New Jersey Symphony To Present THE FIREBIRD With Xian Zhang Featuring Nimbus Dance

New Jersey Symphony will present three performances of The Firebird with Music Director Xian Zhang conducting.

The performances will take place Friday, March 7, 2025, at 8 pm, at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark; Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 8 pm, at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank; and Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 3 pm, at NJPAC in Newark.

The program opens with Bach’s Prelude from Cello Suite No. 2 with the Symphony’s Principal Cello Jonathan Spitz soloing. The first half continues with Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw’s Valencia. This short chamber work mixes harmonics, glissandi, minimalism, and rhythmic games throughout. The first act closes with the United States premiere of Qasim Naqvi’s God Docks at Death Harbor (Piano Quintet Version) as Nimbus Dance joins the stage with choreography titled, “Dark Water” in Newark and Red Bank.

The program continues with Stravinsky’s Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss, which was drawn from a neoclassical ballet based on “The Ice Maiden,” a tale by author Hans Christian Andersen. The second half of the program concludes with Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird with Nimbus Dance appearing on center stage for both performances in Newark. Originally performed in Paris in 1910 by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, the piece was then reduced for solo piano and extracted as a concert suite in 1911 and was ultimately re-orchestrated by Stravinsky in 1919. 

A Classical Conversation will take place on Friday, March 7, at 2 pm at NJPAC in Newark before the performance. Concertgoers will be able to learn more about the music from Symphony musicians, guest artists, and other engaging insiders.

See the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Academy Wind Quintet deliver a Concert Prelude. This pre-concert performance will be on Saturday, March 8, at 7 pm at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.

The Firebird with Xian Zhang

Featuring Nimbus Dance | New Jersey Symphony Classical

Xian Zhang conductor
Jonathan Spitz cello

Nimbus Dance | Samuel Pott, artistic director & choreographer
New Jersey Symphony

Newark → Friday, March 7, 8 pm, NJPAC

Red Bank → Saturday, March 8, 8 pm, Count Basie Center for the Arts

Newark → Sunday, March 9, 3 pm, NJPAC

Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude from Cello Suite No. 2

Caroline Shaw Valencia

Qasim Naqvi God Docks at Death Harbor (Piano Quintet Version)

Igor Stravinsky Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss

Igor Stravinsky Suite from The Firebird

More information on concerts and tickets: njsymphony.org/events.

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