New Jersey Symphony Sets Winter Festival for January 4–6 & 25–27

This January, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) presents its 2013 Winter Festival: Air and the Atmosphere-the third season of a multi-year odyssey spotlighting the symbolic power of natural elements that have inspired composers for centuries. The festival, which runs January 4–6 and 25–27, encompasses two concert programs celebrating air and the atmosphere-from the most intimate to the most infinite-in music. Music Director Jacques Lacombe leads each Winter Festival program. Performances will take place at four of the Orchestra's venues throughout the state of New Jersey.

The first Winter Festival program, The Planets, pairs Holst's celestial work with Michael Tippett's Symphony No. 4; the latter incorporates the sound of human breathing into the music. "Tippett's symphony uses air as a musical instrument, with [the sound of] a breath throughout the piece," Lacombe says. "I have heard the piece in concert, and it is extremely moving and powerful. It's the idea of what an element could become when it is treated as a musical instrument."

In the festival's second program, Lacombe Conducts Beethoven & Tchaikovsky, the NJSO presents Tchaikovsky and Sibelius works inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest; the Orchestra augments Sibelius' music with performances by actors from The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. The program also includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral." "With air, you think about wind, and with wind, you think about storms-those ideas inspired this program," Lacombe says.