By Mabel Pais

Gala honors Turrell Fund President & CEO Curtland E. Fields

Xian Zhang conducts program pairing Holst’s “The Planets”with NASA imagery, Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Hiraeth”with film by Mark DeChiazza

Women of Newark Voices return for Holst’s masterwork

Oct 11 and 13 at NJPAC in Newark

Oct 12 at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra(NJSO) and Music Director Xian Zhangopen the 2019–20 season with a program pairing music and visuals in Holst’s “The Planets,” with NASA imagery in HD, and the NJSO premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Hiraeth,” with an accompanying film by Mark DeChiazza. Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance”March No. 1 opens the program.

Produced by scientist and filmmaker Duncan Copp, “The Planets—an HD Odyssey”projects high-definition satellite imagery as Zhang leads the Orchestra in Holst’s masterwork. The NJSO celebrates voices from its own communities as the “Women of Newark Voices”—a choir that debuted with Zhang and the NJSO on the 2018–19 season’s opening weekend—return to bring an ethereal element to “Neptune, the Mystic.”

New Jersey-based composer Sarah Kirkland Snider was inspired by the Welsh definition of nostalgia for her autobiographical work “Hiraeth”—music evoking her family’s history, commissioned alongside a film by Mark DeChiazza. Of the film, Snider has said, “We set about re-creating some of my father’s, uncle’s and my childhood experiences in North Carolina. The result is something hazy and atmospheric, somewhere between memory and dream.”

 

OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION GALA

An Opening Night Celebration Gala on October 11 at NJPAC honors Turrell Fund President & CEO Curtland E. Fields and recognizes the significant contributions the fund has made to enrich the lives of children in the Greater Newark community with the experience of live symphonic music through the Orchestra’s education and community engagement programs. The Gala includes a pre-concert cocktail party and post-concert dinner.

The gala evening includes a pre-concert cocktail party with hors d’ oeuvres and an open bar at 5:30 pm; a post-concert dinner offers opportunities to meet and mingle with Zhang, musicians and special guests. Complimentary valet parking will be provided for all gala attendees.

Full gala information is available at njsymphony.org/openingnight

All proceeds from the gala event will support the NJSO as it enriches lives through its artistic, music education and community engagement programs.

The NJSO repeats the concert performance onOctober 12 at 8 pmat the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank and October 13 at 3 pmat NJPAC.

 

CONCERT PROGRAM

Holst’s “The Planets”in HD

Friday, October 11, at 7:30 pm | NJPAC in Newark

Saturday, October 12, at 8 pm | Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank

Sunday, October 13, at 3 pm | NJPAC in Newark

XIAN ZHANG conductor

Women of “NEWARK VOICES” | Heather J. Buchanan, conductor

ELGAR “Pomp and Circumstance”March No. 1

SARAH KIRKLAND SNIDER “Hiraeth”(with film by Mark DeChiazza) (NJSO Premiere)

HOLST “The Planets—An HD Odyssey”(with film) (produced by Duncan Copp)

Learn more at njsymphony.org/planets

INDIVIDUAL EVENT TICKETS

CONCERTONLY TICKETS;COCKTAILS & CONCERT TICKETS; COCKTAILS, CONCERT & DINNER TICKETS are available.

COCKTAILS & CONCERT TICKET*per person (includes a tax-deductible contribution), pre-concert cocktail party, concert seating and valet parking.

COCKTAILS, CONCERT & DINNER TICKET*per person (includes a tax-deductible contribution), pre-concert cocktail party, concert seating, gala dinner and valet parking.

Student discounted tickets for the concert only are available.

Full Gala information is available at njsymphony.org/openingnight

For Tickets, visit njsymphony.orgor call 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

Sponsorship and Dinner Table packages are also available. For more information, please contact Laura Bessey, NJSO Manager of Special Events, at Lbessey@njsymphony.orgor 973.735.1729.

*Discounted tickets are available for patrons who already have tickets to the October 11 concert.

GALA HONOREE

Curtland E. Fields, Turrell Fund President & CEO

Fields was appointed President & CEO of the Turrell Fund in 2005, after a distinguished 31-year career with AT&T. Fields became a trustee of the Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children, in 1997. As a senior executive officer of AT&T, Fields served as president of the $2 billion Consumer Services Division, and prior to that as president of AT&T’s largest operating region, in the Midwest. His experience with the company included assignments of increasing responsibility in finance, operations and marketing, as well as key activities in the Office of the Chairman. He also served as a director of the ATC Technology Corporation until its acquisition in 2010 by privately held GENCO; Lucent Technologies, Inc., through its initial public offering; and the AT&T Universal Card, until its acquisition by Citigroup.

A native of Washington, DC, Fields holds an undergraduate degree in architecture and engineering, with high honors, from Princeton University. He also holds an MBA in finance and marketing, with honors, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fields serves on the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City and Caucus Educational Corporation, and he has a been an NJSO trustee for 16 years.

To learn more about Curtland Fields, visit turrellfund.org/ceo

The Turrell Fund

The Turrell Fund, is a foundation serving children. The fund’s mission is to give at-risk children the basic elements for success in life. For more than 25 years, the Turrell Fund has generously supported the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s education and community engagement programs in the greater Newark area, including NJSO Youth Orchestras, Concerts for Young People and the Preschool Program. These programs afford students an appreciation for the arts and the benefits of a quality music education, and they enliven our community with vibrant cultural opportunities.

To learn more about the Turrell Fund, visitturrellfund.org

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 Center for the Arts 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 and the NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles, led by José Luis Domínguez. NJSO musicians annually perform original chamber music programs at community events in a variety of settings statewide through the NJSO Community Partners program.

Connect with NJSO:
Website: njsymphony.org
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NJSymphony
YouTube: @NewJerseySymphony
Email: information@njsymphony.org

(Mabel Paiswrites on the Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Spirituality and Health & Wellness.  She can be reached at mabelep1406@gmail.com)