NJSO welcomes Sarah Chang for Bruch concerto

JACQUES LACOMBE ALSO CONDUCTS BRUCKNER’S ‘ROMANTIC’ FOURTH SYMPHONY
PROGRAM OPENS WITH ‘GOOD FRIDAY SPELL’ FROM WAGNER’S PARSIFAL

NEWARK, NJ (March 15, 2013)—Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcome violinist Sarah Chang back to New Jersey stages for performances of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto in Newark and New Brunswick on April 25, 27 and 28. Lacombe conducts a program that includes Bruckner’s “Romantic” Fourth Symphony and opens with “Good Friday Spell” from Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal.

Performances take place on Thursday, April 25, (1:30 pm) and Sunday, April 28, (3 pm) at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark and Saturday, April 27, (8 pm) at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. A Classical Conversation about the music on the program begins one hour before the performances on April 27 and April 28.

“She has had a big career, and the way she has evolved as an artist has been fascinating,” Lacombe says of Chang, who last appeared with the NJSO in 2010 and returns to perform Bruch’s most famous work. “It’s going to be wonderful to present the Bruch concerto, which I love, with her.”

The NJSO opens the program with “Good Friday Spell” from Wagner’s Parsifal as part of a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Throughout the 2012–13 season, the NJSO has performed music by composers who were influenced by Wagner or reacted to his music. Continuing that thread, this program closes with a symphony by Bruckner.

“Bruckner was a great admirer of Wagner,” Lacombe says. “He was an organist, and he creates sounds that are almost religious in his music; his symphony works well with Wagner’s Parsifal. The two composers require the same type of sound—very rich, full-bodied strings and round, almost open, horns. Bruckner certainly took a lot of personality from Wagner and made it his own.”

Bruckner’s “Romantic” Fourth Symphony is one of the composer’s most enduring, popular works.

The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is Concert Sponsor of the April 25 performance. United is Concert Sponsor of all three performances.

TICKETS
Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online here or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).

FOOD DRIVE
The NJSO is partnering with The Community FoodBank of New Jersey to fight hunger. At NJSO subscription concerts in April, the Orchestra and volunteers will collect non-perishable food items to donate to The Community FoodBank, which assists more than 900,000 people in 18 counties across New Jersey. Patrons can bring food donations to the concert hall and drop off items at a collection table in the lobby. More details, a full list of concerts at which the Orchestra will collect food donations and a list of acceptable food items are available at www.njsymphony.org/fooddrive.