BAROQUE ORCHESTRA OF NJ RETURNS TO LIVE, IN-PERSON CONCERTS

The Baroque Orchestra returns to live in-person concerts with a special concert outdoors in the Pavilion in front of the Madison Community Arts Center.

This concert will feature BONJ collaborations and special international guest artists.

WHEN: July 18, 2021, at 4:00 PM. The concert will happen—rain or shine!
WHERE: the Pavilion in front of the Madison Community Arts Center, Kings Road, Madison
ADMISSION: free. Donations and contributions are very much welcome. 

In a historic performance, Maestro Robert W. Butts will conduct a combined concert featuring the orchestra together with students and staff of Keys 2 Success, a renowned group bringing piano instruction to young students in Newark, New Jersey.  Led by Jee-Hoon Krska, Keys 2 Success has provided instruments, instruction, and inspiration to students in grades K-6.  For the first time, students and professional musicians will perform together works composed specifically for them!    

Maestro Butts collaborated with young Newark composer Elijah Souels co-composing Variations on Simple Gifts—which everybody will perform together. They will then perform  Lift Every Voice and Sing (co-composed by Elijah Souels and Saki Uetsuhara) with a solo violin part performed by special guest Héctor Falcón, violnist with The New Jersey Symphony. Also joining will be pianist Serafina Taylor.   

The special guest artists continue with members of the renowned New York Classical Music Society. Pianist Lynn Czae will perform the 3rd movement of Mozart's popular concerto K450 - familiar to most audiences from the film Amadeus. Seunghee Cha, soprano and former Miss Korea, will sing selections from Broadway and opera.  Cellist Liz SeungAh Hong will make her BONJ debut with a special arrangement of Les Larmes de Jacqueline by Jacques Offenbach.   

The final special guests will be the orchestra's own Evergreen Violin Trio. Emily James, Sara d'Sa, and Amelia Muccia will play the solo parts of Antonio Vivaldi's dynamic Concerto for 3 Violins.

The orchestra will also perform a few favorites as well.  

BONJ board members and volunteers will be there to answer questions and accept your contributions as we start a return to a normal concert schedule.

There will be limited seating towards the art center, but the immediate area will be on the lawnso bring a blanket or chair if you wish to sit up close.

The concert starts at 4:00 PM and will last a little over an hour.  Following the concert, it is an easy walk to Madison's many fine restaurants.

We greatly look forward to sharing great music with you again!  Thank you for your support and friendship!

BONJ Performances Are Back!   LIVE IN-PERSON CONCERT, JULY 18 at 4:00 PM   2021 Summer Music Festival     We are so excited to announce our first live and in-person concert in over a year!  Sunday, July 18, at 4:00 PM  Opening Concert of the 2021 BONJ Summer Music Festival  We will perform outdoors at the pavilion in front of the new Madison Community Arts Center, 10 Kings Road, Madison, New Jersey.  The concert is FREE The concert marks a historic first as young students from the renowned Keys 2 Success program led by Jee-Hoon Krska in Newark, New Jersey will perform live with the professional musicians of BONJ. Works performed will include Variations on Simple Gifts, co-composed by Maestro Robert W. Butts and young Newark composer Elijah Souels and Lift Every Voice and Sing co-composed by Elijah and Saki Uetsuhara with a special solo violin part performed by Héctor Falcón, violinist with the New Jersey Symphony. Also joining will be pianist Serafina Taylor. The concert also marks a collaboration with the famed New York Classical Music Society. NYCMS artists appearing and performing music of Mozart, Offenbach, and Puccini will be pianist Lynn Czae, soprano Seunghee Cha, and cellist Liz Seungah Hong. Also appearing to perform the solo parts on Antonio Vivaldi's popular Concerto for 3 Violins will be the popular Evergreen Violin Trio: Emily James, Sara D'Sa, and Amelia Muccia. The orchestra will also play selections by Mozart, Handel, and Scott Joplin.  BONJ Representatives will be there to welcome everybody back and accept any contribution you feel comfortable to offer to help us return to full concert schedule.  for further Information, click here. Concert Will Be Rain or Shine! Some seating will be available, but this will mostly be open lawn and sidewalk viewing so please feel free to bring blankets and/or chairs! Following the concert, it is but a few blocks walk to several of the area's finest restaurants.  We greatly look forward to seeing you in person again Sunday, July 18, at 4:00 PM!       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 at our Summer Concerts and 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

 

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

 

Enjoy the music of Frédéric Chopin with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey 

BONJ Performances Are Back! BONJ Virtual Spring Festival via YouTube Premiere     The Festival continues on Sunday June 13, 2021, at 7:30 PM with performances by violinist Hui Wang, percussionist Jesse Gerbasi, and pianist Sohyun Ahn. Sohyun performs nocturnes and waltzes by Frédéric Chopin Also enjoy the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Peter Jarvis, and Robert Schumann. Click here to watch on June 13.     The festival concludes on Sunday, June 20, at 7:30 PM with performances by classical guitarist Stanley Alexandrowicz and the popular Evergreen Violin Trio (Emily James, Sara d'Sa, and Amelia Murccia). Enjoy the music of Witold Lutoslawski, Manuel Ponce, Henry Purcell, Peter Warlock, and others. This concert will also include two World Premieres: My Blue Garden by Massimo Malavasi Violin Trio by Maestro Robert W. Butts Click here to watch on June 20.     If you missed the first concert 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.     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