Joshua Bell Joins Jacques Lacombe and the NJSO Tonight

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) present Bell & Lacombe, a one-performance-only program tonight, May 9, at 8 pm in NJPAC's Prudential Hall. The Grammy Award-winning violinist performs Sibelius' Violin Concerto and Ravel's Tzigane on a program that includes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture and Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe conducts.

"Joshua Bell is such a great musician and a great friend of the Orchestra," Lacombe says of the renowned violinist who last appeared with the NJSO at the Orchestra's Opening Night Celebration in 2010-Lacombe's inaugural program as the Orchestra's music director. "To welcome him back to the NJSO for Sibelius and some French music is going to be a lot of fun.

"Josh has positioned himself as a unique figure in the world of violin. He is a top classical virtuoso [of the caliber of] musicians like Yo-Yo Ma. He's the kind of artist who is so versatile, imaginative and talented, and yet so true and easygoing. Music just comes out of him so naturally; you just have to be there and listen and go with it."

Tickets start at $29 and are available for purchase from the NJSO online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). They are available for purchase from NJPAC by phone at 1.888.GO.NJPAC (888.466.5722) or online at www.njpac.org.

THE PROGRAM

Bell & Lacombe

Friday, May 9, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark

Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture
RAVEL Tzigane
GRIEG Peer Gynt Suite No. 1
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto

More information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/bell-lacombe.

THE ARTISTS

Jacques Lacombe, conductor - A remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature, Jacques Lacombe has been Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivie?res since 2006. He was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montre?al and Music Director of orchestra and opera with the Philharmonie de Lorraine.

Lacombe has garnered critical praise for his creative programming and leadership of the NJSO. The Orchestra's acclaimed "Man & Nature" Winter Festivals have featured innovative programs, including a realization of Scriabin's "color organ." He created the New Jersey Roots Project, presenting music by New Jersey composers. The New York Times wrote, "It was an honor to be in the hall" for Lacombe and the NJSO's performance at the 2012 Spring for Music Festival at Carnegie Hall.

This season, Lacombe's NJSO highlights include the world premieres of an NJSO commission by Geri Allen and a new work by Lowell Liebermann and the U.S. premiere of Tan Dun's Earth Concerto. He conducts the Montre?al, Quebec and Columbus Symphony Orchestras, returns to the Ope?ra de Monte-Carlo for La Favorite with tenor Juan Diego Florez and leads Chausson's Le roi Arthus in Strasbourg.

He has appeared with the Cincinnati, Toronto, Vancouver and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras and National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa. He is a frequent guest conductor in France, Spain and Australia and has led tours and recordings with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

Opera highlights include all-star productions of La bohe?me and Tosca at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, numerous productions with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and engagements with the Metropolitan Opera and opera houses in Marseille and Turin. He has recorded for the CPO and Analekta labels; he has recorded Orff's Carmina Burana and Janacek's Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen with the NJSO. His performances have been broadcast on PBS, the CBC, Mezzo TV and Arte TV, among others.

Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Lacombe attended the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal and Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna. He was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Quebec in 2012 and a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013-among the highest civilian honors in the country.

Joshua Bell, violin - Often referred to as the "poet of the violin," Joshua Bell's stunning virtuosity, beautiful tone and charismatic stage presence have brought him universal acclaim. An Avery Fisher Prize recipient, Bell received the New York Recording Academy Honors in June, 2013. Recently appointed Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Bell is the first person to hold this title since Sir Neville Marriner formed the orchestra in 1958. The ensemble's first recording under Bell's leadership-a disc of Beethoven's Fourth and Seventh Symphonies for Sony Classical-debuted in February at number one on the Billboard Classical chart; they will next record Bach's violin concertos.

Last fall, Bell performed a South American recital tour with pianist Alessio Bax and a European tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He also was the guest of the Houston, Dallas and Saint Louis symphonies. In 2014, he directs Beethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He will also perform the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Paavo Ja?rvi and the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A U.S. recital tour with Sam Haywood and a performance at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra rounds out the season.

In 2007, Bell performed incognito in a Washington, DC, subway station for a Washington Post story by Gene Weingarten examining art and context. The story earned Weingarten a Pulitzer Prize and sparked an international firestorm of discussion. The conversation continues to this day, thanks in part to the September 2013 publication of the award- winning illustrated children's book The Man With the Violin by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Dusan Petricic, from Annick Press.

Bell has recorded more than 40 CDs garnering Mercury, Grammy, Gramophone and Echo Klassik awards. "Musical Gifts From Joshua Bell and Friends," Bell's first holiday CD, was released in the fall of 2013 and featured collaborations with artists including Chris Botti, Kristin Chenoweth, Chick Corea, Gloria Estefan, Rene?e Fleming, Placido Domingo and Alison Krauss. Recent releases include "French Impressions" with pianist Jeremy Denk, the eclectic "At Home With Friends," the Defiance soundtrack, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic, The Red Violin Concerto, "Voice of the Violin" and "Romance of the Violin," which Billboard named the 2004 Classical CD of the Year, and Bell the Classical Artist of the Year. His discography encompasses critically acclaimed performances of the major violin repertoire in addition to John Corigliano's Oscar-winning soundtrack to The Red Violin.

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Bell received his first violin at age four and at 12 began studying with Josef Gingold, at Indiana University. Two years later Bell came to national attention in his debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra and, at 17, debuted at Carnegie Hall. Bell's career has now spanned over 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and conductor.

Bell performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius.

THE NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Named "a vital, artistically significant musical organization" by The Wall Street Journal, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra embodies that vitality through its statewide presence and critically acclaimed performances, education partnerships and unparalleled access to music and the Orchestra's superb musicians.

Under the bold leadership of Music Director Jacques Lacombe, the NJSO presents classical, pops and family programs, as well as outdoor summer concerts and special events. Embracing its legacy as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and regularly performs at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. Partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, universities and civic organizations remain a key element of the Orchestra's statewide identity.

In addition to its lauded artistic programming, the NJSO presents a suite of education and community engagement programs that promote meaningful, lifelong engagement with live music. Programs include the three-ensemble Greater Newark Youth Orchestras, school-time Concerts for Young People performances and multiple initiatives that provide and promote in-school instrumental instruction. The NJSO's Resources for Education and Community Harmony (REACH) chamber music program annually brings original programs-designed and performed by NJSO musicians-to a variety of settings, reaching as many as 17,000 people in nearly all of New Jersey's 21 counties.

For more information about the NJSO, visit www.njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org. Tickets are available for purchase by phone 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or on the Orchestra's website.

THE NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is among the largest performing arts centers in the United States and is the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey-where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. As New Jersey's Town Square, NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the State's and the world's best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city.

Through its extensive arts education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted more than seven million visitors (including one million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents.
Visit www.njpac.org or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC for more information.

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