the opera world was never the same. One instantly recognizable tune follows another in this brilliant orchestral suite crafted from the opera.