NJSO presents SCI-FI SPECTACULAR: Music From Star Wars, Star Trek And Beyond

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents "Sci-Fi Spectacular," featuring music from Star Wars, Star Trek and more, January 6-7 in Newark and New Brunswick. Marina Sirtis, best known as counselor Deanna Troi on the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the four feature films that followed, hosts.

Highlights include memorable themes from The Day the Earth Stood Still, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, 2001: A Space Odyssey and more, with music by John Williams, Bernard Herrmann and other composers who have made great moments in science fiction come alive.

Performances take place on Saturday, January 6, at 8 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and Sunday, January 7, at 3 pm at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. State Theatre New Jersey co-presents the January 7 performance.

The program features vocalist Kristen Plumley and the Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir; Bob Bernhardt conducts.

NJSO Accent events include a cosplay contest for audience members who dress up as their favorite sci-fi movie characters, beginning one hour before each performance.

For more information, visit www.njsymphony.org/scifi.

Single tickets start at $20 and are available from the NJSO online at www.njsymphony.org, by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or in person. The NJSO Patron Services office is located at 60 Park Place, 9th floor, in Newark; hours are Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, and concert Saturdays, 11 am to 5 pm.

Tickets for the January 7 performance are also available from State Theatre New Jersey online at www.STNJ.org, by phone at 732.246.SHOW (7469) or in person. The State Theatre New Jersey Guest Services office is located at 15 Livingston Ave in New Brunswick. Hours are Monday-Friday, 10 am to 6 pm, and at least three hours prior to curtain on performance dates unless otherwise specified.

CONCERT PROGRAM

Sci-Fi Spectacular: Music from Star Wars, Star Trek and Beyond

Saturday, January 6, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark

Sunday, January 7, at 3 pm | State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick

Marina Sirtis, host

Bob Bernhardt, conductor

Kristen Plumley, vocalist

Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir | Shayne Austin Miller, director

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

The January 7 performance is presented in collaboration with State Theatre New Jersey.

Additional information is available at www.njsymphony.org/scifi.

NJSO ACCENTS

Cosplay Competition-Sat, Jan 6 and Sun, Jan 7, one hour before the concert
Dress up as your favorite sci-fi movie character and beam yourself into our costume parade and contest.

ARTIST BIOS

Marina Sirtis, host

Known to "Star Trek" fans the world over for her role as counselor Deanna Troi, English-born Marina Sirtis began her acting career as a member of a West Sussex repertory company at the Connaught Theater. During her time there, she appeared in productions of What the Butler Saw and Hamlet before parlaying her stage experience into film and television roles.

Counselor Troi was one of the respected and trusted characters in "The Next Generation," and Sirtis' portrayal endeared her to fans through seven television seasons and four feature films.

Sirtis' post-Trek work includes appearances in series such as "Diagnosis: Murder," "The Outer Limits," "Earth: Final Conflict" (originally created by Gene Rodenberry), "The Closer," "Grey's Anatomy," "Stargate SG-1" and "NCIS," as well as roles in the films Crash and Spectres.

Beyond her live-action work, animation and gaming fans will recognize Sirtis' voice from her roles in the fondly remembered Disney series "Gargoyles," as well as "Adventure Time," "Family Guy," "Young Justice" and the hit "Mass Effect" gaming franchise.

Sirtis can next be seen in the comedy series "Internity" and the feature film 5th Passenger.

Bob Bernhardt, conductor

With 31 years of experience as a music director, 35 years as a pops conductor and 33 years in the opera pit, Bob Bernhardt brings a unique perspective and ability each time he is on the podium.

In 2015, Bernhardt was named principal pops conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony. This season is his 21st year as principal pops conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, as well as his 36th consecutive year with the orchestra. It's also his sixth season as music director emeritus and principal pops conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, where he was music director for 19 seasons.

In the world of pops, he has worked with scores of stars from Broadway, rock & roll and the American Songbook, from Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kelli O'Hara to The Beach Boys and Wynonna to Jason Alexander and Megan Hilty.

He received his master's degree with honors from the University of Southern California's School of Music, studying primarily with Daniel Lewis. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY.

Kristen Plumley, vocalist

Connecticut native Kristen Plumley enjoys singing everything from opera's light lyric roles to oratorio to pops classics. She has performed with many opera companies throughout the country, including New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey and Chautauqua Opera.

On the concert stage, Plumley has performed a broad spectrum of works, from classical pieces (Mozart's Coronation Mass and Haydn's Mass in Time of War at Carnegie Hall, Handel's Messiah with the Dayton Symphony) to An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan with the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Richmond, Memphis and Minnesota.

She also greatly enjoys pops concerts, and her favorite is Sci-Fi Spectacular, which she has performed with the Cleveland, Indianapolis, Seattle, Baltimore, Edmonton and Ottawa symphonies. In 2011, Plumley performed in the North American premiere of Handel's first opera, Almira, with operamission in New York.

She recently created the role of Ruth Draper in Icarus Rising, a new dance opera about Italian freedom fighter Lauro DeBosis, with Verlezza Dance. More information is available at www.kristenplumley.com.

Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir

The award-winning Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir (Shayne Austin Miller, director) consists of 80 young performing artists ages 15-22. Over the past five years, the show choir has delighted more than 500,000 people across the region with their rousing renditions of Broadway, pop and classics.

The choir has performed at Lincoln Center, Sun Arena, the Empire State Building, bergenPAC and SOPAC, among others, and toured with Vocal Ovation, A Show Choir Extravaganza.

The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir, sponsored by Overlook Medical Center, is an audition-based, exhibition show choir that stems from Paper Mill's Arts Education and Outreach programs. The choir acts as an ambassador to Paper Mill Playhouse with an array of performance opportunities throughout the community and beyond. Students selected to be a part of this tuition-free group have the opportunity to fine-tune their craft with free, intensive instruction.

More information about the Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir and their upcoming tour performance schedule is available at www.PaperMill.org/showchoir.

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.

Music Director Xian Zhang-a "dynamic podium presence" The New York Times has praised for her "technical abilities, musicianship and maturity"-continues her acclaimed leadership of the NJSO. The Orchestra 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 State Theatre New Jersey 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 school-time Concerts for Young People, NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). NJSO musicians annually perform original chamber music programs at community events in a variety of settings statewide.

For more information about the NJSO, visit www.njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org. Tickets are available for purchase by phone at 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, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.

STATE THEATRE NEW JERSEY

State Theatre New Jersey-creating extraordinary experiences through the power of live performance. The theater exists to enrich people's lives, contribute to a vital urban environment and build future audiences by presenting the finest performing artists and entertainers and fostering lifetime appreciation for the performing arts through education. The State Theatre New Jersey's programs are made possible in part by funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and contributions from numerous corporations, foundations and individuals.

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