NEXT FROM THE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA OF NEW JERSEY

BONJ Performances Are Back!   BONJ Virtual Spring Festival via YouTube Premiere       What inspires composers?  For our conductor, Maestro Robert W. Butts, inspiration was perhaps surprisingly found while recovering from double-bypass surgery at Morristown Medical Center in July 2020. "Themes for each of the three movements just seemed to come to me," he explained. "I didn't want to write music that was specifically programmatic related to the experience, but more to things I was thinking. For example, I felt a sense of wonder at so much—in the midst of surgery and at the same time a pandemic, I was still able to use my phone to communicate and work on things. I wanted to reflect that sense of awareness of everything in the modern world so I called the first movement Wonder. I also realized the importance of staying in touch with friends, so I thought each of the three players could be part of a trio who get together regularly. The movement is therefore called Friends. I also wanted to reflect my feelings looking forward to recovery - but not just from my surgery and not even just for myself, but for all of us as we were in the middle of the world health crisis. I wanted to reflect the hope and optimism that I and we would all get through this and have so much to look forward to. So, I called the third movement Tomorrow." The Evergreen Trio (Emily James, Sara d'Sa, and Amelia Murccia) will premiere the work at this very special concert which concludes our Spring Festival. They will also premiere My Blue Garden by Massimo Malavasi. Also performing will be renowned guitarist Stanley Alexandrowicz. Enjoy the music of Witold Lutoslawski, Manuel Ponce, Henry Purcell, Peter Warlock, and others. Click here to watch on June 20.     If you missed the first two concerts or if you wish to watch it again   Click here to watch the June 6 Concert   Pianist Carolyn Enger makes her BONJ Debut with deeply expressive music by John Cage, Philip Glass, Wolfgang Rihm, Arvo Pärt, and Claude Debussy. Carolyn's playing is filled with expressive beauty, bringing out the absolute best in the music of these composers. Discover something new, something truly beautiful Cellist Peter Howard will open the concert playing Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite #1.  Click here to watch the June 13 Concert  The Festival continued on Sunday June 13, 2021, at 7:30 PM with performances by violinist Hui Wang, percussionist Jesse Gerbasi, and pianist Sohyun Ahn.  Also enjoy the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin, Peter Jarvis, and Robert Schumann.     2020 was a rough year for all of us! Thank you for sharing so much with us. We look forward to seeing you in person later this year! Thank you for sharing our collaborative performance with Keys 2 Success, working together to produce music even at the height of the pandemic. Thank you for sharing Bach, Bagels, and Bob on Saturday mornings where we could be together to meet our artists and each other while watching memorable videos from the BONJ archives. Thank you for sharing our Virtual Summer Festival, recorded at the Madison Community Arts Center and broadcast over four consecutive Sunday evenings. Thank you for sharing our December events – a virtual concert safely recorded live, a Beethoven Birthday Concert, our holiday episode of Bach, Bagels, and Bob, and an original holiday opera.  We thank you greatly for your generous support which has helped the orchestra and our artists continue to perform and present music we all can enjoy. Every gift—no matter the amount—makes a real and deeply appreciated difference.    Donations to BONJ are tax-deductible.  In addition, the 2020 Cares Act has enacted new tax laws which enable you to receive increased tax benefits this year. Please send a check to: The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, 531 Herrick Drive, Dover, NJ 07801 or click here to donate online