NJ PBS To Air TRANSCEND: An NJSO Concert Film, July 21

NJ PBS airs TRANSCEND: An NJSO Concert Film-presented by The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and DreamPlay Films-on Wednesday, July 21, at 8 pm.

A two-part film born of the challenges of the pandemic and inspired by the people braving it, TRANSCEND marries NJSO concerts conducted by Music Director Xian Zhang with footage captured in the Newark/New York City metro area during the winter months of 2020 and 2021. The film is directed by award-winning, Newark-raised filmmaker Yuri Alves and produced by DreamPlay Films, part of Newark-based DreamPlay Media.

Director Yuri Alves says: "I hope this marriage of music and film empowers us to hear, see and feel beauty beyond the shared pain of the pandemic. It is a call for reflection and for appreciation of what we value most. TRANSCEND aims to honor the music, the musicians and the people of New Jersey, while stirring the collective soul in the audience."

The film features Zhang and the NJSO performing works by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Mahler, Mozart, Michael Abels, Still, Puccini, Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák, recorded on stage at NJPAC in Newark in October 2020.

Alves and the DreamPlay Films team captured the performances live with a highly immersive and uniquely intimate camera approach, while filming on ultra-high-definition RED cinema cameras. Longtime NJSO audio engineer and multiple Grammy Award winner Tim Martyn recorded and mixed the concert audio.

The additional footage for TRANSCEND features images reflecting a world reeling from disruption while bearing witness to the everyday cycles and momentum in nature and urban society.

Schedule information is available at njtvonline.org/schedule/?program=45562.

Local listings are available at njtvonline.org/about/where-to-watch.