NJSO Welcomes New Musicians In The 2019–20 Season

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcomes new musicians in the 2019-20 season. New principals include Principal Bass Ha Young Jung, Assistant Principal Bass Alexander Bickard, Assistant Principal Trumpet Anderson Romero and Principal Timpani Gregory LaRosa. The NJSO also welcomes new Principal Librarian Erin Vander Wyst.

Cellist Laura Andrade joins the Orchestra for the 2019-20 season as the first NJSO Colton Fellow.

Acting principals for the season include Acting Principal Clarinet Pascal Archer and Acting Principal Percussion James Musto. Mee Young Paik, violin, and Eric Reed, French horn, join the Orchestra for the 2019-20 season.

NJSO musicians serve people of all ages statewide-performing in mainstage concerts in six New Jersey venues, in chamber music performances across the state and in the Orchestra's suite of education programs.

NJSO Music Director Xian Zhang says: "I am thrilled to welcome so many talented musicians to the NJSO. It is an inspiring time for the Orchestra with several new principals, assistant principals and our first NJSO Colton Fellow. I am very much looking forward to collaborating with our new colleagues."

NJSO President & CEO Gabriel van Aalst says: "This is an exciting moment of growth for the Orchestra. We are proud to bring a diverse group of musicians to the NJSO, and it is a true joy to celebrate the first year of the NJSO Colton Fellowship."

The NJSO Colton Fellowship is designed to support musicians from underrepresented communities. Andrade, a 2019 Sphinx Competition prizewinner, will experience the full breadth of the NJSO musician experience. She will also participate in a series of professional development activities tailored to her individual career goals.

The NJSO Colton Fellowship continues the NJSO's commitment to being a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion in the orchestra field; it grew out of the Orchestra's continuing commitment to transforming all aspects of the organization to reflect the diversity of the communities it serves. The fellowship is made possible by a generous founding gift of $1 million from Judith and Stewart Colton.

The NJSO opens the 2019-20 season this weekend with a program pairing music and visuals in Holst's The Planets, with NASA imagery in HD, and the NJSO premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider's Hiraeth, with an accompanying film by Mark DeChiazza, October 11-13.

Learn more about the musicians of the NJSO at njsymphony.org/musicians.

Learn more about the NJSO Colton Fellowship at njsymphony.org/fellowship.