Playbill Arts interviews NJSO guest artist Orli Shaham

PlaybillArts interviews pianist Orli Shaham, who joins the NJSO May 16–19 for the East Coast premiere of Steven Mackey’s Stumble to Grace for Piano and Orchestra. The NJSO presents the Princeton University professor’s concerto as part of the New Jersey Roots Project.

PlaybillArts writes:

From May 16-19, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will present a program compromised of Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 , and Steven Mackey’s Stumble to Grace Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, featuring Orli Shaham on the piano. Stumble to Grace is part of the acclaimed New Jersey Roots Project. The concerts will be conducted by NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe.

[PlaybillArts] Please tell us a little bit about the history of Mackey’s Stumble to Grace? Have you performed the piece before?

[Orli Shaham] Stumble to Grace was co-commissioned by NJSO, St. Louis Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. I’ve already performed the work with St. Louis and LA, and now this is the East Coast premiere.

I had long wanted to commission a piano concerto, and I was looking for a composer with the right kind of energy. Steve Mackey and I met in Aspen a few years ago – we were featured soloists on the same concert. I was seven months pregnant at the time, and Steve and his wife were also expecting, and we bonded over that.

[PlaybillArts] Please tell us a little bit about the history of Mackey’s Stumble to Grace? Have you performed the piece before?

[Shaham] Stumble to Grace was co-commissioned by NJSO, St. Louis Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. I’ve already performed the work with St. Louis and LA, and now this is the East Coast premiere.

I had long wanted to commission a piano concerto, and I was looking for a composer with the right kind of energy. Steve Mackey and I met in Aspen a few years ago – we were featured soloists on the same concert. I was seven months pregnant at the time, and Steve and his wife were also expecting, and we bonded over that.

I really believe that in order to make any of the music we play relevant, we should be constantly introducing new works into the repertoire.

[PlaybillArts] How did you originally come to be involved in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra?

[Shaham] I have played with NJSO a number of times in the past. I remember many a beautiful tour through the different cities of New Jersey. I love that the NJSO doesn’t limit itself to performing in just one town.

As a New Yorker, I am proud to say that I consider the NJSO as one of my hometown orchestras.

Read the full interview at playbillarts.com.