WHEN: Saturday, November 7, at 7:30 pm
WHERE: Livingston High School, 30 Robert Harp Drive, Livingston NJ. The venue is handicapped accessible with both ramp entrance and free parking on the right side of the building’s main entrance.
TICKETS can be purchased at the door or by calling (973)980-1809.
For more information on the orchestra and their new conductor, kindly visit www.lsonj.org.
For the first time in over thirty years the venerable Livingston Symphony Orchestra kicks off its season with someone new holding the baton.
That someone is American conductor Anthony LaGruth, from the Garden State Philharmonic, who hopes to pick up where long-time Maestro Ivan Jaray left off after retiring from the orchestra after three decades of leadership.
“There is no replacing someone like that,” LaGruth remarked via email. “My goal is to lead the LSO the best way that I know how. Work hard. Play with passion. Care for the individuals who make up the orchestra.”
That passion for music is already showing, and to hear members of the orchestra tell it, the Livingston community at large has something to be very excited about this year.
“I expect the orchestra to take a large leap forward musically,” Rick Ober, LSO’s personnel manager and horn player said. “I think audiences will hear great musical stories [at our season opening performance] because Anthony is asking us to dig deeper into the emotional content of the music.”
That’s exactly what LaGruth is hoping to bring not just to the LSO but to every musical group he touches. “Orchestral music is one of the greatest joys in life. Music is about communication [and I hope the orchestra and I] will get inside the music, find it’s emotional core and communicate it to our audience.”
For his Livingston debut as Music Director, the orchestra will perform three pieces: Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture; Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E Flat, featuring Ray Riccomini from the Metropolitan Opera as trumpet soloist; and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7
Audiences should expect a “whole new level of emotional content brought out from the music,” trombonist David Sullivan asserted. “I haven’t been this excited about playing orchestral music for quite a long time.”
Anthony agrees, saying he hopes the pieces he chose end up being a great program for both the audience and the orchestra. The pieces “offer the orchestra and myself a chance to get to know each other and to learn about each other as musicians.”
“Great music. Live. Local.” LaGruth gives all those reasons and more for the residents of Livingston and the surrounding areas to come out and take in a classical concert this year, whether for the 30th time or the first.