NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Presents 'Romeo and Juliet' for Winter Festival This January

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe present a trio of works inspired by Romeo and Juliet from Tchaikovsky, Gounod and Prokofiev January 9-11 in Newark and New Brunswick. The program opens the 2015 Winter Festival: Sounds of Shakespeare-the first year of a two-season Winter Festival cycle showcasing music inspired by the Bard.

Actors from The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will perform scenes from the Bard's great tragedy interspersed with selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. "I always find that collaborating with other art forms for musicians is very inspiring and exciting," Lacombe says. "We had a wonderful experience with The Shakespeare Theatre for The Tempest [during the 2013 Winter Festival] experience. The actors can build on the energy of hearing the sound of an orchestra, and the musicians can hear the words that inspired the composer-it helps us give more character to the music we're making."

"The program has an interesting structure," Lacombe says. "It opens with Tchaikovsky, who weaves elements of the dramatic texture of the play into his [Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture], rather than trying to tell the story from beginning to end. Then, we have vocal soloists who will perform arias and a duet from [Gounod's] Romeo and Juliet to give the audience musical scenes from the play."

In a partnership entering its 15th season, the NJSO annually features the Curtis Institute of Music's finest student musicians. On this program, the NJSO welcomes soprano Rachel Sterrenberg and tenor Mingjie Lei, who perform the selections from Gounod as the annual Curtis Artists.

Lacombe says: "The second half of the program brings in the actors, and we combine with the words of Shakespeare and the music of Prokofiev, which is a very powerful way to tell the arc of the story. We all know Romeo and Juliet so deeply; it's one of the main dramas of our civilization. To present that work in an original way will be very exciting."

The 2015 Winter Festival, which runs January 9-25, encompasses three concert programs led by Lacombe. The remaining two programs feature renowned violinist Sarah Chang, who performs Bernstein's West Side Story Suite in all six NJSO venues statewide in a two-week residency generously sponsored by Bank of America.

For more information on the Winter Festival and related events, visit www.njsymphony.org/winterfestival.

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