Classic Ross Amico

Tag: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Xian Zhang Tchaikovsky NJSO Debut

When certain composers or pieces have become ensconced in the repertoire, it’s very easy to take them for granted. But, as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s new music director, Xian Zhang, reveals, it’s often hard work to make the familiar sound effortless.

“People know Tchaikovsky, in a way – you know, the most popular works – but if you look deeper, it’s not that easy to make it sound good,” she says. “The Fifth is one of the most popular symphonies. We have to actually work very hard to make it sound as good as people expect.”

It’s certainly worth noting, as the orchestra prepares three favorites by one of classical music’s most beloved composers. Simon Trpčeski will be the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In addition, Zhang will conduct the Polonaise from his opera “Eugene Onegin” and the Symphony No. 5.

The program will mark Zhang’s debut as the orchestra’s music director, with appearances at four different venues across the state. Remaining performances will take place at Richardson Auditorium in Princeton (tonight at 8), the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick (tomorrow night at 8), and the Mayo Performing Arts Center – MPAC in Morristown (Sunday at 3).

Find out more in my article in today’s Trenton Times:

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/10/classical_music_njso_performin_2.html

October 28, 2016
Gemma New NZ to NJ & Classical Music

From the antipodes to New Jersey!

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, less than 30 years ago, conductor Gemma New has come up in the world, both literally and figuratively. This former associate conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is entering her second season as music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ontario, a recent Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and now resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

She returns this week to conduct the NJSO in music by Sibelius (his Symphony No. 2), Grieg (his Piano Concerto, with Stewart Goodyear the soloist), and her compatriot Douglas Lilburn (the “Aotearoa Overture,” a piece seemingly no non-New Zealander can pronounce). Remaining performances will take place at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium tonight at 8:00, the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank tomorrow night at 8:00, and the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick Sunday afternoon at 3:00.

You can learn more about this up-and-coming conductor, her thoughtfully constructed program, the relationship of Sibelius to New Zealand, and the special significance of Lilburn’s music to Kiwi audiences, in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/10/classical_music_njso_performin_1.html

October 7, 2016
NJSO Institute: Launching New Composers

“There are three facets to the mentoring – artistic, practical, and career development,” says composer Steven Mackey, director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Edward T. Cone Composition Institute. “If you’re writing for your friends, it’s one thing. When you’re dealing with an orchestra, it really becomes a big business. Orchestral rehearsal time costs so much. Gaining the trust of an orchestra to get your music played is already a huge endeavor. It requires a lot of people to put their faith in you.”

For four composers at the beginning of their careers, the institute is an invaluable experience – six days of intensive evaluations and consultations, culminating in a live performance of their music by a major symphony orchestra under a world-class conductor. The program, now in its third year, brings together the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Princeton University Department of Music to promote new music and emerging composers.

This year’s participants include James Anderson, Matthew Browne, William Stackpole and Jung Yoon Wie. An NJSO concert made up of each composer’s music will take place on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium.

The orchestra will be under the baton of David Robertson, who in the fall will begin his 12th season as music director of the St. Louis Symphony. Robertson is also chief conductor and artistic director of Australia’s Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Mackey’s “Turn the Key,” written in 2006 for the New World Symphony on the occasion of the opening of the Miami Performing Arts Center, will conclude the Saturday concert.

Also on the program will be Anderson’s “Places with Pillars,” a metaphorical reflection on the search for meaning in our lives; Browne’s “Farthest South,” a tone poem inspired by the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration; Stackpole’s “… Ask Questions Later,” a meditation on gun violence and the permanence of consequences; and Wie’s “Water Prism,” inspired by the phenomenon of light passing through a prism to create a rainbow.

You can read more about the institute – and tomorrow night’s concert – in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/07/classical_music_njso_performin.html

Participants in this year’s NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute: Jung Yoon Wie (top); left to right, James Anderson, William Stackpole and Matthew Browne

July 15, 2016
JoAnn Falletta’s Musical Morning on WPRB

It’s a Falletta Fest! All recordings of works conducted and/or played by JoAnn Falletta this morning.

Falletta is in Princeton with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for this year’s Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, five days of intensive compositional evaluations and consultations, master classes and career-building opportunities, which will culminate in a live concert performance of participating composers’ works. The concert, including four world premieres and a piece by Institute director Steven Mackey, will take place tonight at Richardson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

In the meantime, composers you can expect to hear on this morning’s program will include Miguel del Águila, Romeo Cascarino, Eric Ewazen, Kenneth Fuchs, Gustav Holst, E.J. Moeran, Jerome Moross, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Marcel Tyberg, among others, performed by orchestras with which Falletta has had fruitful associations, including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Women’s Philharmonic.

Falletta herself will drop by around 9:00 to talk about the institute and some of her other projects. She’s always very busy, with plenty of concerts, festivals and recordings in the pipeline.

I hope you’ll join me, this morning from 6 to 11 a.m. ET, for some entrancing musical rarities, at WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com.

July 16, 2015
JoAnn Falletta on WPRB Tomorrow!

I am elated that JoAnn Falletta has accepted my invitation to drop by WPRB tomorrow. She has always been a conductor after my own heart.

As music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (among her numerous other credits), she has championed dozens of works which could easily be classified as unusual or neglected. She is also an indefatigable champion of new music.

Falletta is in Princeton this week with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as part of this year’s Edward T. Cone Composition Institute. The institute is an intensive workshop and lab for young composers who are shepherded through the process of getting their music from manuscript through rehearsals to performance. They are also provided with valuable career insights into what it means to be a professional composer.

The program will culminate in a public concert made up of four world premieres, including Luke Carlson’s “The Burnished Tide,” Brendan Faegre’s “Dirt to Gold,” Shuyin Li’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” and Reinaldo Moya’s “Siempre Lunes, Siempre Marzo,” tomorrow night at Richardson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Institute director Steven Mackey’s “Urban Ocean” will also be heard.

Tomorrow morning on WPRB, Falletta will talk a little bit about the institute and some of her other upcoming projects. She is a prolific recording artist. The entire show will be devoted to selections from her extensive discography.

Some of the composers you can expect to hear will include Miguel del Águila, Romeo Cascarino, Eric Ewazen, Kenneth Fuchs, Gustav Holst, E.J. Moeran, Jerome Moross, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Marcel Tyberg, among others. You may even get to hear Falletta play the guitar.

Expect her visit around 9:00. I hope you’ll join me, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 a.m. ET, at WPRB 103.3 FM, or online at wprb.com. Keep it classy with glassy-eyed Classic Ross Amico.

July 15, 2015

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