• By Mabel Pais

“What the New Jersey Symphony has established, bringing music to the Garden State in schools and in six different cities, is a sincere accomplishment. And it’s never been better.” – nj.com

The New Jersey Symphony (NJS) presents one of the foremost concert violinists in the world, Augustin Hadelich, in three performances with Music Director Xian Zhang conducting.

The GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist will play Beethoven’s monumental violin concerto of which Hadelich recently told ‘The Strad’ magazine, “Beethoven composed much of it in a high register that makes the sound shine with an incredible purity and transparency … [Its] length creates one of its greatest challenges: to sustain the long arc of the musical story, so it does not sound like an endless collection of ‘nice moments.’” Learn more about Hadelich at augustinhadelich.com.

Also featured on the program is a piece originally commissioned by the New Jersey Symphony for the virtual 2020–21 season, i am a white person who _____ Black people, by Resident Artistic Catalyst Daniel Bernard Roumain. Roumain, who goes by his monogram DBR, was limited in the original version to just strings and percussion, but has expanded the piece for this performance to include wind and brass instruments. This will be the first performance of the piece in front of a live audience.

When speaking of the piece in 2020, DBR said, “With i am a white person who _____ Black people, I am extending what has traditionally been my choice given to any white person: how do you see me and other BIPOC people, and what choice of word or phrase best reflects your opinion of Black people? Your choice, in part, reflects who you are.” Learn more about Daniel Bernard Roumain at danielroumain.com.

The performance closes with audience-favorite ‘Pictures at an Exhibition,’ written first as a solo piano piece by Modest Mussorgsky and later orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.

PROGRAM

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Augustin Hadelich

New Jersey Symphony Classical

Xian Zhang conductor

Augustin Hadelich violin

New Jersey Symphony

Princeton → Friday, January 12, 2024, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Princeton

Red Bank → Saturday, January 13, 2024, 8 pm Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank

Newark → Sunday, January 14, 2024, 3 pm New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark

Daniel Bernard Roumain i am a white person who _____ Black people

Beethoven Violin Concerto

Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition

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EXPERIENCE MANY FACETS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM THROUGH MUSIC

By Mabel Pais

The New Jersey Symphony (NJS) presents a concert program called ‘The American Dream,’ focused on the many facets that make up the long-held idea of the American Dream, the stories of those who have immigrated to America, and the differences found in the American experience through different cultures.

PROGRAM

The American Dream

Featuring Music from Leonard Bernstein’s ‘West Side Story’ and the ‘On the Town’

Includes World Premiere by Rob Kapilow (Jan 20 & 21 only)

Xian Zhang conductor

Rob Kapilow conductor (Jan 20 & 21 only) 

JCC Young People’s Chorus @ Thurnauer | Emma Brondolo, artistic director (Jan 20 & 21 only)

Young People’s Chorus of New York City® | Francisco J. Núñez, artistic director and founder (Jan 20 & 21 only)

Ember Choral Arts | Deborah Simpkin King, artistic director (Jan 20 & 21 only)

New Jersey Symphony

Daniel Bernard Roumain i am a white person who_____ Black people (Jan 18 only)

Still Darker America

Rob Kapilow We Came to America (World Premiere, Commissioned by the Thurnauer School of Music at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades) (Jan 20 & 21 only)

Bernstein Three Dance Episodes from On the Town

Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

TICKETS

Tickets for any of the concerts can be purchased by phone 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or njsymphony.org.

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

The Thurnauer School of Music

Learn more about the School and artist-in-residence Rob Kapilow at jccotp.org/arts/thurnauer-school

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City 

 Learn more about the Chorus and Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez  at ypc.org.

Ember Choral Arts (formerly Schola Cantorum on Hudson)

Learn more at emberarts.org.

The New Jersey Symphony (NJS)

Connect with NJS:

njsymphony.org

@NJSymphony on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter @NewJerseySymphony on YouTube 

Email: information@njsymphony.org 

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