May Princeton Festival Library Talks Explore Operatic Works

Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Festival Director Gregory Jon Geehern delves into Derrick Wang's contemporary opera Scalia/Ginsburg, Benjamin Britten's comic opera Albert Herring, and Kurt Weill's sensual The Seven Deadly Sins at talks held at area libraries this month. His talk, "Operatic Explorations," provides background and context for these works, which will be performed at the 2022 Princeton Festival, the PSO's premier summer performing arts program. Geehern is deeply involved with coordinating all the behind-the-scenes aspects of the productions, and will be conducting Scalia/Ginsburg and the Festival Chorus during the June 10-25 extravaganza.

Gregory J. Geehern, D.Mus., is a multi-talented conductor, pianist, baritone, and scholar who has been called a "gifted new presence" for his work with full choirs, opera choruses, and chamber ensembles in repertoire from the Middle Ages to the present day. He is a recent addition to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra's administrative staff, having served as acting artistic director of the Princeton Festival in 2021 following the departure of Richard Tang Yuk. Prior to that, he held the position of assistant to the artistic director for several years and served as assistant conductor and chorus master of Beethoven's Fidelio, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, and John Adams' Nixon in China. He also conducted performances of masterworks such as J.S. Bach's cantata Der Herr denket an uns and George Frideric Handel's Dixit Dominus with The Princeton Festival's Baroque Chorus and Orchestra.

Talk Schedule:

Monday, May 23 at 2pm

Monroe Township Public Library

4 Municipal Plaza

Monroe Township, NJ

Made possible by The Monroe Township Cultural Arts Commission

in collaboration with the Monroe Township Public Library

Tuesday, May 24 at 7pm

Princeton Public Library

Community Room

65 Witherspoon St

Princeton, NJ

Wednesday, May 25 at 6:30pm

Mercer County Public Library

Robbinsville Branch

42 Robbinsville Allentown Rd

Robbinsville Township, NJ

Thursday, May 26, at 6pm

Mercer County Public Library

Lawrence Headquarters Branch

2751 Brunswick Pike

Lawrenceville, NJ

The talks are all free and open to the public. Registration is required at the Monroe Township branch. For more information, visit princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Health and Safety

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is closely monitoring and adhering to the New Jersey Department of Health's COVID-19 Requirements. Princeton Festival COVID policies are available on the PSO website at princetonsymphony.org/visit/health-safety.

To post a comment, you must register and login.