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Tag: Princeton Festival

Princeton Festival: Opera to ABBA

Opera. Cabaret. Motown. Baroque. Ballet. Bluegrass… no, STRADGRASS. And ABBA?

Beginning this weekend, it will be another tuneful June for the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and friends, as The Princeton Festival gets underway at Morven Museum & Garden, June 6 to 21. For the most part, concerts will take place within a state-of-the-art performance pavilion on the Morven grounds, at 55 Stockton St. (Rte. 206), with a few to be held, as noted, across the way at Trinity Church.

The festival will open on Friday with “ICON: The Voices that Changed Music.” Capathia Jenkins and Ryan Shaw return to the festival stage to celebrate the artistry of Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and others, covering songs that helped shape popular culture and define a nation. (Friday, June 6, at 7 p.m.)

Operatic superstar Renée Fleming will appear on Saturday, to perform works by Handel, Puccini, Reynaldo Hahn, and others, including selections from American musical theater. Seating is already at capacity, but feel free to add your name to the waiting list. (Saturday, June 7, at 8 p.m.)

If musical theater is your bag, you’ll also likely be interested in “Sondheim in the City,” presented cabaret-style by Melissa Errico. Errico’s Broadway credits are too many to list. She was nominated for a Tony Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for Michel Legrand’s “Amour” and for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Sondheim’s “Passion.” She and Sondheim have been very good to one another. Her 2018 album “Sondheim Sublime” was acclaimed by Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal as “the best all-Sondheim album ever recorded.” (Sunday, June 8, at 4 p.m.)

Kentucky-born, classically-trained Tessa Lark has basically forged her own genre: Stradgrass. A veteran of her father’s gospel bluegrass band, Lark went on to study at New England Conservatory and Juilliard. Her program will meld violin music by Telemann, Bach, and Ysaÿe with Appalachian and bluegrass licks. (Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m.) The concert will be held at TRINITY CHURCH, a stone’s throw from Morven at 33 Mercer Street.

Of course, opera has always been the centerpiece of the festival. This year’s offering will be Puccini’s “Tosca.” Sardou’s original play (a vehicle for Sarah Bernhardt) is the very definition of over-the-top, but the composer really sells it with some of his most ardent, romantic music. Take the plunge from Castel Sant’Angelo. (Friday, June 13, at 7 p.m., Sunday, June 15 at 4 p.m., or Tuesday, June 17, at 7 p.m.)

To get you in the mood, members of Opera Delaware will join Rochelle Ellis and “Tosca” soprano Tonie Marie Palmertree for a free “opera bootcamp” at Morven’s Stockton Education Center. (Tuesday June 10, 3-8 p.m.) Registration is required.

A few days later, prior to the second performance, a talk, “Exploring Tosca,” will be given by Margaret Cusack and Eve Summer, also at the Stockton Education Center. (June 15 at 2:15 p.m.)

Dance will also be represented as American Repertory Ballet presents “An Evening of Pas de deux” with members of the PSO, conducted by music director Rossen Milanov. Included will be selections from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” and Minkus’ “Don Quixote,” alongside Ethan Stiefel’s “Delibes Duet.” (Saturday, June 14, at 7 p.m.)

Festival favorites, the ensemble The Sebastians, will return, to perform an alliterative program, “Baroque Brilliance,” which will include works by Handel, Telemann, and an assortment of Italian composers whose names end in “i.” (Wednesday, June 18, at 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.) AT TRINITY CHURCH

Back to the Morven pavilion, Masters of Soul will appear in a Motown revue, featuring favorites by Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Barry White, Sam & Dave, James Brown, and others. (Thursday, June 19, at 7 p.m.)

The concert will cap a Juneteenth celebration that will also include a flag-raising event (1 p.m. at the Municipality of Princeton) and a talk by Rochelle Ellis about Motown’s influence on the Civil Rights Movement (4 p.m. at Morven’s Stockton Education Center).

The Italian Baroque will loom large when violinist Daniel Rowland and cellist Maja Bogdanović join members of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra for “Viva Vivaldi.” But to spice it up a little, the program will also include Osvaldo Golijov’s “Tenebrae” for string orchestra and Max Richter’s “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Recomposed.” (Friday, June 20, 7 p.m.)

