Jan 29 Sunday
Xian Zhang conductorHilary Hahn violinNew Jersey Symphony
Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn accentuates all the brilliant colors and shades of melancholy in Sibelius’ only violin concerto. An early work for orchestra by Coleridge-Taylor—a great, yet historically overlooked composer—showcases aching melodies and rhythmic drive. We close with Prokofiev’s lively and powerful Fifth Symphony, largely influenced by his admiration of the human spirit.
Coleridge-Taylor Ballade in A MinorSibelius Violin ConcertoProkofiev Symphony No. 5
Tower Hill Church, Red BankSunday, January 29, 2023 at 4:00 PM"MOZART" Community SingThe Audience is the Chorus!Led by Music Director Fiona Smith Sutherland, we willbe singing Mozart's Requiem and Laudate Dominum.All are welcome! $10 suggested donation.Refreshments provided.Scores will be available at the concert or you may print ahead at towerhillchurch.org/events
Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Music by unnamed composers comprises a third of the magnificent Kroměříž collection in the Czech Republic, outnumbering any named composer’s work. Whoever its authors are, the anonymous music’s craft equals that of the known composers there, like Schmelzer and Biber, which is uniformly excellent. Come here Tempesta perform these little known but fantastic works that will keep you guessing about the people that wrote them.
Feb 04 Saturday
Virtuosic pianist Inon Barnatan returns to Princeton to perform Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO). Also on the program are Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Rossen Milanov conducts. Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall, Princeton University Campus, Princeton, NJ. Tickets: start at $30 (children 5-17 who are accompanied by an adult receive a 50% discount); Accommodations or services can be arranged with two weeks’ notice, contact Kitanya at kkhateri@princetonsymphony.org; For tickets: princetonsymphony.org or 609-497-0020.
Feb 05 Sunday
From its first major champion - Mozart - to the twentieth century and beyond, composers have been enamored with the clarinet's unique timbre along with its expressive and technical capabilities. Though it has been a permanent member of the symphony orchestra since Mozart's time, the clarinet is particularly beloved for its ability to express and emote in the intimate setting of chamber music. In this Salon, players of the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra explore how many composers over the course of the past two centuries have handled this versatile instrument. Between short performances there will be a chance to chat with the musicians and orchestra staff over and complimentary wine and light snacks. Free parking is available next to the Village.
The concert is a special event based on the life of Anna Magdalena Bach, Bach’s second wife. It features a sequence of poems written by Jane McKinley interspersed with chamber music by J. S. Bach and others, performed by Lisa Terry, cello and viola da gamba, and Webb Wiggins, harpsichord. Anna Magdalena was a well-paid, professional singer at the court of Prince Leopold in Cöthen where Bach was serving as Kapellmeister when his first wife Maria Barbara died in July 1720, leaving him as a widower with four young children. When he married Anna Magdalena in December 1721, she was only 20. She bore him thirteen children, only six of whom survived past the age of five. Very little is actually known about daily life in the Bach household; the poems rely on surviving letters and documents as points of departure. Subjects include Anna Magdalena’s famous Notebook, written requests by Bach’s cousin for carnation plants and a caged bird, and some “extra fine” chamber music performed in the Bach home when his son Wilhelm Friedemann visited from Dresden in 1739.
Feb 10 Friday
Dessoff’s Chamber Choir celebrates the legacy of Stephen Sondheim with solos, duets and small ensembles with music from his shows as well as some from “West Side Story” for which he wrote the lyrics.
Feb 11 Saturday
From its first major champion - Mozart - to the twentieth century and beyond, composers have been enamored with the clarinet's unique timbre along with its expressive and technical capabilities. Though it has been a permanent member of the symphony orchestra since Mozart's time, the clarinet is particularly beloved for its ability to express and emote in the intimate setting of chamber music. In this Salon, players of the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra explore how many composers over the course of the past two centuries have handled this versatile instrument. Between short performances there will be a chance to chat with the musicians and orchestra staff over and complimentary wine and light snacks. There is free parking behind the church.
Feb 12 Sunday
Conductor: John Wilson
Choral singers welcome. No auditions. Vocal scores provided. Free for students and non-singing guests.
Members of the community gathered together for the common and joyful enterprise of making music, to sing through for their own pleasure the great works in choral literature, with chorus, orchestra, and soloists as the works require. The meetings are informal readings in which any musically interested person may join the chorus. There are no separate rehearsals and no auditions. Conductors usually do some preparation with the chorus before the sing-through. This varies from minimal snatches for well-known pieces to a complete review for unfamiliar works.