originally published: 08/22/2024
(WESTFIELD, NJ) -- New Jersey Festival Orchestra (NJFO) has revealed more concerts for 2024-2025. Under the baton of Maestro David Wroe, the new season promises soaring symphonies, breathtaking solo performances, and some milestone celebrations. The program cleverly balances perennial favorites and familiar giants of the classical music repertoire with some more diverse fare sure to enthrall.
“NJ Festival Orchestra seems to have found its stride in mixing eclectic classical presentations with lighter "Boston Pops-style" concerts and unabashed popular idioms such as Broadway, jazz and rock, commented NJFO Music Director and conductor David Wroe. “The 2024-25 program is a continuation of this.”
Internationally acclaimed Chinese cellist Mo Mo joins the orchestra to dramatically kick off the new season with a performance of Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon cello concerto. This extraordinary cello concerto, based on the score for Ang Lee's Oscar-winning mystical martial arts film, is deftly juxtaposed with the passion of Anton Bruckner’s seventh symphony to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth. The concert, entitled “Faith Meets Fantasy”, takes place at St Helen’s Church in on Friday, September 27, 2024 at 7:00pm.
“I’m sure many will remember the Hollywood blockbuster Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon and its haunting film score, full of evocative melodies and rhythms, that took the movie industry by storm back in 2000,” continued Wroe.
Mo Mo will join NJFO for a second performance of Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon cello concerto on Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 2:30pm at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge, this time paired with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
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Later concerts will welcome in the holiday season with some of New Jersey’s most popular musical traditions. On December 7 and 8, NJFO presents “The Three Holiday Tenors,” featuring renowned tenor fare, stratospheric high notes, symphonic pops, and wintertime favorites guaranteed to make the season merry and bright. This year’s celebration welcomes back award-winning tenor Benjamin Werley who starred to huge acclaim in NJFO’s 2023 production of Lucia Lammermoor.
The holiday festivities continue as NJFO rings in the New Year with a superb retrospective of the Golden Age of Broadway. This year’s program, “Broadway Through the Ages,” featuring guest vocalists and dancers direct from the Broadway stage and beyond, presents classics from yesteryear (Rodgers and Hammerstein, Gershwin, Sondheim) as well as some cutting edge, modern fare including music by ABBA and show favorites such as Jersey Boys, Rent, Hamilton and more.
“This celebration is a highlight of the year for our community,” exclaimed Wroe. “And the new start time of 5:00pm will allow patrons to leave the concert and head off to enjoy their final festive dinner or party.”
Another eagerly awaited annual event is NJFO’s special interpretation of staged opera, this time Pagliacci. A cast of internationally acclaimed guest performers assembled from Maestro Wroe’s extensive contacts in European and American opera houses joins NJFO in February to present, acted and in costume, the gritty pathos of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (The Clown.) This vivid musical “play within a play” begins innocently as simple farce but becomes an ominous series of threatening encounters that end in tragedy. It contains the renowned aria “Vesti la giubba,” made famous by Enrico Caruso, in which the betrayed clown Canio is forced to laugh through his tears.
Next summer NJFO will again round off the season with glorious live music in the gardens of one of Westfield's finest residences. Audiences will be invited to bring lawn chairs and refreshments and enjoy summer celebrations under the stars.
Summarized Wroe, “Our season features a series of deftly synchronized eclectic classical fare and unabashed popular idioms. We at NJFO are on a roll, carried forward by what I believe to be a refreshing and boldly-crafted program and an unmatched enthusiasm from our audiences. I can’t wait for the new season to begin!”
NJFO operations director and concert pianist Yifei Xu will conduct a pre-concert lecture before some concerts, offering insights and information one hour before performances. Her lectures enrich the live concert experience and are an engaging way to learn about the showcased music and music makers. Lectures are open to all ticket holders, free of charge.
TICKET INFORMATION - Tickets to all concerts, starting at $40 (students $25), are on sale now. Discounted ticket packages, saving concertgoers 10% over regular prices, are available. Purchase single tickets or discount packages online at njfestivalorchestra.org.
The New Jersey Festival Orchestra is a premier, fully professional, symphony orchestra. Founded in Westfield in 1983, NJ Festival Orchestra has grown to become one of New Jersey’s largest professional orchestras, having a presence throughout many cultural communities of New Jersey, and appearing as far afield as Carnegie Hall on a regular basis.
The name New Jersey Festival Orchestra reflects an ongoing celebration of the diversity of music and the creation of experiences that stretch the boundaries of traditional classical performances.
NJFO programs include classics from the orchestral repertory as well as offerings that showcase the fusion of fine arts and popular culture. This unique and dynamic approach to programming further brings classical music to life and creates an ongoing 'festival' of compelling presentations worthy of their name.
In addition to an adventurous subscription season, popular concerts near and far, and a rousing New Year’s Eve celebration, the New Jersey Festival Orchestra sponsors educational and music therapy programs throughout the state of New Jersey.
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