Xian Zhang, photo by Cherylynn Tsushima
(NEWARK, NJ) -- New Jersey Symphony's Music Director Xian Zhang will conduct four performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Three of the performances will take place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark from April 3-5 and a fourth takes place at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on April 6, 2025.
Vocalists Felicia Moore, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Issachah Savage, tenor; and Reginald Smith Jr., baritone; are set to join the Symphony stage for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” along with Montclair State University Chorale under the leadership of Director Heather J. Buchanan. Saxophonist Steven Banks will appear as a soloist in Billy Childs’ Diaspora.
Starting off the program is Tchaikovsky’s Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, the opener to the third act of his most famous opera and a concert hall staple. The first half closes with Billy Childs’ Diaspora, where he relays the experience of Black America using three poems by Black poets as guideposts.
The second half features Beethoven’s Ninth, which changed symphonic music when it first premiered. In the Ninth Symphony’s finale, Beethoven used selections from Friedrich von Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy” (“An die Freude”) and was the first composer to incorporate vocal soloists and a chorus into a symphony.
Performances take place at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 1:30pm; Friday, April 4, 2025 at 8:00pm; and Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 8:00pm. A fourth performance will be offered on Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 3:00pm at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick.
A pre-concert Classical Conversation will take place on Thursday, April 3 at 12:30pm at NJPAC in Newark. Concertgoers will be able to learn more about the music from Symphony musicians, guest artists, and other engaging insiders.
A pre-concert performance by the Lieberson Quartet (part of the Symphony’s Youth Orchestra) will take place on Sunday, April 6 at 2:00pm, at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick.
2024–25 marks the GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning conductor Xian Zhang’s ninth season as music director of the New Jersey Symphony. Starting in 2025–26, Zhang will also hold the role of music director at Seattle Symphony. Zhang holds the position of conductor emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, having previously held the position of music director between 2009–2016.
The 2024–25 season sees Zhang return to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to conduct David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Puccini’s Tosca.
Zhang is in high demand as a guest conductor, appearing regularly with Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, returning to both in 2024–25. Her recording with Philadelphia Orchestra and Time For Three, Letters for The Future (released 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon), won multiple GRAMMY Awards in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo categories.
Following a successful collaboration at Tanglewood Festival 2023, Zhang returns to Boston Symphony Orchestra this season. She remains a favored guest of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and recently stepped in for their Brahms Requiem concert at Carnegie Hall. Other 2024–25 highlights include Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, and Milan Symphony Orchestra.
Zhang continues to enjoy good relationships with many leading orchestras worldwide, including London Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Houston Symphony, St Louis Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
Zhang previously served as principal guest conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra and principal guest conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s assistant conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their associate conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
Hailed by Washington Post as “the saxophone’s best friend, fiercest advocate and primary virtuoso in the classical realm,” performer and composer Steven Banks strives to position his instrument at the heart of the classical world. This season, Banks brings his trademark warmth and charisma to solo performances with Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra. Elsewhere, he enjoys deep collaborations with the Miró Quartet and Verona Quartet, joining both ensembles for tours of newly co-created programs. This summer, he gives the world premiere of Joan Tower’s poignant new concertoLove Returns at the Colorado Music Festival.
In previous seasons, Banks has made solo appearances with Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and Aspen Festival Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of Montreal, Cincinnati, Utah, Colorado, and Detroit. Major premieres include works by Joan Tower, Carlos Simon, Augusta Read Thomas, Christopher Theofanidis, and Billy Childs, whose concerto Diaspora, written for Banks, was commissioned by Young Concert Artists and 10 North American orchestras—the largest consortium ever to fund a saxophone piece.
Banks is proud to be the first saxophonist to receive a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He also earned First Prize at the Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and was a member of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab. His work prompted Seen and Heard International to write, “Banks has the potential to be one of the transformational musicians of the 21st century.”
Felicia Moore is recognized as a powerful and innovative artist having made music in partnership with Alan Gilbert, Dame Jane Glover, Susanna Mälkki, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Rafael Payare, Sir Donald Runnicles, Speranza Scappucci, and Alexander Shelley among others.
During the 2024–25 season the New Jersey native sings the role of Lady Macbeth in a new production of Macbeth for Deutsche Oper Berlin and with the company she covers the role of Die Kaiserin in Die Frau ohne Schatten. In North America concert appearances include Verdi’s Requiem with JoAnn Falletta and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony both with Xian Zhang and the New Jersey Symphony and with Tito Muñoz and the Phoenix Symphony.
Recent Metropolitan Opera engagements include Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, The Magic Flute, and Elektra. Felicia Moore made debuts as Sieglinde in Die Walküre with New Orleans Opera, as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer with Opera Maine, in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos with the Lakes Area Music Festival, and at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the company’s first revival of Stefan Herheim’s Ring Cycle.
Past symphonic engagements include a debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem with the Houston Symphony, Mahler’s Second Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Opera Galas both with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Bergen Philharmonic.
The GRAMMY Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor is one of the most compelling vocal artists of her generation. O’Connor performs and inhabits a broad selection of repertoire and is sought after by many of today’s most accomplished composers. She performs with leading orchestras and conductors around the world, with preeminent artists in recitals and chamber music, and with highly acclaimed opera companies in the US and abroad.
In the 2024–25 season, O’Connor premieres an extended version of Thomas Adès’ America (A Prophecy) in her debut with the Gewandhausorchester under Andris Nelsons. Other highlights of the season include the Colorado, New Jersey, St. Louis, and West Virginia Symphonies. O’Connor makes her debut with the Seattle Opera, as Anna in a concert version of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.
