Gil Shaham joins NJSO for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto

Lacombe conducts program that also includes Franck’s Symphony in D minor, Rossini’s William Tell Overture

Thu, Oct 23, at NJPAC in Newark
Sat, Oct 25, at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank
Sun, Oct 26, at State Theatre in New Brunswick

NEWARK, NJ (September 15, 2014)—Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcome violinist Gil Shaham back to NJSO stages for performances of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, October 23–26 in Newark, Red Bank and New Brunswick. The program also includes Franck’s Symphony in D minor and Rossini’s William Tell Overture.

Shaham, an NJSO audience favorite, last appeared with the Orchestra in 2012, performing Richard Danielpour’s Kaddish for violin and orchestra and Berg’s Violin Concerto, “To the Memory of an Angel.” The Star-Ledger praised the chemistry and rapport between Shaham and Lacombe: “In an inspired program led by music director Jacques Lacombe, guest violinist Gil Shaham and the NJSO transcended expectations. Shaham [is] technically superb and full of heart; charismatic, but immersed in collaboration rather than showmanship.”

Lacombe is excited to work with Shaham again. “Gil is such an honest musician, so versatile in a wide range of repertoire,” he says. Of Mendelssohn’s expressive concerto, the music director says: “Mendelssohn is difficult to classify. He was a Romantic, but one with a strong Classical background. You hear his poetic side most clearly in the slow movement, which I find very moving.”

PERFORMANCES & TICKETS

Performances take place on Thursday, October 23, at 1:30 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark; Saturday, October 25, at 8 pm at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank and Sunday, October 26, at 3 pm at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. Classical Conversations with NJSO Associate Conductor Gemma New and NJSO violinist Héctor Falcón begin one hour before the performances on October 25 and 26. Concert tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

The program begins with Rossini’s Overture to William Tell, a French opera by an Italian composer, set in Switzerland and based on a poetic drama by a German author. Lacombe is struck by the piece’s unusual architecture. “The William Tell Overture is in four clear parts, starting with the wonderful introduction by the cello section. That sets the tone; of all Rossini’s overtures, this is the most poetic. Then you have the dramatic storm, followed by the more intimate duet between English horn and flute, before the famous finale.”

César Franck’s Symphony in D minor rounds out the program: “I hear poetry again in this symphony,” Lacombe says. “It is darker at the beginning, and it lightens up in the last movement. His handling of the orchestra is very attractive. I think I am drawn to it because Franck was an organist—and so was I.”

NJSO ACCENTS

Classical Conversations with NJSO Associate Conductor Gemma New and NJSO violinist Héctor Falcón begin one hour before the performances on October 25 and 26 (free to ticketholders). Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/accents.

THE PROGRAM

Gil Shaham plays Mendelssohn
Thursday, October 23 at 1:30 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Saturday, October 25 at 8 pm | Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank +
Friday, October 26 at 3 pm | State Theatre in New Brunswick +

Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

ROSSINI   William Tell Overture
MENDELSSOHN  Violin Concerto
FRANCK   Symphony in D minor

Full concert information and program notes are available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/gil-shaham-plays-mendelssohn.

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey sponsors the October 25 performance.

THE ARTISTS

Music Director Jacques Lacombe
A remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature, Jacques Lacombe has been Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières since 2006. He was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Music Director of orchestra and opera with the Philharmonie de Lorraine.

Lacombe has garnered critical praise for his creative programming and bold leadership of the NJSO. Time Out New York has named the Orchestra’s acclaimed Winter Festivals “an eagerly anticipated annual event” for the innovative concert experiences that have included a realization of Scriabin’s “color organ,” collaborations with theater and dance troupes and presentations of Tan Dun concertos in which clay pots and water become solo instruments. The New York Times wrote that “It was an honor to be in the hall” for Lacombe and the NJSO’s performance of Busoni’s Piano Concerto at the 2012 Spring for Music Festival at Carnegie Hall.

Recently, Lacombe helmed a pair of unique initiatives through the New Jersey Roots Project: the NJSO launched the inaugural NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute for young composers—a week of intense compositional evaluations and consultations that culminated in a live performance of the participants’ works—and gave the world premiere of Cone’s Symphony in a special lecture-concert. Other 2014–15 NJSO highlights include the “Sounds of Shakespeare” Winter Festival, featuring collaborations with violinist Sarah Chang and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.

In July, Lacombe made his Tanglewood Music Festival debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; this season, he returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for productions of Carmen, The Damnation of Faust and Samson and Delilah; L’Opera de Monte Carlo for Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Vancouver Opera for Carmen.

He has appeared with the Cincinnati, Columbus, Québec, Toronto, Vancouver and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras and National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa. He frequently conducts in France, Spain and Australia and has led tours and recordings with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

Opera highlights include all-star productions of La Bohème and Tosca at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and numerous productions with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Metropolitan Opera, as well as engagements at opera houses in Marseille, Strasbourg, Turin and Munich. He has recorded for the CPO and Analekta labels; he has recorded Orff’s Carmina Burana and Janáček’s Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen with the NJSO. His performances have been broadcast on PBS, the CBC, Mezzo TV and Arte TV, among others.

Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Lacombe attended the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2012 and a Member of the Order of Canada—among the highest civilian honors in the country—in 2013. More information is available at www.jacqueslacombe.com.

Gil Shaham, violin
Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time: his combination of flawless technique, inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit have solidified his renown as an American master. Highlights of his 2014–15 season include a Parisian-themed opening-night gala with the Seattle Symphony and a return to the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas for Mozart’s “Turkish” concerto. He also performs Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto as part of Tilson Thomas’ 20th-anniversary tour at venues including Carnegie Hall. Upcoming orchestral highlights include world-premiere performances of a new concerto by David Bruce with the San Diego Symphony and concerts in Philadelphia, Berlin, London, Dallas, Tokyo and Paris. In recital, he presents Bach’s complete solo sonatas and partitas at Chicago’s Symphony Center, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall and other venues in a special multimedia collaboration with photographer and video artist David Michalek.

Shaham already has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, including bestsellers that have ascended the record charts in the United States and abroad. These recordings have earned multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or and Gramophone Editor’s Choice awards. His recent recordings are issued on the Canary Classics label, which he founded in 2004.

Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in 2008. In 2012, Musical America named him Instrumentalist of the Year, citing the “special kind of humanism” with which his performances are imbued. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children. More information is available at www.gilshaham.com.

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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