The festival will conclude with a harmonic smorgasbord. Mamma mia! It’s “ARRIVAL from Sweden: The Music of ABBA!” What else do you really need to know? (Saturday, June 21, at 7 p.m.)

Perhaps of added interest, for the first time, same-day $20 “Young at Art” rush tickets will be offered for 18-to-30 year-olds for many (but not all) of the performances. The EXCEPTIONS are June 7 (Renée Fleming), June 14 (Evening of Pas de deux), and June 21 (ARRIVAL from Sweden: The Music of ABBA). Proof of age with a government-issued ID is required.

For those purchasing tickets in advance, boxed picnic lunches from Jammin’ Crepes may be reserved with 48-hours’ notice. These will be available for pick-up from the Jammin’ Crepes booth on Morven’s back lawn one-hour before showtime.

In addition, the festival will be offering a Community Day, free and open to the public. (Sunday, June 8, from 9 am.-3:30 p.m.) Yoga in the Garden will return (movement accompanied by live music), from 9-10 a.m. (registration required). That will be followed by a Festival Farmers’ Market (offering local produce and artisanal products to the strains of an historic band organ), from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The afternoon will be alive with kid-friendly fun and magic (including musical activities, a student art exhibit, a balloon-a-thon, and yes, a magician), from 12-3:30 p.m.

For more information about concerts, concessions, and more, visit the Princeton Festival website at https://princetonsymphony.org/festival.

If you’re really rarin’ to go, an artists’ roundtable with members of the cast and crew of “Tosca,” including conductor Rossen Milanov and stage director Eve Summer, will be held at Princeton Public Library tonight at 7:00. The event is free and open to the public.

OPENING WEEKEND (clockwise from left): Capathia Jenkins and Ryan Shaw; Renée Fleming; the performance pavilion at Morven; and Melissa Errico

June 3, 2025
Princeton Festival Oral History Interview

Just finishing up a late lunch, following another round of documentary/promotional/archival interviews for an oral history of The Princeton Festival. The festival’s founding artistic director, Richard Tang Yuk, flew all the way up from his home in Trinidad for this one. I had a blast listening to his stories. He’s a great speaker. Richard was joined by Markell “Mickey” Shriver and Marcia Atcheson (also founding members of the festival). For many years, Marcia was my festival press contact when I wrote about classical music for The Trenton Times. Again, the interviews were documented by videographer Briann Dixon. This year’s festival runs June 6-21.

https://www.princetonsymphony.org/festival

April 23, 2025
Princeton Festival Oral History Begins

Just completed the first round of documentary/promotional/archival interviews for an oral history of The Princeton Festival. Left to right: videographer Briann Dixon, interview subjects Markell “Mickey” Shriver, Helene “Laney” Kulsrud, and Marcia Atcheson (all founding members of the festival), and yours truly. For many years, Marcia was my festival press contact when I wrote about classical music for The Trenton Times.

November 15, 2024
Cosi fan tutte Last Chance Princeton

Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” is a farce with humanity. You have one more chance to see it at The Princeton Festival. The opera concludes its run at the performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St. (Route 206), on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Did you know that originally Antonio Salieri took a crack at composing it? In 1994, two fragments in Salieri’s hand were discovered in the Austrian National Library. That was before Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto was taken up by “the creature.”

Of course, Mozart had an “in,” as he had already collaborated with Da Ponte on “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni.” And anyway, with all respect to Signor Salieri, the subject matter seems much more in line with Mozart’s saucy sensibility. While the Viennese of 1790 were worldly folk, “Cosi” would be given the side-eye in the 19th century, when the opera was deemed risqué or even immoral. If it was done at all, it was presented with tasteful alterations. It was only in the 20th century that the work’s reputation was restored.

Yeah, the characters are knuckleheads – flawed, irrational, and stupid – but they are also capable of great beauty. It’s all right there in the title, often translated, if anyone bothers, as “So Do They All.”

The festival’s final week will continue to embrace a variety of genres. A Juneteenth celebration will culminate in a concert of Black choral music, sung by the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, under the direction of Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, at the pavilion on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The program will include Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.” Earlier, there will be a flag raising ceremony, food, reflection, and fun. For details, visit the festival website at the link below.

On Thursday at 7 p.m., The Sebastians will return for a program of Baroque favorites, with a selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, along with works by Telemann and Vivaldi. That concert will be held across the street at Trinity Church Princeton (33 Mercer St.).

