Is it possible that I am still asleep and dreaming? For the first time since the restructuring of the paper, one of my stories has actually hit the front page, a seemingly regular occurrence under the old system.

But conductor Daniel Spalding and I both presented cases for the importance of heightened exposure for the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic Orchestra, as it is about to commence its first complete season. The orchestra, rising from the ashes of the Greater Trenton Symphony, will perform at the Trenton War Memorial Saturday night at 8.

The program will include works by Beethoven, Shostakovich and American composer Ron Nelson. Awadagin Pratt will be the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

The Times of Trenton did the right thing and actually sent a photographer to one of the orchestra’s rehearsals.

Please consider attending the concert, if you can. The area can never have too many orchestras, if people will only go, and the greater the support, the better the NJCP is bound to get. It’s your call whether or not you think the city of Trenton should have its own orchestra.

Personally, I’m looking forward to George Antheil’s “Capital of the World,” which the NJCP will perform on May 9. Antheil, the self-proclaimed “Bad Boy of Music,” was born in Trenton in 1900. He turned Paris on its ear with his “Ballet Mécanique,” which incited one of the great musical riots in 1926. Spalding made an acclaimed recording of the work with his other group, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, at the War Memorial, which was issued on the Naxos label. He’s also recorded Antheil for New World Records.

The Greater Trenton Symphony, founded in 1921, was New Jersey’s oldest professional symphonic ensemble. The orchestra performed its last concert – the first since 2010 – on New Year’s Eve, 2012. You can read more about what happened next in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/classical_music_nj_capital_phi.html

PHOTO: Awadagin Pratt, who will be the soloist tomorrow night in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, wowed the judges of the Naumburg International Piano Competition with his performance of the piece in 1992