NJSO performs free summer concerts at five NJ parks

June in communities across New Jersey

• Program features concert, theater and dance music from Leonard Bernstein, José Pablo Moncayo, Astor Piazzolla, Florence Price, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin
• NJSO also performs at Giralda Music and Arts Festival

NEWARK, NJ—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performs free concerts in five New Jersey parks in June, featuring a family-friendly program of diverse music from across the Americas. The NJSO performs free concerts at Echo Lake Park in Mountainside, Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken, Ocean County College in Toms River, Branch Brook Park in Newark and Marine Park in Red Bank.

Rounding out its summer schedule, the Orchestra also will appear at the Giralda Farms outdoor festival in Madison and present a program of new music by the 2019 NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute composers in Princeton.

Patrons can enter the NJSO’s annual photo contest to win a three-concert Compose Your Own subscription for two for the 2019–20 season.

Free Summer Parks Programs

Celebrate the diversity of the Americas with the NJSO this summer. Explore the continents with concert, theater and dance music from Leonard Bernstein, José Pablo Moncayo, Astor Piazzolla, Florence Price, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. Hear hits from West Side Story and Porgy and Bess, travel to Mexico with Arturo Márquez’s Conga del Fuego Nuevo and experience patriotic favorites along with Copland’s classic “Hoe Down” from Rodeo.

NJSO Youth Orchestras Artistic Director José Luis Domínguez conducts the summer parks concerts, which are an annual tradition that reflects the Orchestra’s commitment to bringing live symphonic music to communities throughout the state.

Free concerts take place on the following dates:

• Friday, June 21, at Echo Lake Park in Mountainside (7:30 pm)
• Monday, June 24, at Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken (7:30 pm)
• Tuesday, June 25, at Ocean County College in Toms River (8 pm)
• Friday, June 28, at Branch Brook Park in Newark (7:30 pm)—with fireworks
• Sunday, June 30, at Marine Park in Red Bank (8 pm)

Giralda Music and Arts Festival

Presented by Morris Arts

The NJSO performs at the Giralda Music and Arts Festival in Madison on Sunday, June 23, at 6 pm. Gates open at 4 pm for picnics and activities. Tickets are $18 in advance or $25 at the gate; children’s rates are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com/event/4110260 or call 973.285.5115.

Scores: NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute Concert

On Saturday, July 20, at 8 pm at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Cristian Măcelaru conducts the dynamic works by the composers of the NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, a multi-faceted program that promotes new music and emerging composers. The Institute composers will briefly share the inspiration behind their pieces in an evening that will show the vibrant future of orchestral music.

General-admission concert tickets are $15 and are available for purchase online or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

Additional information about the Institute is available at njsymphony.org/institute.

Full event details for the NJSO’s slate of summer concerts are available at njsymphony.org/summer.

The June 21 concert is sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Westfield Foundation and the Blanche M. and George L. Watts Mountainside Community Foundation. The June 23 concert is presented by Morris Arts. The June 24 concert is presented by the City of Hoboken. The June 25 concert is sponsored by JCP&L/FirstEnergy Foundation and PNC Bank in partnership with Ocean County College. The June 28 concert is sponsored by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and the County of Essex and is part of the 2019 Essex County Free Summer Music Series. The June 30 concert is presented by Red Bank River Center. The NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute is presented in collaboration with the Princeton University Department of Music and generously funded in part by The Edward T. Cone Foundation and Princeton University. The summer parks media sponsor is NJ.com affiliated with The Star-Ledger.

 

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.

Music Director Xian Zhang—a “dynamic podium presence” The New York Times has praised for her “technical abilities, musicianship and maturity”—continues her acclaimed leadership of the NJSO. The Orchestra 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 State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, Count Basie Center for the Arts 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; NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles, led by José Luis Domínguez; and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). NJSO musicians annually perform original chamber music programs at community events in a variety of settings statewide through the NJSO Community Partners program.

Tickets are available online at njsymphony.org, by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or in person. The NJSO Patron Services office is located at 60 Park Place, Suite 900, in Newark. Hours are Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm, and concert Saturdays, 11 am–5 pm.

For more information, visit njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org.

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.

 

Press Contact

Victoria McCabe, NJSO Senior Manager of Public Relations & Communications | 973.735.1715 | vmccabe@njsymphony.org

###