New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performs summer concerts at venues statewide

Free parks programs feature music from Beauty and the Beast, Rodeo, Lincolnand more in ‘Road Trip Across the USA’

NJSO presents new works by exciting young composers at NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute in Princeton

June and July in communities across New Jersey

 

NEWARK, NJ (April 27, 2017)—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performs free concerts in parks throughout New Jersey in June and July, bringing a family-friendly “Road Trip Across the USA” program to six outdoor venues from Bergen County to West Windsor. The NJSO performs free concerts at Oak Ridge Park in Clark, Overpeck County Park in Ridgefield Park, Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken, Branch Brook Park in Newark, Mercer County Park in West Windsor and Marine Park in Red Bank.

 

Rounding out its summer schedule, the Orchestra also will appear at the Giralda Farms outdoor festival in Madison and present “Scores: New Orchestral Works,” a program of new music by the 2017 NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute composers, in Princeton.

 

FREE SUMMER PARKS PROGRAMS

Pack your gear and come along on a “Road Trip Across the USA,” NJSO-style. Travel from our New Jersey home through the heartland with John Williams’ moving score to Lincoln, to the Wild West and Copland’s iconic Rodeo, all the way to the Magic Kingdom with favorite music from Beauty and the Beast. It’s fun for the whole family on this memorable musical trip.

 

Sameer Patel, associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony, conducts the summer parks concerts, which are an annual tradition that reflects the Orchestra’s commitment to bringing live symphonic music to communities throughout the state.

 

Free concerts take place on the following dates:

• Friday, June 23, at Oak Ridge Park in Clark (7:30 pm)
• Tuesday, June 27, at Overpeck County Park in Ridgefield Park (8 pm)
• Thursday, June 29, at Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken (7:30 pm)
• Friday, June 30, at Essex County Branch Brook Park in Newark (7:30 pm)—with fireworks
• Saturday, July 1, at Mercer County Park Festival Grounds in West Windsor (8 pm)—with fireworks
• Sunday, July 2, at Marine Park in Red Bank (8 pm)

 

GIRALDA MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL

Presented by Morris Arts

 

The NJSO performs at the Giralda Music and Arts Festival in Madison on Sunday, June 25, at 6 pm. Sameer Patel leads the “Road Trip Across the USA” parks program. Gates open at 4 pm for picnics and activities, including an art show/sale and children’s book readings and signings. Prizes will be awarded for the most inventive picnics, and the 50/50 raffle, which supports Morris Arts’ scholarship program, nets a lucky winner a generous cash prize.

 

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the gate; children’s rates are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, visitwww.morrisarts.org/giralda or call 973.285.5115.

 

 

SCORES: NEW ORCHESTRAL WORKS

NJSO EDWARD T. CONE COMPOSITION INSTITUTE

 

On Saturday, July 15, JoAnn Falletta conducts the dynamic works by the composers of the NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, a multi-faceted program that promotes new music and emerging composers. The Institute composers will briefly share the inspiration behind their pieces in an evening that will show the vibrant future of orchestral music.

 

General-admission concert tickets for Scores are $15 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org/scores or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

 

Additional information about the Institute is available at www.njsymphony.org/institute.

 

 

Full event details for the NJSO’s slate of summer concerts are available at www.njsymphony.org/summer.

 

*    *    *    *

 

NJSO SUMMER CONCERT SCHEDULE

 

Media Partner: NJ.com affiliated with The Star-Ledger

 

NJSO AT OAK RIDGE PARK IN UNION COUNTY (FREE CONCERT)

Friday, June 23, at 7:30 pm

136 Oak Ridge Rd., Clark, NJ 07066

 

This is a free concert. No prior ticket reservations are required. Please bring lawn chairs or blankets; there is no other seating available.

 

This event is sponsored by the County of Union.

 

www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/njso-at-oak-ridge-park-in-clark-union-county

 

*    *    *    *

 

GIRALDA MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL

Sunday, June 25, at 6 pm

Giralda Farms in Madison

Madison Ave. at Dodge Dr., Madison, NJ 07940

 

Gates open at 4 pm. Concert at 6 pm. Please bring lawn chairs or blankets; there is no other seating available.

 

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the gate; children’s rates are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, visitwww.morrisarts.org/giralda or call 973.285.5115.

 

This concert is presented by Morris Arts.

 

http://www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/giralda-music-and-arts-festival-in-madison-morris-county

 

*    *    *    *

 

NJSO AT OVERPECK COUNTY PARK IN BERGEN COUNTY (FREE CONCERT)

Tuesday, June 27, at 8 pm

199 Challenger Rd., Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660

 

This is a free concert. No prior ticket reservations are required. Please bring lawn chairs or blankets; there is no other seating available.

 

This event is sponsored by Delta Dental and Hackensack Meridian Health. In partnership with the County of Bergen, Department of Parks.

 

www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/njso-at-overpeck-county-park-bergen-county

 

*    *    *    *

 

NJSO AT MAXWELL PLACE PARK IN HOBOKEN (FREE CONCERT)

Thursday, June 29, at 7:30 pm

One 11th St., Hoboken, NJ 07030

 

New location in Hoboken! Due to renovations at Pier A Park, the concert will take place at Maxwell Park (near 11th street) this year.

 

This event is presented by Mayor Dawn Zimmer and the City of Hoboken.

