HOLIDAY POPS! and BEETHOVEN'S NINTH to Expand to Trenton

Just added to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO)'s 2026-27 season are two performances at Patriots Theater, a grand and storied venue designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, at the War Memorial in Trenton. The PSO will perform a version of its annual Holiday POPS! concert in December 2026, and Ludwig van Beethoven's inspirational Symphony No. 9 in May 2027.

Executive Director Marc Uys is enthusiastic about the venue and its location. He said, “We are thrilled to be able to extend our performance schedule to include appearances at Patriots Theater. It's an incredible venue that deserves to welcome audiences on a more regular basis; we are excited to contribute to that. Its location allows us to connect with new patrons living in Trenton and neighboring towns including Bordentown, Lawrence, Hamilton, and Ewing, as well as those residing along the Delaware River.”

On Sunday, December 20 at 2pm, vocalist Scarlett Strallen will capture the spirit of the season singing holiday favorites with the PSO, conducted by John Devlin. Born and raised in London, Ms. Strallen is best known on Broadway as Mary Poppins (a role she also played in London and Australia) and as Sibella in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Other New York highlights include Gwendolyn in Travesties on Broadway, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, and Alice in the The New Yorkers with Encores at City Center. Ms. Strallen previously appeared with the PSO at the 2023 Princeton Festival's memorable performances of Andrew Lippa's I Am Harvey Milk.

On Friday, May 7 at 7pm, Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov conducts Beethoven's ninth symphony featuring the Westminster Symphonic Choir with the PSO. Known as the Choral Symphony, the work includes Beethoven's iconic “Ode to Joy” in the fourth movement, which revolutionized the symphonic form to include vocal performance.

Long recognized as one of the world's leading symphonic choral ensembles, the Westminster Symphonic Choir has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally acclaimed conductor of the past 90 years. It is currently under the leadership of Tyrone Clinton.

The 1,807-seat, fully equipped and ADA accessible Patriots Theater at the War Memorial has welcomed legendary artists including Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, and Leonard Bernstein, as well as the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras. Opened in 1932, the War Memorial was built as "a great community center" dedicated to the memory of the soldiers and sailors from Mercer County who died fighting World War I. The building is a National and State Historic Site which combines beauty, dignity, and civic utility. The War Memorial is owned by the State of New Jersey and operated by the New Jersey State Museum, Department of State.

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