Listen: Zhang previews 2017–18 season on WWFM

Music Director Xian Zhang gives insight into the NJSO’s 2017–18 season in an interview with WWFM’s “A Tempo,” available on demand at www.wwfm.org.

Zhang talks about season highlights—from “fantastic, important core repertoire,” like Beethoven’s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, to works the NJSO has never performed before, like Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony.

The “America, Inspiring” Winter Festival explores “the role of America in helping [or] shaping the lives and careers” of foreign composers and artists for whom the country was “a new land,” the Music Director says. Inspired by Zhang’s own experiences as a student and conductor in the United States, the Festival culminates in Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony.

Zhang says audiences won’t want to miss “fantastic soloists” on opening and closing weekends. Pianist Jeremy Denk opens the season with Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto; the season finale features violinist Gil Shaham performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto.

“I really wish to present very strong concerts for our audiences,” Zhang says. 

For more highlights and her thoughts on “ a fantastic start” to her tenure with the Orchestra, listen to the full interview.

» Listen at www.wwfm.org (Feb 11 program)

» Explore the 2017–18 season