 

www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/maxwell-place-park-in-hoboken-hudson-county

 

*    *    *    *

 

NJSO AT ESSEX COUNTY BRANCH BROOK PARK IN NEWARK (FREE CONCERT WITH FIREWORKS)

Friday, June 30, at 7:30 pm

Christopher Columbus Dr., Newark, NJ 07102

Fireworks follow the concert.

 

This event is presented by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and the County of Essex and is part of the 2017 Essex County Free Summer Music Concert Series.

 

www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/njso-at-essex-county-branch-brook-park-in-newark

 

*    *    *    *

 

NJSO AT MERCER COUNTY PARK FESTIVAL GROUNDS IN WEST WINDSOR (FREE CONCERT WITH FIREWORKS)

Saturday, July 1, at 8 pm

334 S. Post Rd., West Windsor Twp., NJ 08550

Fireworks follow the concert.

 

This is a free concert. No prior ticket reservations are required. Please bring lawn chairs or blankets; there is no other seating available.

 

This event is sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. In partnership with the Mercer County Park Commission.

 

www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/njso-at-mercer-county-park-festival-grounds-in-west-windsor

 

*    *    *    *

 

NJSO AT MARINE PARK IN RED BANK (FREE CONCERT)

Sunday, July 2, at 8 pm

One Marine Park, Red Bank, NJ 07701

 

This is a free concert. No prior ticket reservations are required. Please bring lawn chairs or blankets; there is no other seating available.

 

Presented by the Red Bank RiverCenter.

 

www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/njso-at-marine-park-in-red-bank

 

*    *    *    *

 

SCORES: NEW ORCHESTRAL WORKS:

NJSO EDWARD T. CONE COMPOSITION INSTITUTE CONCERT

Saturday, July 15, at 8 pm

Richardson Auditorium in Princeton

61 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ 08540

 

JOANN FALLETTA conductor

STEVEN MACKEY Institute director and host

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

 

Program to include:

SAAD HADDAD Tahkt

NOAH KAPLAN Forest Through Forest

SAM LIPMAN Song of the Bhagavan

ALYSSA WEINBERG Tereza Slumbers

STEVEN MACKEY Four Iconoclastic Episodes

 

General-admission tickets are $15 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org/scores or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

 

Major underwriting support for the NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute is generously provided by the Edward T. Cone Foundation and Princeton University.

 

www.njsymphony.org/scores

 

THE ARTISTS

Sameer Patel, conductor

Internationally recognized by audiences and musicians for his musicality and passionate communication, Sameer Patel is one of America’s most exciting young conductors. A winner of a Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Patel is Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony. He is also the newly appointed Associate Conductor of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, which is the largest privately funded and free-admission orchestra in the United States.

 

In the 2017–18 season, Patel makes his highly anticipated subscription debut with the San Diego Symphony, leads operatic masterworks with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, and conducts modern masterpieces of the 20th and 21st centuries with the La Jolla Symphony. Past engagements have taken him to the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Phoenix, Toronto, Detroit, Knoxville, Toledo and Jacksonville, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana and Leipziger Sinfonieorchester.

 

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Patel furthered his studies with some of the greatest conductors of our time, including Gianandrea Noseda, Daniele Gatti, the late Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, and Neeme and Paavo Järvi.

 

For more information, visit www.sameer-patel.com.

 

JoAnn Falletta, conductor

JoAnn Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music, an inspiring artistic leader and a champion of American symphonic music. She serves as the music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

 

Falletta has guest conducted more than 100 orchestras in North America, as well as many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Her 2016–17 international guest conducting appearances include performances in Spain and Finland, as well as recordings with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony.

 

In 2016, Falletta was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joining an esteemed roster that dates back to the Academy's founding in 1780. She has served as a member of the National Council on the Arts and is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards.

 

Falletta is a leading recording artist for Naxos. Her discs have won two Grammy Awards and 10 Grammy nominations. Recent recordings include three recordings with the Virginia Arts Festival of Stravinsky and Mahler, a disc of the cello concertos of Victor Herbert with soloist Mark Kosower and the Ulster Orchestra and works of Florent Schmitt, Novak, Scriabin and Wagner with the Buffalo Philharmonic. For more information, visit www.joannfalletta.com.

 

Steven Mackey, NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute Director

Steven Mackey was born in 1956 to American parents stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. He is regarded as one of the leading composers of his generation and has composed for orchestra, chamber ensemble, dance and opera. His first musical passion was playing the electric guitar in rock bands based in northern California. He blazed a trail in the 1980s and 90s by including the electric guitar and vernacular music influence in his concert music, and he regularly performs his own works, including two electric guitar concertos and numerous solo and chamber works. He is also active as an improvising musician and performs with his band Big Farm.

 

Mackey’s music has been performed by leading musical institutions throughout the world, including the Los Angeles, BBC and New York philharmonics; San Francisco and Chicago symphonies; Philadelphia and Concertgebouw orchestras and Brentano, Kronos and Arditti string quartets, among others. He has received numerous awards, including a Grammy Award in 2012 for his album Lonely Motel: Music from Slide.

 

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.

 

The NJSO welcomes new Music Director Xian Zhang in the 2016–17 season. 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 the 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 performances, 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 nearly 200 community events in a variety of settings through the NJSO’s REACH (Resources for Education and Community Harmony) program. The Orchestra’s ECE programs annually serve more than 60,000 New Jerseyans in nearly 21 counties.

 

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.