Bank of America sponsors Sarah Chang residency with NJSO

During two-week residency, Chang performs Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite in NJSO’s six venues statewide

Chang to meet and mentor students in NJSO Youth Orchestras and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS

Jan 16–25 in Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, Morristown, Red Bank and Englewood
 

NEWARK, NJ (December 1, 2014)—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra announces a new partnership with Bank of America. Bank of America will sponsor renowned violinist Sarah Chang’s two-week residency with the NJSO during the Orchestra’s 2015 Winter Festival: Sounds of Shakespeare. Chang will perform Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite in all six NJSO venues statewide across two concert programs, January 16–18 in Princeton, Red Bank and Morristown and January 22–25 in Englewood, Newark and New Brunswick.

As part of her residency, Chang will visit and give masterclasses for two of the NJSO Academy’s flagship education programs, the NJSO Youth Orchestras and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project).

NJSO President & CEO James Roe says: “Through Bank of America’s generosity, the NJSO is thrilled to be able to bring Sarah Chang to each of our six fine performance venues throughout the state. This multidimensional two-week residency—the first of its kind for the NJSO—embodies the Orchestra’s mission to serve audiences and communities across New Jersey.”

“Giving students a chance to learn about music from someone they look up to can create a life-long interest in the arts,” said Bob Doherty, Bank of America New Jersey president. “The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s educational and community engagement programs play a key role in educating the state’s youth about the importance of music and song.”

The impact Chang’s presence and feedback will provide these student musicians is invaluable, says NJSO Education & Community Engagement Conductor and Academy Orchestra Director Jeffrey Grogan: “The students are incredibly excited about the fact that someone at the level of Sarah Chang is visiting them. It has given them a real boost of inspiration and confidence—it gives them a sense that what they’re doing [with their own playing] is really important, that a star on her level would come to give them advice.

“I know that everything she’s going to address is going to go way beyond the notes and technique, into the really deep emotional and musical part of their playing. It will be really inspiring.”

CHAMPS Artistic Director Michelle Hatcher says the program’s young musicians—all of whom started playing a string instrument within the last two years—will benefit from meeting and hearing from Chang: “The students will have the opportunity to meet an incredible artist, and they’ll get to see what some of the possibilities are. Just to have the opportunity to interact with somebody whose life has been all about music and who has had such a spectacular career is a gift.”

“I think these children will put a smile on her face as well,” Hatcher says, “because their budding passion for music is so evident on their faces.”

For their part, CHAMPS students are excited at the possibilities of what Chang might want to teach them. Says Precious: “It’s going to be amazing to meet a violin superstar. She could help us with skills like reading notes better, better bow hold, better posture.”

Kyla says she can’t wait for the “cool” visit and says Chang could teach them “how to play more professionally.” Shantreea mimes vibrato and wonders if Chang will give them tips on it. She says that learning from a professional violin soloist “sounds like the best opportunity. And I’m excited to meet someone famous for the first time!”

For more information on the Winter Festival and related events, visit www.njsymphony.org/winterfestival.

TICKETS

Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

THE PROGRAMS

Sarah Chang Plays Bernstein
Friday, January 16, at 8 pm | Richardson Auditorium in Princeton *
Saturday, January 17, at 8 pm | Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank *
Sunday, January 18, at 3 pm | Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown *

Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Sarah Chang, violin
Elena Perroni, soprano
Heather Stebbins, soprano
Roy Hage, tenor
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

DVOŘÁK Othello Overture
TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Love Duet
BARBER Selections from Antony and Cleopatra
DELIUS “The Walk to the Paradise Garden” from A Village Romeo and Juliet
BERNSTEIN West Side Story Suite

* Winter Festival Panel Discussion: Explore the relationship between Shakespeare and music through in-depth discussions starting one hour before each concert (free to ticketholders).

Sarah Chang’s residency with the NJSO is generously sponsored by Bank of America.

Full program information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/sarah-chang-plays-bernstein.

West Side Story with Sarah Chang
Thursday, January 22, at 7:30 pm | bergenPAC in Englewood *
Saturday, January 24, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark *
Sunday, January 25, at 3 pm | State Theatre in New Brunswick *

Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Sarah Chang, violin
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

ELGAR Falstaff
KORNGOLD Much Ado About Nothing Suite
BERNSTEIN West Side Story Suite

* Winter Festival Panel Discussion: Explore the relationship between Shakespeare and music through in-depth discussions starting one hour before each concert (free to ticketholders).

Sarah Chang’s residency with the NJSO is generously sponsored by Bank of America. NJSO Accents in Newark are generously sponsored by the Prudential Foundation.

Full program information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/west-side-story-with-sarah-chang.

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.

Under the bold leadership of Music Director Jacques Lacombe, the NJSO 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 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 and multiple offerings—including the three-ensemble NJSO Youth Orchestras and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project)—that provide and promote in-school instrumental instruction as part of the NJSO Academy. The NJSO’s REACH (Resources for Education and Community Harmony) chamber music program annually brings original programs—designed and performed by NJSO musicians—to a variety of settings, reaching as many as 17,000 people in nearly all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

For more information about the NJSO, visit www.njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org. Tickets are available for purchase by phone 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. United is the official airline of the NJSO.

PRESS CONTACT

National & NYC Press Representative:
Dan Dutcher, Dan Dutcher Public Relations | 917.566.8413 | dan@dandutcherpr.com

Regional Press Representative:
Victoria McCabe, NJSO Communications and External Affairs | 973.735.1715 | vmccabe@njsymphony.org

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