Community Calendar

Xian Zhang conductor
Francesca Dego violin
New Jersey Symphony

Prokofiev asks for astonishing skill from every musician in his tour-de-force concerto. For his part, Strauss invites the artists to become storytellers in A Hero’s Life. With the New Jersey Symphony, Xian Zhang brings these two epics to life, and all the artists are joined by the young Italian-American violinist Francesca Dego.

Anton Webern Im Sommerwind
Sergei Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2
Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben

“Perlman’s great gift is to deliver timeless music to his audiences with uncomplicated affection, directness and humanity.”—The Washington Post

Itzhak Perlman, joined by his longtime recital partner Rohan De Silva, returns to STNJ in one of the most highly anticipated events of the season as he celebrates his 80th birthday. The program will include Mozart’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, No. 3 in B-flat Major; Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major; Dvořák’s Sonatina in G Major; and others to be announced from the stage.

Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his talent, charm, and humanitarian efforts, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world. With an irrepressible joy for making music, the violin virtuoso is one of the most in-demand artists in music. Classical music’s most prominent ambassador, Perlman has been granted a Kennedy Center Honor, Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Concordia Chamber Players presents "Life Stories" — an afternoon of chamber music where composers transform real human experiences into sound. The program features Richard Danielpour's "Four Angels," Bedrich Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 "From My Life," and Valerie Coleman's "Shotgun Houses," performed by an extraordinary ensemble: Shaquille Southwell (clarinet, Principal Clarinetist of the Louisiana Philharmonic), Siwoo Kim (violin, First Prize winner of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition), Melissa White (violin, founding member of the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet), Leonid Plashinov-Johnson (viola, San Francisco Symphony), and Grammy-nominated cellist Michelle Djokic.

A free open rehearsal takes place the day before at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown — watch the musicians prepare and stay to ask them your questions.

Having artists of this caliber perform right here in Bucks County is something truly special, and a beautiful way to spend a spring Sunday afternoon.

- Sunday, April 12 at 3:00 PM
- Trinity Church, 6587 Upper York Rd, Solebury, PA
- Tickets at [concordiaplayers.org/tickets](https://concordiaplayers.org/tickets/)
- Students under 18 are always free, and one accompanying adult is also admitted free with each child

Conductor: Matthew LaPine
The Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs welcomes singers of all levels to participate. Vocal scores provided.
Members of the community gather together for the common and joyful enterprise of making music for their own pleasure, singing through the great works in choral literature with chorus, orchestra, and soloists as the works require. There are no separate rehearsals and no auditions. Walk-in singers and listen-only guests are welcome at all sessions. Conductors may do some light preparation with the chorus before the sing-through. Orchestra members participate by invitation, based on the instrumental needs of the work. Light refreshments are available during the break and participants are encouraged to mingle and socialize. For further information email musical.amateurs@gmail.com

Xian Zhang conductor
Mei Gui Zhang soprano
Taylor Raven mezzo-soprano
Eric Ferring tenor
Dashon Burton bass-baritone
Montclair State University Chorale | Heather J. Buchanan, director
New Jersey Symphony

From a little piano solo that Fauré movingly reimagined for orchestra and chorus, to Mahler’s songs of a broken heart finding peace in nature, and finally Mozart’s powerful testament to the human spirit–each piece on this program goes beyond words to express what only music can.

Gabriel Faure Pavane
Gustav Mahler Songs of a Wayfarer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem

The Dessoff Choirs – led by Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather – presents its last concert of the season, Bach’s B Minor Mass, complete with a full period orchestra and soloists, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. at Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem

Xian Zhang conductor
Mei Gui Zhang soprano
Taylor Raven mezzo-soprano
Eric Ferring tenor
Dashon Burton bass-baritone
Montclair State University Chorale | Heather J. Buchanan, director
New Jersey Symphony

From a little piano solo that Fauré movingly reimagined for orchestra and chorus, to Mahler’s songs of a broken heart finding peace in nature, and finally Mozart’s powerful testament to the human spirit–each piece on this program goes beyond words to express what only music can.

Gabriel Faure Pavane
Gustav Mahler Songs of a Wayfarer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem

The April 18 concert is presented in collaboration with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Sleepers Awake
World Premiere
An opera by Gregory Spears
Inspired by the writings of Robert Walser and others
Directed by Jenny Koons
Performed in English with English supertitles

In this opera, the chorus has the starring role. Composer Gregory Spears, whose music has been called “astonishingly beautiful” (The New York Times), “coolly entrancing” (The New Yorker), and “some of the most beautifully unsettling music to appear in recent memory” (The Boston Globe), creates a labyrinthine soundscape to accompany a dream-like rendering of the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty,” inspired by modernist writer Robert Walser. As the Opera Philadelphia Chorus sings itself in and out of slumber, the voices pull us into a liminal space where time is both fractured and cyclical. Conceived with and directed by the transformative Jenny Koons, this visually dazzling world premiere activates a collective voice to question the fragile line between waking and dreaming. Corrado Rovaris conducts.

All tickets are Pick Your Price, starting at $11. Any amount above $11 helps support other operagoers and the work we present on stage. In addition, $10 rush tickets will be available before the performance.

For more information, visit https://www.operaphila.org/whats-on/2526-season/sleepers-awake/.

Schubert’s single movement of the Quartettsatz opens a concert of vibrant musical landscapes—ranging from the vast Australian geographies that inspired John Luther Adams’ latest work for the ensemble, to the soaring heights of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ shimmering skylark, and the dreamlike beauty of Fanny Mendelssohn’s virtuosic String Quartet. Offering a full chamber orchestra’s exhilaratingly fresh take on string quartet repertoire is a perfect reflection of the intrepid and collaborative spirit that has garnered the Australian Chamber Orchestra international acclaim and made it a fan favorite of our audiences.

Sleepers Awake
World Premiere
An opera by Gregory Spears
Inspired by the writings of Robert Walser and others
Directed by Jenny Koons
Performed in English with English supertitles

In this opera, the chorus has the starring role. Composer Gregory Spears, whose music has been called “astonishingly beautiful” (The New York Times), “coolly entrancing” (The New Yorker), and “some of the most beautifully unsettling music to appear in recent memory” (The Boston Globe), creates a labyrinthine soundscape to accompany a dream-like rendering of the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty,” inspired by modernist writer Robert Walser. As the Opera Philadelphia Chorus sings itself in and out of slumber, the voices pull us into a liminal space where time is both fractured and cyclical. Conceived with and directed by the transformative Jenny Koons, this visually dazzling world premiere activates a collective voice to question the fragile line between waking and dreaming. Corrado Rovaris conducts.

All tickets are Pick Your Price, starting at $11. Any amount above $11 helps support other operagoers and the work we present on stage. In addition, $10 rush tickets will be available before the performance.

For more information, visit https://www.operaphila.org/whats-on/2526-season/sleepers-awake/.