Qasim Naqvi

WITH XIAN ZHANG
FEATURING NIMBUS DANCE

• By Mabel Pais

The New Jersey Symphony presents three performances of ‘The Firebird’ (see program for details) with Music Director Xian Zhang conducting, March 7-9, 2025.

PROGRAM

‘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’

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.

Estimated Concert Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes

CLASSICAL CONVERSATION

Friday, March 7, at 7 pm and Sunday, March 9, at 2 pm at NJPAC in Newark

Enjoy a lively Classical Conversation before the performance. Learn more about the music from New Jersey Symphony musicians, guest artists and other engaging insiders.

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Saturday, March 8, at 7 pm at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank

Experience the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra’s outstanding Academy Wind Quartet’s special pre-concert performance.

TICKETS & MORE INFORMATION

For more information on concerts and tickets, visit njsymphony.org/events.

Xian Zhang

2024–25 marks the GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning conductor Xian Zhang’s ninth season as music director of the New Jersey Symphony. Starting in 2025–26, Zhang will also hold the role of music director at Seattle Symphony. Zhang holds the position of conductor emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, having previously held the position of music director, 2009–2016.

The 2024–25 season sees Zhang return to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to conduct David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Puccini’s Tosca.

Zhang is in high demand as a guest conductor, appearing regularly with Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, returning to both in 2024–25. Her recording with Philadelphia Orchestra and Time for Three, ‘Letters for The Future’ (released 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon), won multiple GRAMMY Awards in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ ‘Contact’), and Best Classical Instrumental Solo categories.

Following a successful collaboration at Tanglewood Festival 2023, Zhang returns to the Boston Symphony Orchestra this season.

Zhang previously served as principal guest conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra and principal guest conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s assistant conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their associate conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair. Learn more at xianzhangconductor.com.

Jonathan Spitz

Jonathan Spitz has established himself as a leading cellist in the United States with his performances as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal. He is the recently appointed head of string studies at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and serves as professor of cello. He has been principal cello of the New Jersey Symphony since 1991, and he is a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and principal cello of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra.

He has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall and at colleges and universities throughout the US. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, he was a student of David Soyer.

Samuel Pott and Nimbus Dance

Samuel Pott (founding artistic director) founded Nimbus in 2005 in support of a vision for dance, creativity, and the arts as a stimulus for growth and unity, both personal and communal. Pott’s work as a performer, choreographer, educator, and arts leader is dedicated to the authentic, humanistic, and equitable engagement that emerges in individuals and in communities through deep exploration and learning in the dance and the arts.

Under his direction, the organization has toured nationally, built the Nimbus Arts Center at ‘The Lively’ in Downtown Jersey City, developed the School of Nimbus which serves over 400 students onsite and many thousands in offsite community programs annually, and became the largest contemporary dance organization in the State of New Jersey.

As a performer, Pott danced as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, performing in iconic roles. Prior to joining the Graham company, Mr. Pott performed as a lead dancer with American Repertory Ballet, Oakland Ballet, and Savage Jazz Dance Company, in a wide range of new and classical repertory.

A recipient of Choreography Fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in 2008, 2017, and 2023, and named a Distinguished Teaching Artist by the Council in 2012, Pott was one of 25 arts leaders nationally selected for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ (APAP) inaugural Leadership Fellows Program, serves on the Dance Advisory Council for New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and is a co-founder of the Jersey City Arts Council.

Nimbus reaches over 16,000 people annually, performing throughout the NJ/NY area and nationally, including recently with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. The School of Nimbus and outreach programs reach over 4000 youth each year, with scholarships available to ensure that no student is turned away for lack of funds.

The New Jersey Symphony

The New Jersey Symphony is a GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning orchestra. Under the direction of the Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony performs more than 60 concerts at mainstage venues across the state, including Newark, Princeton, New Brunswick, Red Bank, and Morristown as well as schools and public spaces statewide. Programming at the Symphony reflects an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion while providing students across the state unparalleled opportunities to achieve musical excellence through its Youth Orchestra and other outreach programs.

For more information about the New Jersey Symphony, visit the website at njsymphony.org.

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(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Spirituality, Cuisine, Health & Wellness, Business, and Education)