On Friday at 7 p.m., back at the pavilion, the Juilliard-trained, genre-defying trio Empire Wild will unpack its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon.

Finally, on Saturday at 7 p.m., Tony Award winning Santino Fontana, star of stage (“Tootsie,” “Cinderella”), film (Disney’s “Frozen”), and television (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel”), will bring the festival to an uplifting conclusion with an evening of pops, cabaret, and Broadway, accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, again under the performance pavilion at Morven.

For tickets and information about parking, concessions, and more, visit the Princeton Festival website, at princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Video samples:

Behind the scenes of “Cosi fan tutte”

The Sebastians perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6

Empire Wild in 5 minutes

Santino Fontana

June 17, 2024
Così fan tutte at Princeton Festival

A wager on the inconstancy of young love leads to farcical complications in Mozart’s “Così fan tutte.” The title has always been as uncomfortable to translate as the comic anguish endured by its leads. Variously known in English (if at all) as “So Do They All” and “Women Are Like That,” it’s probably best to stick with the Italian. Whatever you call it, it is generally bracketed in the composer’s top-four operas. Unsurprisingly the libretti for three of them were quilled by the flamboyant Lorenzo da Ponte, poet, priest, and profligate, friend of Casanova, and eventually professor of Italian literature at Columbia University.

The opera forms the centerpiece of this year’s The Princeton Festival. You’ll have three chances to see it, on Friday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., and Tuesday at 7 p.m. Performances will be held outdoors in the open-flapped, state-of-the-art performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden, at 55 Stockton St. (Route 206).

The stage direction is by James Marvel, who, with a game cast and scenic design by Blair Mielnik, ensured last year’s production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” was such an imaginative romp. This year, the team promises a fresh, contemporary take on “Così,” setting it in a pastel-colored dreamhouse villa, high above the glamorous Amalfi Coast. Attired by costume designer Maria Miller, the high-styled, jet-setting characters’ loyalty to one another is tested as the plot – and hilarity – unfolds.

The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. The Princeton Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by its music director, Rossen Milanov.

Two pre-performance talks, “Not So Cozy Così,” with Julian Grant (on Friday), and “Exploring Così fan tutte,” with Timothy Urban (on Tuesday), will be offered at Morven’s Stockton Education Center at 5:30 p.m.

Also coming up: the Abeo Quartet will perform chamber music by Reena Esmail, Shostakovich, and Schubert, tomorrow, Thursday, at 7 p.m., across the road at Trinity Church Princeton (33 Mercer St.).

American Repertory Ballet will bring dance to the pavilion, with choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Rainey, and Milanov conducting members of the PSO in music by Philip Glass (“Quartetsatz”), Miranda Scripp (“Intrare Forma”), Jean Sibelius (“Impromptu for Strings”), and Edvard Grieg (the “Holberg Suite”), on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, June 19, will be a big day, with a program of Black choral music, featuring the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, under the direction of Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, providing the capstone to a Juneteenth celebration. The program will include Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.” The concert will be held at the performance pavilion at 7 p.m.

A Juneteenth flag raising ceremony will take place next door, at the Municipality of Princeton, at 1 p.m. The festival will continue at Morven at 4 p.m., with plenty of food, reflection, and fun, leading up to the choral concert.

On Thursday, June 20, The Sebastians will return to Trinity Church Princeton for a program of Baroque favorites, with a selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos offered, cheek-by-jowl, with works by Telemann and Vivaldi.

The Juilliard-trained, genre-defying trio Empire Wild will electrify the pavilion with its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon, on Friday, June 21, at 7 p.m.

Finally, on Saturday, June 22, at 7 p.m., Tony Award winning Santino Fontana, star of stage (“Tootsie,” “Cinderella”), film (Disney’s “Frozen”), and television (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel”), will bring the festival to a lively conclusion with an evening of pops, cabaret, and Broadway, accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, again under the performance pavilion at Morven.

For additional events, like Yoga in the Garden and the Juneteenth oral history project, as well as information on tickets, parking, and concessions, visit the Princeton Festival website, at princetonsymphony.org/festival.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: “Così fan tutte,” American Repertory Ballet, Empire Wild, and Santino Fontana

June 12, 2024

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