NJSO presents scenes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro featuring singers from Met Opera’s young-artist program

Jan 9–12 in Englewood, Newark and New Brunswick

• Concertmaster Eric Wyrick performs Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto in annual solo appearance
• Xian Zhang conducts; Edward Berkeley stage directs
• Part of the 2020 Winter Festival, ‘In the Spotlight’

NEWARK, NJ—In a new collaboration, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcomes singers from the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program for scenes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro in the second week of the 2020 Winter Festival, January 9–12. Edward Berkeley stage directs the performances.

The all-Mozart program also features Concertmaster Eric Wyrick’s annual solo appearance with the Orchestra (in the composer’s Fourth Violin Concerto); it opens with Exsultate, jubilate, a church solo from Mozart’s teenage years, featuring soprano Meigui Zhang. Music Director Xian Zhang conducts.

Performances take place on January 9 at 7:30 pm at bergenPAC in Englewood, January 11 at 8 pm at NJPAC in Newark and January 12 at 3 pm at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick.

Sopranos Jessica Faselt, Yunuet Laguna, Gabriella Reyes and Meigui Zhang, mezzo-soprano Valentina Pluzhnikova and tenor Mario Bahg join the Orchestra for famous selections from the two Mozart operas—including “Batti, batti o bel Masetto,” “Non mi dir,” “Il mio tesoro,” “Mi tradì, quell’alma ingrate” and “Fuggi, crudele, fuggi!” from Don Giovanni and “Porgi Amor,” “Voi che sapete” and “Sull’aria/Che soave zeffiretto” from The Marriage of Figaro.

NJSO Accent events include talkbacks with Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program singers following the January 9 and 12 performances. More information on NJSO Accents is available at njsymphony.org/accents.

Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase at njsymphony.org or 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). Student tickets are $10, available at njsymphony.org/students one month in advance.

More information is available at njsymphony.org/mozart.

 

2020 Winter Festival: ‘In the Spotlight’

The NJSO’s 2020 Winter Festival, “In the Spotlight” features three weeks of epic works from the stage, inspired by Zhang’s love of opera and ballet. The festival’s opening weekend features selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet, paired with the NJSO premiere of Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto—featuring returning pianist Inon Barnatan—and “The Moldau” from Smetana’s Má vlast (January 3–5 in Newark, Red Bank and Morristown). The January 3 concert opens with the annual featured showcase performance by the NJSO Youth Orchestras’ Academy Orchestra.

The NJSO premiere of Wagner’s The Ring Without Words, arranged by the late American conductor Lorin Maazel, anchors the festival’s closing weekend. Simon Trpčeski, who made his NJSO debut on Xian Zhang’s first program as music director, returns to New Jersey stages for Lizst’s Second Piano Concerto on a program that opens with the Prelude to Act I of Wagner’s Lohengrin (January 17–19 in Princeton, New Brunswick and Newark).

More information on the Winter Festival and related events is available at njsymphony.org/winterfestival.

 

2020 Winter Festival Week II: Mozart’s Don Giovanni & Figaro

Thu, Jan 9, at 7:30 pm | bergenPAC in Englewood
Sat, Jan 11, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Sun, Jan 12, at 3 pm | State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick

XIAN ZHANG conductor
ERIC WYRICK violin
Singers from the METROPOLITAN OPERA’S LINDEMANN YOUNG ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
    JESSICA FASELT soprano
    YUNUET LAGUNA soprano
    GABRIELLA REYES soprano
    MEIGUI ZHANG soprano
    VALENTINA PLUZHNIKOVA mezzo-soprano
    MARIO BAHG tenor
EDWARD BERKELEY stage director
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

MOZART Exsultate, jubilate
    MEIGUI ZHANG soprano
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 4
    ERIC WYRICK violin
MOZART Scenes from Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro
    Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
    “Porgi Amor” from The Marriage of Figaro
        YUNUET LAGUNA soprano
    “Batti, batti o bel Masetto” from Don Giovanni
        MEIGUI ZHANG soprano
    “Non mi dir” from Don Giovanni
        JESSICA FASELT soprano
    “Il mio tesoro” from Don Giovanni
        MARIO BAHG tenor
    “Voi che sapete” from The Marriage of Figaro
        VALENTINA PLUZHNIKOVA mezzo-soprano
    “Sull’aria/Che soave zeffiretto” from The Marriage of Figaro
        MEIGUI ZHANG soprano | YUNUET LAGUNA soprano
    “Mi tradì, quell’alma ingrate” from Don Giovanni
        GABRIELLA REYES soprano
    “Fuggi, crudele, fuggi!” from Don Giovanni
        JESSICA FASELT soprano | MARIO BAHG tenor

NJSO Accents

Talkback – Jan 9 & Jan 12 after the concert
Hear from the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program singers who take center stage for Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro.

 

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 and the NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles, led by José Luis Domínguez. 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 for purchase by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or at njsymphony.org.

Connect with Us:
Website: njsymphony.org
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NJSymphony
YouTube: @NewJerseySymphony
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

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