NJSO presents 2018 Winter Festival AMERICA, INSPIRING

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Xian Zhang present the 2018 Winter Festival-"America, Inspiring"-in January at eight venues across the state. The Festival celebrates foreign artists and composers whose experiences connect them to the nation's legacy as a source of inspiration and beacon of ideals for people from all over the world.

Spanning three weekends, January 11-28, the Winter Festival includes orchestral performances at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. The NJSO Chamber Players perform a special chamber music concert at St. George's-by-the-River Episcopal Church in Rumson and Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit.

Zhang's own experiences in the United States, first as a conducting student and now as a dual Chinese-American citizen, inspired the Festival. She says: "We will be celebrating composers who came to America and found their musical voices flourishing, just like I did when I came to study music in the United States. I look forward to conducting a piece from the very first program I performed with the NJSO in January 2010-Respighi's Pines of Rome."

The Festival highlights the myriad ways America has inspired not only those who call it home but also those who have visited its welcoming shores. Leveraging the power of art to transcend differences, a series of NJSO Accents and special events further explore, using multiple art forms, the immigrant experience and how foreign artists have illustrated American inspiration in their work.

Zhang conducts a pair of NJSO premieres in the Festival's first program (January 11-14 in Englewood, Newark and New Brunswick): Chinese-American composer Chen Yi's Ge Xu and Respighi's Fountains of Rome (performed alongside the composer's Pines of Rome). Chinese pianist George Li, the 22-year-old silver medalist of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, performs Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto.

In the second program (January 19-21 in Princeton, New Brunswick and Newark), Montclair resident Terrence Wilson performs Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. The program also features the NJSO premiere of Martin?'s Thunderbolt P-47 and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Andrew Constantine conducts.

Zhang closes the Festival with the masterwork that embodies its theme-Dvo?ák's "New World" Symphony. The finale (January 26-28 in Newark, Red Bank and Morristown) also features Britten's Simple Symphony and Korngold's Violin Concerto with soloist Chloë Hanslip.

Rounding out the Festival, the NJSO Chamber Players perform a diverse program of works by immigrant and refugee composers (January 23 in Rumson and January 25 in Summit). NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick, Associate Concertmaster Brennan Sweet, violist David Blinn and Acting Assistant Principal Cello Na-Young Baek perform Tan Dun's Eight Colors for String Quartet, Bartók's String Quartet No. 2 and Dvo?ák's "American" Quartet.

NJSO Accent events across the three weekends include talkbacks with members of the NJSO's international roster of musicians, a panel discussion about the political climates that led many of the Festival-featured composers to the United States, wine tastings and more. Artist Ken Ahlering paints live in response to a post-concert performance by the NJSO Chamber Players. Poets Maria Gillan and Patrick Rosal give a poetry reading, reflecting on their own immigrant experiences.

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