Photo by Sam Sirochman
(CAMDEN, NJ) -- New Jersey-based professional training orchestra Symphony in C presents Beethoven Eroica on Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 8:00pm at the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts in Camden.
The concert features guest conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl leading the Symphony in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s 2011 work Entr’acte, which is structured like a minuet and trio and inspired by Haydn’s String Quartet, Op. 77. Canadian Brass trumpet player and Symphony in C alumnus Caleb Hudson returns to perform Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major, and the concert concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
Tickets range from $25 - $52 and are available for purchase online.
Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts is located at North 3rd Street & Pearl in Camden, New Jersey.
Symphony in C’s 2022-2023 season continues with Mendelssohn Italian Symphony on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 8:00pm at the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, featuring guest conductor Joseph Young and a violin soloist to be announced, in a program including works by Mendelssohn, Dvorak, and Florence Price.
March 4th Program:
Caroline Shaw - Entr’acte
Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major
Caleb Hudson, trumpet
Ludwig Van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 “Eroica”
Artists:
Symphony in C
Ankush Kumar Bahl, guest conductor
Caleb Hudson, trumpet
Currently in his first season as Music Director of the Omaha Symphony, Ankush Kumar Bahl has delivered resonant performances of masterworks, new and old, championing American composers and artists while pursuing innovative, community-based concert design. Bahl is recognized by orchestras and audiences alike for his impressive conducting technique, thoughtful interpretations, and engaging podium presence. In concert, he has left the Washington Post “wanting to hear more” and has been praised by The New York Times for his “clear authority and enthusiasm” and ability to “inspire.”
Highlights of previous and upcoming guest engagements include concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Richmond Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO, in Washington, D.C.). Summer festival appearances engagements include the Copenhagen Philharmonic at Tivoli, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Wintergreen Summer Music Festival, Chautauqua Institute, Wolf Trap with the NSO, and a debut at the Brevard Music Center in the summer of 2022. An experienced collaborator, Bahl has worked with many prominent soloists, among them Daniil Trifonov, Lang Lang, Sarah Chang, Lara St. John, Karen Gomyo, Aaron Diehl, Bezhod Abduraimov, Benjamin Grosvenor, Orion Weiss, Conrad Tao, Charlie Albright, Anthony McGill, Kelley O'Connor, Philadelphia Orchestra Concertmaster David Kim, and Vesko Eschkenazy, concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Bahl is a proud recipient of four separate Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards between 2011 and 2016 and the 2009 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship. A protégé of former New York Philharmonic Music Director Kurt Masur, he served as his assistant conductor at the Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. From 2011 to 2015, he was assistant conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, leading a variety of concerts over the course of 100 performances. Bahl has been fortunate to also count Maestros Jaap van Zweden, Zdenek Macal, David Zinman, and Gianandrea Noseda among his mentors.
American born and of Indian descent, Ankush Kumar Bahl is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and received a double degree in music and rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival with David Zinman and completed his master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Manhattan School of Music with Zdenek Macal and George Manahan. In recent years, Bahl has been a frequent collaborator with jazz legend Wayne Shorter, conducting his quartet in concerts of his orchestral music at the Kennedy Center and Detroit Free Jazz Festival.
Caleb Hudson is the newest member of the Canadian Brass, having graduated from The Juilliard School with both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Acclaimed by The New York Times as 'brilliantly stylish,' Caleb has performed as an international soloist, including a recital that was broadcast nationally on NPR's Performance Today.
Caleb is known for his piccolo trumpet mastery of Bach's infamous Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, having performed it around the world with ensembles including Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Israel Philharmonic Soloists, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Possessing a wide range of musical styles, his experience ranges from soloing in Carnegie Hall to performing with early music ensembles, even appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He is an alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy and Ensemble Connect, a fellowship program of Carnegie Hall that promotes community outreach, and music education.
Caleb enjoys writing and arranging music for Canadian Brass, having many works performed, published, and recorded. They can be heard on two albums, Canadian Brass: Perfect Landing and Canadian Brass: Great Wall of China. In 2015, his original composition White Rose Elegy was performed as a world premiere in Lincoln Center by the Canadian Brass and New York Philharmonic Principal Brass.
Caleb is Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the prestigious University of North Texas College of Music, where he is devoted to teaching and sharing his love for music with students.
Symphony in C provides the next generations of musicians and composers with experiences in performance and in engaging with the community, helping musicians to develop skills and experiences for professional success. The Symphony seeks to support musicians in achieving their visions in the changing world of symphonic music.
Founded in 1952 as The Haddonfield Symphony, Symphony in C began as a community orchestra allowing amateur musicians to pursue their love of music by performing for the Haddonfield and southern New Jersey communities. Its debut performance was in January 1954 under music director Guido Terranova. Since then, it has grown into one of only three professional training orchestras in the United States preparing musicians and conductors who are on the cusp of world-class careers through concert, educational outreach and profeessional development programs.
During the 1987-1988 season, the Symphony began providing training and performance opportunities to young professional musicians with the establishment of its Professional Development Internship Program. Over the next 13 seasons, this program grew to encompass all 78 positions within the orchestra. In 1991, the Symphony established the position of assistant conductor. The first holder of this position, Alan Gilbert, was named music director of the Symphony in 1992. During his tenure, he appointed the first composer-in-residence, Daniel Dorff, and launched the Young Composers’ Competition. From 1997 to 2000, Music Director Daniel Hege expanded the Music Matters! educational programs and Professional Development Internship programs for Symphony musicians.
Assistant Conductor Rossen Milanov was appointed Music Director in 2000, and led the organization for fifteen years, attracting the finest young musicians and soloists and increasing the orchestra’s artistic profile. In July, 2014, Maestro Milanov announced his departure at the end of the season, after being named Music Director of the Columbus Symphony and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. After an extensive international search, the Board of Directors selected 31 year old Stilian Kirov as Music Director. Maestro Kirov served as Music director from 2015-2020. Symphony in C’s 2022-23 season features 5 guest conductors who are being considered for the Music Director position.
In 2004, the Symphony was awarded the national MetLife Award for Community Engagement in recognition of its programs serving people with special needs. In 2006, the Symphony moved its concert series to the Gordon Theater at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, and changed its name to Symphony in C to reflect its commitment to the cultural and economic redevelopment of Camden. Symphony in C has been designated a Major Arts Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and was awarded a Citation of Excellence.
Symphony in C performances and programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the William G. Rohrer Charitable Foundation, The Presser Foundation, Holman Automotive Group, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, South Jersey Charitable Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, and Subaru of America. Symphony in C is a member of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance (SJCA).
