New Jersey Symphony to Perform All-Tchaikovsky Program, 4/12-14

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present an all-Tchaikovsky program featuring Variations on a Rococo Theme, performed by NJSO Principal Cello Jonathan Spitz, April 12-14 in Trenton, Red Bank and Englewood. The Polonaise from Eugene Onegin opens the program, which culminates in Tchaikovsky's mighty Fifth Symphony.

Performances take place on Friday, April 12, (7:30 pm) at the War Memorial in Trenton, Saturday, April 13, (8 pm) at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank and Sunday, April 14, (3 pm) at bergenPAC in Englewood.

"For this Tchaikovsky program, we wanted to show several aspects of his work," Lacombe says. "Eugene Onegin has a special place in my heart, and we perform the Polonaise to present Tchaikovsky the opera composer. The Rococo Variations show Tchaikovsky's more classical period. You find ballet music in almost every page Tchaikovsky writes, so when you hear the Fifth Symphony, you can almost hear Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.

"To perform the Rococo Variations with Jonathan Spitz as the soloist will be very special-for the audience, for the Orchestra and for me."

Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

The NJSO is partnering with The Community FoodBank of New Jersey to fight hunger. At NJSO subscription concerts in April, the Orchestra and volunteers will collect non-perishable food items to donate to The Community FoodBank, which assists more than 900,000 people in 18 counties across New Jersey. Patrons can bring food donations to the concert hall and drop off items at a collection table in the lobby. More details, a full list of concerts at which the Orchestra will collect food donations and a list of acceptable food items are available at www.njsymphony.org/fooddrive.

THE PROGRAM

Exuberant Tchaikovsky

Friday, April 12 at 7:30 pm | War Memorial in Trenton Saturday, April 13 at 8 pm | Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank Sunday, April 14 at 3 pm | bergenPAC in Englewood

Jacques Lacombe, conductor Jonathan Spitz, cello
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Polonaise from Eugene Onegin Variations on a Rococo Theme Symphony No. 5

Jacques Lacombe, conductor: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jacques Lacombe is renowned as a remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature. Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal from 2002 to 2006, he led the orchestra in more than 100 performances. He served for three years as Music Director of both orchestra and opera with the Philharmonie de Lorraine in France; he has been Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières since 2006.

Following the stunning Mahler 9 concerts that closed the NJSO season in June 2012, Lacombe returned to the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden to lead performances of Puccini's La bohème starring Roberto Alagna and Angela Georghiu.

In the 2012-13 season, Lacombe conducts the Opéra de Nice in an all-orchestra program and leads subscription weeks with the symphony orchestras of Québec, Toledo and Montreal, the last in a program of Bernstein and Debussy with pianist Kirill Gerstein; he also makes his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut on a program featuring Branford Marsalis. He returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin to lead Carmen.

In recent seasons, Lacombe made his debuts with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. He led Turandot and Les Contes d'Hoffmann for Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Der fliegende Holländer, Eugene Onegin, Carl Orff's Gisei - Das Opfer, Un Ballo in Maschera, Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge and concert performances of Waltershausen's rarely heard Oberst Chabert, all at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Oberst Chabert was released as a live CD by CPO in 2011. Lacombe led the world premiere of John Estacio's Lillian Alling at the Vancouver Opera, where he has also led productions of Roméo and Juliette and La Traviata.

Lacombe has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Teatro Regio in Turin; given the world premiere of Vladimir Cosma's Marius et Fanny at l'Opéra de Marseille and has led the symphony orchestras of Toronto and Vancouver and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Abroad, he has conducted the orchestras in Nice, Toulouse and Halle, as well as with the Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris, Slovakia Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Victoria Orchestra Melbourne and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Lacombe received Québec's highest civilian honor in 2012, when he was named a Knight of the National Order of QuébeC. Later that same year, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Jonathan Spitz, cello: Jonathan Spitz has served as Principal Cello of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 1991. He has established himself as one of the leading cellists in the New York area with his performances as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral principal. He tours internationally as a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and serves as one of that ensemble's artistic directors. He also performs as Principal Cello of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra at the Bard Music Festival.

Spitz has performed as a soloist with the NJSO on numerous occasions, including performances of the cello concertos of Schumann, Dvo?ák and Haydn, as well as Brahms' Double Concerto with NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick. He has also performed frequently as a soloist with Orpheus, the Riverside Sinfonia and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. He first performed Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme as a 16-year-old soloist with the Bergen Youth Orchestra.

An active chamber musician, Spitz was a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and has performed with legendary artists such as Rudolf Serkin, Benita Valente, Felix Galimir and Oscar Shumsky.

He is in great demand as a teacher and serves on the faculties of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, the Brevard Music Center and the Sommer Sinfonie in Valdres, Norway. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Spitz has recorded for multiple record labels. He performs on a cello by Grubaugh and Seifert from 2012.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is comprised of some of the country's finest musicians. The Orchestra is proud to have Jacques Lacombe as its Music Director. Artistic excellence, innovative programming and community engagement are hallmarks of its mission. To best serve the people of New Jersey, the orchestra brings its programs to seven outstanding venues throughout the state. Education and community engagement programs enrich the listening experience for children and adults alike. Select performances of the NJSO are broadcast regionally and throughout North America.

For more information about the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 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 Symphony Orchestra's programs are made possible in part by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors. United is the official airline of the NJSO.