Miranda Scripp’s Intrare Forma, photo by Rosalie O'Connor

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The second week of this year’s Princeton Festival kicks off with performances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s comic masterpiece Così fan tutte on Friday, June 14, 2024 at 7:00pm and Sunday, June 16 at 4:00pm, with a final 7:00pm performance on Tuesday, June 18. In between, on Saturday, June 15 at 7:00pm, is an evening of music and dance, Interwoven: American Repertory Ballet + PSO Strings. Both events take place in the performance pavilion on the grounds of Morven Museum & Garden.

The 2023 Festival team of Stage Director James Marvel and Scenic Designer Blair Mielnik return with a fresh, contemporary take on Così fan tutte, setting it in a pastel-colored dreamhouse villa high above the glamorous Amalfi Coast. Attired by Costume Designer Maria Miller, the high-styled, jet-setting characters’ loyalty to one another is tested as the plot–and hilarity–rolls out. The music is by W.A. Mozart with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, sung in Italian with English titles.

Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov conducts all three performances which feature Aubry Ballarò as Fiordiligi, Alexis Peart as Dorabella, David Walton as Ferrando, and Benjamin Taylor as Guglielmo, with Jeremy Harr as the freewheeling Don Alfonso and Zulimar López-Hernández as the crafty maid Despina. Aubry Ballarò (Fiordiligi) sang the role of Madame Herz in Mozart’s The Impresario, and New Jersey native Alexis Peart (Dorabella) appeared previously with the Princeton Festival as a member of the children's chorus in the 2007 production of La Bohème and 2008 production of Carmen.

Aubry Ballarò soprano, photo by Patrick Wilhlem

Fans of the opera can take advantage of two separate talks on Mozart’s Così fan tutte taking place before performances on Friday and Tuesday nights at 5:30pm in Morven’s Stockton Education Center. On Friday, June 14, Composer and Princeton Symphony Orchestra Trustee Julian Grant describes how Mozart humanizes the sometimes cynical and sexist hi-jinks within the opera, and Professor Timothy Urban guides listeners through the plot points, ins and outs, and musical highlights of the work on Tuesday, June 18.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) valued partnership with American Repertory Ballet continues with Interwoven: American Repertory Ballet + PSO Strings, a program of dance works choreographed by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Rainey with live music performed by members of the PSO’s string section, conducted by Maestro Rossen Milanov. On the program is Philip Glass’ Quartetsatz, Miranda Scripp’s Intrare Forma, Jean Sibelius’ Impromptu for Strings, Op. 5, and Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite.

Tickets are available now for all 2024 Princeton Festival events at Morven Museum & Garden, ranging from $10 - $150, at princetonsymphony.org/festival or 609-497-0020; youths, ages 5-17, receive a 50% discount.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is committed to ensuring all programming is accessible for everyone, working with venues such as Morven Museum & Garden and Trinity Church to provide needed services. Contact ADA Coordinator Mika Godbole for questions about available services at mgodbole@princetonsymphony.org or (609) 905-0931. Note: some services require at least two weeks’ notice to arrange.

Programs, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.

Led by Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel, and with a distinctive reputation for innovation and individuality, American Repertory Ballet (ARB) is recognized as one of the state’s premier performing arts organizations. Presenting classical repertory alongside new and existing contemporary work, ARB is a founding resident company of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center while also performing in major venues across New Jersey and beyond for an annual audience of more than 30,000. Founded in 1954 as the Princeton Ballet Society, ARB has been consistently designated a “Major Arts Institution'' by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for the past two decades and has repeatedly been awarded a Citation of Excellence by the Council. The company has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and other major foundations and leaders in the field as a prominent force in the field of dance.

Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite, photo by Kyle Froman

The Princeton Festival is the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s flagship summer program showcasing the performing arts. Founded in 2004, the Princeton Festival quickly established a reputation for artistic excellence and innovative programming. Every year in June, thousands of people from the mid-Atlantic region and beyond come to the Festival to enjoy the quality and variety of its programs. Offerings include opera, musical theater, dance, orchestra and chamber music, and a constantly evolving selection of other genres, including jazz, world music, choral concerts, and country music. The Festival has long-standing partnerships with public libraries and local churches, and promotes life-long learning in the arts through free educational lectures presented to a wide and diverse community. 

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey’s finest music organizations, a position established through performances of beloved masterworks, innovative music by living composers, and an extensive network of educational programs offered to area students free of charge. Led by Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and related events that supplement the concert experience. Its flagship summer program the Princeton Festival brings an array of performing arts and artists to Princeton during multiple weeks in June. Through PSO BRAVO!, the orchestra produces wide-reaching and impactful education programs in partnership with local schools and arts organizations that culminate in students attending a live orchestral performance. The PSO receives considerable support from the Princeton community and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, regularly garnering NJSCA’s highest honor. Recognition of engaging residencies and concerts has come from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the PSO’s commitment to new music has been acknowledged with an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and a Copland Fund Award. The only independent, professional orchestra to make its home in Princeton, the PSO performs at historic Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.