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Tag: Princeton Symphony Orchestra

NJ Classical Music Concerts 2016-2017 Season

With Labor Day weekend upon us, the whirring flywheels and pistons of the area’s cultural institutions are nearly up to speed.

In today’s Trenton Times, I take a look at some of the orchestral concerts poised to open the 2016-2017 season. Included are representative programs of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, the Westminster Community Orchestra, and Sinfonietta Nova.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/08/classical_music_2016-17_concer.html

There wasn’t room to mention additional orchestral concerts in New Brunswick, just a half an hour’s drive to the north, courtesy of the State Theatre New Jersey – which will host the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (9/24, 10/9, 10/29/11/13, 11/27, 1/8, 1/15, 1/28, 2/12, 4/8, 4/23, 5/14), the Warsaw Philharmonic (10/23, including Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Symphony No. 4!), the Bamberg Symphony (2/12), and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (2/19) – and the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, which performs excellent and diverse programs under the direction of Kynan Johns.

The RSO’s opening concert will feature Mason Bates’ “Mothership” alongside Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” with pianist Michael Bulyachev-Okser, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Nicholas Auditorium, Mason Gross School of the Arts, on 9/24). You can find the complete season schedule by clicking on the PDF file at the bottom of this page:

http://www.masongross.rutgers.edu/music/rutgers-symphony-orchestra

I was also remiss in not mentioning the Princeton University Orchestra (as I had intended to do), which begins its season on 10/22 & 10/23 with Samuel Barber’s “School for Scandal Overture,” scenes from Berlioz’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The complete schedule, including a springtime Mahler 5, can be found here:

Current Season

All in all, a well-orchestrated season.

PHOTO: Violinist Daniel Rowland will be soloist and conductor as the Princeton Symphony Orchestra opens its season with works by Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla, at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium on 9/15 at 8 p.m.

September 2, 2016
Princeton Symphony Explores “Hiraeth”

“There isn’t a precise English translation, but loosely, it means homesickness tinged with longing for the lost or departed, or people that have passed on. It’s this idea of homesickness for a place you can no longer get back to.”

That is Princeton composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s explanation of “Hiraeth,” from the Welsh, the title of her new piece, to be performed by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra this weekend.

The work, the product of a PSO co-commission with the North Carolina Symphony, is at the heart of a program, “Passion & Affection,” which will also include Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture,” Johann Strauss II’s “Wine, Women and Song,” and a suite from Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” PSO music director Rossen Milanov will conduct. The concert will take place at Richardson Auditorium on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Snider and Milanov will discuss their collaboration on “Hiraeth” in a PSO “Behind the Music” event at the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center tomorrow at 4 p.m.

On Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m., musicians of the PSO will present Snider’s song cycle “Penelope,” on a special concert at the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center. Playwright Ellen McLaughlin provided the texts, which will be sung by Carla Kihlstedt. The performance will be led by PSO assistant conductor John Devlin. The concert is free and open to the public with ticketed reservations via the orchestra’s website, http://www.princetonsymphony.org.

Local lovers of orchestral music are spoiled for choice this weekend. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will also perform at Richardson Auditorium, tonight at 8 p.m. Augustin Hadelich will be the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the centerpiece of a program that will include Mendelssohn’s “Hebrides Overture” and Brahms’ Serenade No. 1. Jérémie Rhorer will conduct.

Last but not least, the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic Orchestra will present a concert of “Cinematic Classics,” featuring music by Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and William Walton, at the Trenton War Memorial tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Odin Rathnam will be the soloist in Korngold’s Violin Concerto. Also on the program will be music from “El Cid,” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “Psycho,” “Vertigo,” and “Henry V.” Daniel Spalding will conduct.

The Trenton Times has been getting tighter with space in the print edition over the past few months, often resulting in some fairly hairpin edits to my articles. The chopped up versions run on Fridays. You can read my unexpurgated piece on the Princeton Symphony concerts here:

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/05/classical_music_pso_performing_1.html

May 13, 2016
Greek Myths Music for Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day!

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll be listening to music inspired by familiar tales from the Greek myths, as viewed from a distinctly female perspective.

Our featured work will be a recent recording, on Cedille Records, of the “Mythology Symphony” by Stacy Garrop. Garrop earned her degrees in music composition at University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Chicago, and Indiana University Bloomington. She is an associate professor in composition at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. The symphony includes musical evocations of Medusa, The Sirens, The Fates, and Pandora.

Then we’ll have time for a few selections from the post-genre song cycle “Penelope” by Princeton composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. “Penelope” will be performed in its entirety by musicians of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at Princeton High School Performing Arts Center, on Tuesday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. Snider’s latest orchestral work, “Hiraeth,” a Princeton Symphony co-commission, will be performed by the orchestra at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium, on Sunday, May 15, at 4 p.m. For more information, visit princetonsymphony.org.

I hope you’ll join me for “Myth Conceptions” – fresh perspectives on familiar tales from Greek mythology – this Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.

May 8, 2016
Cinco de Mayo Music & Local Arts on WPRB

Do you have that “cincing” feeling? Then it must be almost Cinco de Mayo!

May 5 is the anniversary of the day in 1862 when the Mexican army routed the superior forces of the French at the Battle of Puebla, quite possibly saving the United States’ bacon. You see, Napoleon III was not entirely unaware of a little something raging here in the U.S. called the Civil War. It was Napoleon’s idea that by moving in while the nation was compromised he might strike an alliance with the Confederacy and then sweep across the country. If not for the events of Cinco de Mayo, we could all be wearing berets right now and saying things like “mais oui.” Think about that the next time anyone talks about building a wall.

Join me in hoisting a glass of tequila to our brothers and sisters to the south, tomorrow morning on WPRB, as we listen to music mostly by Mexican composers and some by composers of the United States who wrote music on Mexican themes. Two in particular fell head-over-heels for the country: Aaron Copland and Conlon Nancarrow.

We can expect two visitors:

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider will drop by around 9 a.m. to talk about her new work, “Hiraeth,” which will be heard on a concert of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at Richardson Auditorium on May 15 at 4 p.m. The PSO will host a performance of her song cycle “Penelope” at Princeton High School Performing Arts Center on May 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Snider will be joined by PSO assistant conductor John Devlin at Princeton Public Library tonight at 7 to discuss Penelope, a central figure from Homer’s “The Odyssey,” her influence on the creation of the piece, and preparations for the performance of Snider’s work. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Then at 10 a.m., Lyn Ransom, artistic director or VOICES Chorale, will join us to tell us a little bit about the group’s season finale, which will include a performance of Gabriel Fauré’s heart-melting Requiem. Dr. Ransom is an advocate of performing the work in the French style. We’ll find out exactly what that means during the course of our conversation. The performance will take place at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Princeton on Friday at 8 p.m.

Since Mexico’s victory at the Battle of Puebla, acquisitive European forces have thought twice before trying to invade any country in the Americas, I can tell you. We’ll do our best not to spill our margaritas all over the equipment tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’ll be up to our wrists in guacamole and salsa, on Classic Ross Amico.

#CincoDeMayo

May 4, 2016
Princeton Symphony Silver Screen Salute Tonight

All right, you’ve enjoyed the Irish-themed music on “Picture Perfect.” Now you have exactly one hour to hit the concession stand before the start of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra “Silver Screen Salute” at 8:00 ET. Hurry back to hear selections from “Ben-Hur,” “Jaws,” “Psycho,” “Superman,” “Star Wars,” and more, at 89.1 FM and wwfm.org.

PLEASE NOTE: There will not be a webcast for this program. It airs only once, then disappears into the ether.

March 12, 2016

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