NJSO Announces 2018-19 Season

"Music speaks" in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 season, announced today by the Orchestra and Music Director Xian Zhang. Classical, pops and family offerings feature works that bring to life great stories, poems and speeches, from Kate Whitley's Malala Yousafzai-inspired Speak Out to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade to sarod master Amjad Ali Khan's Samaagam to Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Mary Poppins performed live to picture.

Fulfilling its mission as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO offers subscription series in Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, Morristown, Red Bank and Englewood, with 14 weeks of subscription classical programs, a three-program pops movie series and two family programs. Special concerts in Newark include Handel's Messiah at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart and a Chinese New Year Celebration at NJPAC.

A full realization of Zhang's artistic vision, the NJSO season features a diverse array of musical voices, from classical masters (Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Debussy's La mer and Shostakovich's First Symphony) to composers performing their own concertos (Steven Mackey's Four Iconoclastic Episodes for violin and electric guitar, Amjad Ali Khan's Samaagam for Sarod, Concertante Group and String Orchestra) to female composers (Whitley's Speak Out, Maria Schneider's Winter Morning Walks with soprano Dawn Upshaw and Florence Price's Piano Concerto with acclaimed jazz pianist Aaron Diehl).

The Opening Weekend program pairing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the US premiere of Whitley's Speak Out encapsulates many of the season's major themes. The NJSO celebrates the voices of its own communities, creating Newark Voices-a choir composed in part of Newark residents who will join singers from Montclair State University, all under the direction of Heather J. Buchanan-for Beethoven's masterwork.

Zhang says: "For our 2018-19 season, I've chosen pieces that are inspired by great stories, myths and poems, bringing these words to vivid life. And as we welcome jazz musicians, Indian sarod virtuosos and singers from Newark and the New Jersey community, and celebrate Chinese New Year all on the NJSO stages, [audiences will] hear how music speaks in a common language across diverse cultures and traditions."

A new partnership with the Sphinx Organization to regularly present its competition winners is another aspect of the Orchestra's ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion on stage and in concert programming. With a festive Chinese New Year Celebration in Newark, Zhang brings a new cultural tradition to the NJSO.

Zhang has crafted a season of virtuosic symphonic repertoire to showcase the artistic quality of the Orchestra, with highlights including Mahler's Fourth Symphony, Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra, Brahms' Fourth Symphony and an all-orchestral season finale pairing Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony with selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.

In a hallmark of NJSO programming, Orchestra musicians take center stage as featured soloists. Concertmaster Eric Wyrick performs a pair of double concertos-Steven Mackey's Four Iconoclastic Episodes with the composer on electric guitar and Bach's Concerto for Two Violins with Sphinx Competition winner Annelle Gregory-and the NJSO horn section performs Schumann's Konzertstuck for Four Horns.

A blockbuster trio of soloists-pianists Emanuel Ax and Daniil Trifonov and soprano Dawn Upshaw-headline the NJSO's three-week Winter Festival in January. In 2019, the Orchestra's signature artistic event focuses on great works that were inspired by myths, stories and poetry, while featuring renowned guest artists with distinct musical voices.

Ax performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 on a program featuring Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, based on Lord Byron's epic poem of doomed love. Upshaw sings Schneider's Winter Morning Walks, which chronicles a poet's recovery from a life-threatening illness, and Mahler's sublime Fourth Symphony, which finds wisdom in a child's vision of heaven. Piano phenomenon Daniil Trifonov performs Schumann's Piano Concerto on a program that includes Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy and Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra.

A series of NJSO Accents and special Winter Festival events will further explore the "Music Speaks" theme.

Underscoring her belief in bringing new works to NJSO audiences, Zhang conducts the US premiere of Whitley's Speak Out on Opening Weekend and the East Coast premiere of an NJSO co-commission from Musical America 2017 Composer of the Year Andrew Norman-a cello concerto performed by Johannes Moser.

The season also features several works new to the NJSO, including Ligeti's Romanian Concerto, Florence Price's Piano Concerto, Schneider's Winter Morning Walks, Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy, Schumann's Konzertstuck for Four Horns and Amjad Ali Kahn's Samaagam: A Concerto for Sarod, Concertante Group and String Orchestra.

Season highlights include Chopin's Second Piano Concerto, Dvo?ák's Seventh Symphony, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Schumann's "Rhenish" Symphony, Stravinsky's Suite from The Firebird, Saint-Saëns' Second Piano Concerto, Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Handel's Messiah and Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, Choral Fantasy and Leonore Overture No. 3.

The NJSO welcomes an international roster of guest artists in the 2018-19 season, including soprano Dawn Upshaw; violinists Augustin Hadelich and Sphinx Competition winner Annelle Gregory; pianists Daniil Trifonov, Emanuel Ax, Seong-Jin Cho, Simone Dinnerstein, Aaron Diehl, Jeffrey Kahane and Ingrid Fliter; cellist Johannes Moser; sarod master Amjad Ali Khan and his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash; and electric guitarist Steven Mackey.

Celebrating its own musicians, the NJSO presents Concertmaster Eric Wyrick in a pair of double concertos by Bach and Mackey and its horn section-Principal Horn Chris Komer, Andrea Menousek, Lawrence DiBello and Susan Standley-in Schumann's Konzertstuck for Four Horns.

Special Opening Night Celebration Gala festivities surround Zhang and the NJSO's October 5 performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Whitley's Speak Out. Gala packages include a pre-concert cocktail party and post-concert dinner with Zhang, NJSO musicians and special guests at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

The NJSO presents a trio of blockbuster movies with live orchestral performances of the film scores. The Orchestra performs the first two films of the original Star Wars trilogy-A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back-and Disney's Mary Poppins at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. State Theatre New Jersey co-presents the New Brunswick series.

The NJSO presents engaging family programs in the Victoria Theater at NJPAC in Newark; each concert has two showtimes and features special pre-concert events designed to bring young concertgoers closer to the music and music makers.

The NJSO partners with the Montclair State University Singers and Chorale for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Kate Whitley's Speak Out and Handel's Messiah; the New Jersey Youth Choruses for Whitley's Speak Out and Newark Voices-a choir composed in part of Newark residents-for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In a partnership with the Sphinx Organization, the NJSO welcomes Sphinx Competition winner Annelle Gregory for Bach's Concerto for Two Violins. The Orchestra continues to present programs in collaboration with State Theatre New Jersey and brings Handel's Messiah to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, a longtime collaborative partner.

The Orchestra continues the NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute-a partnership between the Edward T. Cone Foundation, Princeton University and the NJSO-July 9-14, 2018. Promising emerging composers will have their work rehearsed by the NJSO and guest conductor David Robertson, participate in masterclasses with Institute Director Steven Mackey and receive feedback from NJSO musicians. The Institute will provide sessions with industry leaders in publishing, licensing, promotion and music preparation to give participants a foundation for a successful career in composition. It concludes with an NJSO performance of the participants' works on July 14. Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/institute.

Subscriptions are now on sale for the 2018-19 season. Full information on ticket packages for each series and venue is available at www.njsymphony.org/subscribe; subscriptions are available for purchase online or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). Single tickets will go on sale in August.

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