Early morning appointments today prevented me from sharing the news that Jacques Lacombe will be stepping down as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at the end of his current contract, in August 2016.
From my point of view, Lacombe has been great for the orchestra, overseeing the New Jersey Roots Project (which celebrates composers with a Jersey connection), presenting world premieres by prominent figures, undertaking the NJSO Edward T. Cone Institute in Princeton (as a training program for young composers), implementing thematic winter festivals, and spearheading multidisciplinary events.
In addition, he brought the orchestra to Carnegie Hall to perform the Busoni Piano Concerto with Marc-André Hamelin, on a concert which also featured works by Varèse and Weill, and set down a recording of “Carmina Burana” that had critics falling all over themselves in search of superlatives.
The NJSO’s programming under Lacombe’s tenure was recognized with an ASCAP Award from the League of American Orchestras.
Best wishes to Maestro Lacombe. The Canadian did fine work in New Jersey, but lacked the publicity machine – and perhaps the physics-defying energy – of his compatriot, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, whose tenure at the Philadelphia Orchestra has been trumpeted as the Second Coming. Fingers crossed that the NJSO finds as good a replacement.
PHOTO: What time is it? Time to leave the NJSO.