NJSO presents Thanksgiving-weekend concerts featuring music of Mozart and Schumann | Nov 26–27

Sat, Nov 26, at NJPAC in Newark
Sun, Nov 27, at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick

• Inon Barnatan performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21
• Hans Graf conducts program that also includes Schumann’s Second Symphony and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride Overture
• NJSO Accents include Toys for Tots drive

NEWARK, NJ (October 19, 2016)—In Thanksgiving-weekend reunions fitting for the spirit of the holiday, pianist Inon Barnatan and conductor Hans Graf return to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for a program featuring Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, Schumann’s Second Symphony and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride Overture, November 26–27 in Newark and New Brunswick.

Performances take place on Saturday, November 26, at 8 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and Sunday, November 27, at 3 pm at the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. Patrons can bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the NJSO’s annual Toys for Tots drive.

Barnatan, whom the Chicago Tribune has called “one of the rarest things nowadays, an intellectual virtuoso who is also a poet,” made his NJSO debut on Thanksgiving weekend 2014, performing Chopin’s First Piano Concerto. The Star-Ledger highlighted the chemistry between the soloist and the Orchestra—“[t]here were sparks of passion as the music vaulted upward”—and praised Barnatan’s “smooth and dexterous” playing.

Graf, a frequent NJSO guest conductor, spent Thanksgiving weekend with the Orchestra in 2012. The Star-Ledger wrote after one guest appearance that the conductor drew “a fresh, lush sound and elegant phrasing from the orchestra.” Detroit Free press calls Graf “a deeply musical conductor,” praising “an exceptionally beautiful, heartfelt performance [in which there] was always forward momentum [while] everything unfolded with graceful patience, even in the swiftest passages.”

The works on the holiday-weekend program serve up European charm. Czech composer Bedřich Smetana laced The Bartered Bride Overture with joyous bursts of energy. Imbued with characteristic elegance and grace, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 is renowned for its gorgeous Adagio. The Guardian calls Schumann’s fiery and triumphant Second Symphony “one of the richest, most compelling pieces he would ever write.”

 

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 PROGRAM

Thanksgiving Feast with Mozart & Schumann

Saturday, November 26, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Sunday, November 27, at 3 pm | State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick

Hans Graf, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

SMETANA The Bartered Bride Overture
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2

Full concert information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/thanksgiving-feast-with-mozart-schumann.

 

NJSO ACCENTS

Designed to inspire audiences, NJSO Accents are pre- or post-concert events that complement the concert experience and provide audience members with more opportunities to personally connect with the music and music makers.

 

Toys for Tots—Sat, Nov 26, and Sun, Nov 27

Bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the NJSO’s annual Toys for Tots drive.

Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/accents.

The Prudential Foundation sponsors NJSO Accent events in Newark.

 

THE ARTISTS

Hans Graf, conductor

Known for his wide range of repertoire and creative programming, the distinguished Austrian conductor Hans Graf is one of today’s most highly respected musicians. He was music director of the Houston Symphony from 2001 to 2013, and before that, he was the music director of the Calgary Philharmonic and Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.

Graf is a frequent guest with all of the major North American orchestras. His recent and upcoming guest engagements include appearances with the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras; New York and Los Angeles philharmonics; Boston, San Francisco, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Dallas, Baltimore, Indianapolis, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Colorado, Utah and National symphonies; and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Born near Linz, Graf received diplomas in piano and conducting from the Musikhochschule in Graz. He has received the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur from the French government for championing French music around the world, as well as the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria.

 

Inon Barnatan, piano

Celebrated for his poetic sensibility, probing intellect and consummate artistry, Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan is embarking on his third and final season as the inaugural artist-in-association of the New York Philharmonic, appearing as soloist in subscription concerts, taking part in regular chamber performances and acting as ambassador for the orchestra.

A recipient of both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, Barnatan has performed extensively with many of the world’s foremost orchestras, including those of Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra and Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon. In the 2016–17 season, he debuts with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Seattle Symphony and Chicago and Baltimore symphony orchestras.

Barnatan’s critically acclaimed discography includes Avie and Bridge recordings of Schubert’s solo piano works, as well as Darkness Visible, which scored a coveted place on The New York Times’ “Best of 2012” list. In October 2015, he released Rachmaninoff & Chopin: Cello Sonatas on Decca Classics with cellist Alisa Weilerstein, earning rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

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.

The NJSO welcomes new Music Director Xian Zhang in the 2016–17 season. 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 the State Theatre New Jersey 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, NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). 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. In the 2015–16 season, Orchestra musicians performed at nearly 200 events, reaching more than 34,000 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 at 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.

 

PRESS CONTACT

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

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