NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OPENS 2012–2013 SEASON WITH GERSHWIN’S “RHAPSODY IN BLUE”

JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET PERFORMS CLASSIC GERSHWIN WORK ON PROGRAM OF JAZZ-AGE AMERICAN MUSIC

NJSO PERFORMS WORKS BY HARBISON AND GROFÉ AS PART OF THE NEW JERSEY ROOTS PROJECT

WHEN: FRI., SEP. 28, 7 PM IN NEWARK*; SAT., SEP. 29, 3 PM IN MORRISTOWN; SUN., SEP. 30, 3 PM IN NEWARK
WHERE: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark; Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown
TICKETS: $20 to $88
Tickets are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).
Opening Night Celebration packages including the pre-concert cocktail party and post-concert dinner are also available. For more information about the special-event packages, visit www.njsymphony.org/openingnight.
*Special festivities surrounding the September 28 Opening Night performance include a pre-concert cocktail party and post-concert dinner.

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra open the NJSO’s 2012–13 concert season on Friday, September 28, with an Opening Night Celebration featuring sensational pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on a program of Jazz-Age American music. The Orchestra presents works by John Harbison and Ferde Grofé as part of the New Jersey Roots Project, and the concert closes with the work of a master of the Jazz Age—Duke Ellington’s Harlem.

The program features two works by George Gershwin, the perennially popular Rhapsody in Blue and Variations on “I Got Rhythm.” “I always find that there is something festive about Gershwin,” Lacombe says. “It’s fun, it’s well written, it’s very, very colorful and it’s very American. Rhapsody in Blue is one of the first recordings I ever owned, so I really grew up with it. The idea behind this program started with [inviting] Thibaudet to play this piece. He is one of the finest pianists we have right now in the international scene.”

Entering its third season, the New Jersey Roots Project celebrates the music of composers who were born in New Jersey or whose time spent in the Garden State significantly influenced their artistic identity. Remembering Gatsby: Foxtrot for Orchestra—Harbison’s tribute to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel—pays homage to the sound of jazz, written from a more contemporary standpoint. Grofé’s sweeping Grand Canyon Suite evokes a stunning view of the Midwest; Grofé composed the work while he was living in New Jersey.

Ellington’s Harlem captures the spirit of the vibrant neighborhood the Duke called home, the community that gave birth to a major cultural movement of the early 20th century.

THE PROGRAM

RHAPSODY IN BLUE
Friday, September 28, at 7 PM | NJPAC in Newark
Saturday, September 29, at 3 PM | Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown
Sunday, September 30, at 3 PM | NJPAC in Newark

Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

• HARBISON Remembering Gatsby: Foxtrot for Orchestra (New Jersey Roots Project)
• GERSHWIN Variations on “I Got Rhythm”
• GROFE Grand Canyon Suite (New Jersey Roots Project)
• GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
• ELLINGTON Harlem

THE ARTISTS

Jacques Lacombe, conductor

NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe is renowned as a remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature.

Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal from 2002 to 2006, he led the orchestra in more than 100 performances. He served for three years as Music Director of both orchestra and opera with the Philharmonie de Lorraine in France; he has been Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières since 2006.

Following the stunning Mahler 9 concerts that closed the NJSO season in June 2012, Lacombe returned to the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden to lead performances of Puccini’s La bohème starring Roberto Alagna and Angela Georghiu.

In the 2012–13 season, Lacombe conducts the Opéra de Nice in an all-orchestra program and leads subscription weeks with the symphony orchestras of Québec, Toledo and Montreal, the last in a program of Bernstein and Debussy with pianist Kirill Gerstein. He returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin to lead Carmen and to the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris for a performance of Les Pêcheurs de Perles with Alagna.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

One of today’s most sought-after soloists, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities with dazzling technical prowess. His talent at coaxing subtle and surprising colors and textures from each work he plays has led The New York Times to write that “every note he fashions is a pearl … the joy, brilliance and musicality of his performance could not be missed.” Thibaudet’s musical depth and natural charisma have underlined a career with global impact, including 30 years of performing around the world and more than 40 recorded albums with Decca.

Following three Tanglewood performances in which he played the complete piano works of Ravel, Thibaudet’s 2011–12 season included European tours with the Philadelphia and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras and a U.S. tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He performed with the New York Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and he gave Debussy recitals in Germany and France.

Thibaudet’s albums have earned the Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, a Gramophone Award, two Echo awards and the Edison Prize. His 2010 album, Gershwin, features big-jazz-band orchestrations of the composer’s Rhapsody in Blue, Variations on “I Got Rhythm” and Concerto in F with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

He was the soloist on the Oscar- and Golden Globe-award winning soundtrack to Atonement and the Oscar-nominated Pride and Prejudice. He was also featured in the 2000 PBS/Smithsonian special “Piano Grand!”

THE NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is comprised of some of the country’s finest musicians. The Orchestra is proud to have Jacques Lacombe as its Music Director. Artistic excellence, innovative programming and community engagement are hallmarks of its mission. To best serve the people of New Jersey, the orchestra brings its programs to seven outstanding venues throughout the state. Education and community engagement programs enrich the listening experience for children and adults alike. Select performances of the NJSO are broadcast regionally and throughout North America.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s major fundraising initiative—the NJSO Comprehensive Campaign—raised more than $35 million in support of the Orchestra. For more information about this historic campaign, contact Nicole Kagan, Vice President of Development, at 973.735.1720.

For more information about the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, visit www.njsymphony.org or e-mail information@njsymphony.org.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s programs are made possible in part by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors. United is the official airline of the NJSO.