O’Connor has recently premiered works by John Corigliano, Kareem Roustom, Joby Talbot, and Bryce Dessner. John Adams wrote the title role of The Gospel According to the Other Mary for O’Connor and she continues to be the eminent living interpreter of Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, having performed this moving set of songs with orchestras around the world. She also created the role of Federico García Lorca in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, for which she has received unanimous critical acclaim.
For her debut with the Atlanta Symphony in Ainadamar, O’Connor joined Robert Spano for performances and a GRAMMY Award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording. Her recording catalogue also includes Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Lieberson’s Neruda Songs and Michael Kurth’s Everything Lasts Forever with the Atlanta Symphony, Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra.
Dramatic tenor Issachah Savage has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the Melbourne Symphony and worked with some of the today’s foremost conductors including Yannick Nézet-Seguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Riccardo Muti, Fabio Luisi, James Conlon, Gianandrea Noseda, Marin Alsop, Jaap van Zweden, Robert Spano, and Susanna Mälkki.
Operatic highlights include appearances with The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, Seattle Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Salzburg Festival. He has sung much of the great dramatic tenor repertoire including the title roles in Tannhäuser, Otello, and Rienzi, Siegmund in Die Walküre, Radamès in Aida, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Manrico in Il trovatore, and Narraboth in Salome.
This season, Savage will debut at Dutch National Opera as the title role in Peter Grimes in a new production directed by Barbora Horáková and conducted by Lorenzo Viotti. He will also return to roster of The Metropolitan Opera for Die Frau ohne Schatten. On the concert stage, he makes returns to The Philadelphia Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Cathedral Choral Society for Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D, and Quad City Symphony Orchestra forOmar’s Journey (Omar) and will debut with Rochester Philharmonic for Mozart’s Requiem and New Jersey Symphony for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
In the 2024–25 season, GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., takes on the roles of Scarpia in Tosca at the New Orleans Opera, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Sacramento Philharmonic, and returns to Washington National Opera as the title character Porgy in Porgy and Bess. He performs as a featured soloist in concerts with the New Jersey Symphony led by Xian Zhang, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Memphis Symphony, and in a solo recital at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina. In Spring 2025, Smith makes his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut as Amonasro in a staged version of Aida.
Last season, Smith made his Santa Fe Opera debut as Scarpia in Tosca and returned to the Houston Grand Opera to take on the title role in Falstaff. He sang the role of Amonasro in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production ofAida immediately after jumping in as for the company’s production of Terence Blanchard’s Champion, inspiring New City Stage to write, “Baritone Reginald Smith Jr., who was so magnificent as the older Emile in Champion, made a chilling Amonasro in what is often a throwaway role.” In concert, he returned as the featured baritone soloist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Pops performances.
Since September 2003 the Montclair State University choral program has been led by Australian-born conductor Heather J. Buchanan, whose choirs have won critical acclaim for their “heartfelt conviction,” “vibrant sound,” “grace and precision,” and for singing with the “crispness and dexterity of a professional choir.” Buchanan holds degrees from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music (Australia), Westminster Choir College of Rider University (USA), and the University of New England (Australia). A vibrant teacher, dynamic performer, and passionate musicians’ health advocate, she is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the US and abroad.
The Chorale is Montclair’s core mixed-voice choir and specializes in performance of symphonic masterworks. Their accompanist is Steven W. Ryan and assistant conductor is Seth Velez. The Chorale comprises undergraduate music students majoring in performance (vocal and instrumental), music education, music therapy, composition, musical theater, and recording arts and production, as well as auditioned non-music majors from other colleges in the University. They have performed numerous times with the New Jersey Symphony under the batons of Neeme Järvi, Jacques Lacombe, and Xian Zhang. NJ Symphony performance highlights include Orff’s Carmina Burana (Zhang and Lacombe), Fauré’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Zhang and Järvi), and Verdi’s epic Messa da Requiem (Järvi and Lacombe). The Chorale’s highly acclaimed performances of Orff’s Carmina Burana and the Verdi’s Requiem with Jacques Lacombe were celebrated with limited edition CD releases in September 2011 and December 2015. Other concert highlights under Buchanan’s baton in the Alexander Kasser Theater include Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms), the Duruflé Requiem, Saint Nicolas (Britten), Fauré Requiem, Chichester Psalms (Bernstein), the regional premiere of Parables (Aldridge), Annelies (Whitbourn), the Tri-state premiere of Alzheimer’s Stories (Cohen), the East Coast premiere of Circlesong (Chilcott), the NJ premiere of Considering Matthew Shepard (Hella Johnson), and the regional premiere of the breath of life (Forrest) also released on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Montclair State is a research doctoral institution ranked in the top tier of national universities, with 11 colleges/schools serving more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Montclair’s John J. Cali School of Music students’ study with a world-class faculty drawn from the finest musicians and scholars in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.
New Jersey Symphony is a GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning orchestra. Under the direction of the Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony performs more than 55 concerts at mainstage venues across the state, including Newark, Princeton, New Brunswick, Red Bank, and Morristown as well as schools and public spaces statewide. Programming at the Symphony reflects an unwavering commitment to diverse communities throughout the state, while providing students unparalleled opportunities to achieve musical excellence through its Youth Orchestra and other education programs. In 2024, the Symphony announced it would continue to deliver its statewide activities from a new, permanent office, rehearsal, and concert space in Jersey City, set to open in 2026.
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