2024-2025 Concerts
Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 5 pm
Westfield High School Auditorium
Westfield, NJ
Wednesday, January 1, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Sieminski Theater
Basking Ridge, NJ
NJFO’s quintessential New Year’s celebration returns with a superb revue of Broadway classics in glorious symphonic splendor. Come join the festivities as Maestro David Wroe, NJ Festival Orchestra and soloists direct from the Broadway stage swing to favorites from America’s Great Songbook.
Artists
Paige Faure Soprano
Christina Maxwell Soprano
Matthew Scott Tenor
Dancers from the Dance Theater of Harlem
David Wroe Conductor
New Jersey Festival Orchestra
Guest Artists
Christina Maxwell
New York City-based singer and actress Christina Maxwell is a rising international star. Maxwell has performed in concerts across the globe, including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City and at the United Nations’ Annual Commission on the Status of Women. On the Broadway scene, Maxwell was awarded the New York Musical Festival’s award for “Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role” as Laura Evans in Sonata 1962, and she appeared as Deanna Durbin and Judy Garland U/S in the Papermill Playhouse production of Chasing Rainbows. Maxwell made her Festival Napa Valley debut during the 2022 summer season and has headed multiple concerts and events since.
Paige Faure
Paige Faure was last seen on Broadway in the Tony-nominated revival of “Miss Saigon”. Other Broadway credits include Woody Allen and Susan Stroman’s “Bullets Over Broadway”, the revival of “How to Succeed in Business...” featuring Daniel Radcliffe, and starring in “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” as Cinderella, both on Broadway and on the National Tour. Off-Broadway she led the company of “A Taste of Things To Come” as Joan, was a featured dancer in “Mack and Mabel” at Encores! City Center, and has toured nationally with “A Chorus Line”, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, “Little Women” and “Aida”.
Matthew Scott
Matthew Scott made his Broadway Debut as a swing in the original company of Jersey Boys, a show he performed in for two years. He starred on Broadway as Adam Hochberg in An American In Paris and Sondheim On Sondheim opposite Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams. He also appeared in A Catered Affair, and Bess Wohl’s Tony Nominated play Grand Horizons. Matt is featured in the star-studded PBS Special First You Dream: The Music Of Kander & Ebb alongside Norm Lewis, Heidi Blickenstaff, and Julia Murney.
Guest Dancers
Derek Brockington
Derek Brockington began his dance training at the Dance Asylum in Holland, Michigan. He went on to train at the Grand Rapids Ballet under Patricia Barker, before attending Interlochen Arts Academy his junior and senior year. Derek has attended summer intensives at The Pennsylvania Ballet and Ballet West. Currently in his fifth season with Dance Theatre of Harlem, he has also performed with Cincinnati Ballet and Grand Rapids Ballet.
Kouadio Davis
Born in Oneonta, NY, Kouadio Davis trained at Holbrook-Wade School of Dance, Fokine Ballet, New York State Summer School of the Arts with Daniel Ulbricht, NYCB. Carolyn Adams. He has danced with Alvin Ailey, Nutmeg Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Alonzo King Lines, French Academie of Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Springboard Danse Montreal. Kouadio is now in his fourth season with Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Carly Greene
Born in Flower Mound, Texas, Carley Greene trained with The Ballet Conservatory, The Ailey School, Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ballet Ensemble, Summer Intensives with Houston Ballet, The School of American Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Colorado Ballet. Her repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, Geoffrey Holder, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Jennifer Archibald, Silas Farley, Helen Simoneau, and Ethan Colangelo. Carly is a two-time YAGP New York Semi-Finalist and was a recipient of the Dance Council of North Texas Scholarship and the Alvin Ailey Artistic Scholarship.
Ariana Dickerson
Ariana Dickerson was born in Pensacola, FL and raised in Dayton, OH. She trained at Interlochen Arts Academy, and at summer intensives with Alonzo King Lines, Boston Ballet, Indianapolis Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet. She is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington Jacobs School of Musicwith a Bachelor of Science in Ballet and Media Advertising. This is her first season with Dance Theatre of Harlem. Her repertoire includes works by Justin Peck, Dwight Rhoden, Ulysses Dove, Pytor Ilych Tchaikovsky, and George Balanchine.
Lindsey Donnell
Born in Midland, TX, Lindsey Donnell trained with A Petite Dance Studio, Midland Festival Ballet under Susan Clark and Nashville Ballet. She graduated cum laude from Butler University with a degree in Dance Arts Administration and Journalism. Lindsey is in her eleventh season with Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Alexandra Hutchinson
Alexandra Hutchinson is a member of Dance Theatre of Harlem. She trained at The Washington School of Ballet and Wilmington Academy of Dance and spent summers at The Ailey School, Alonzo King, Carolina Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Nashville Ballet. She received a BS in Ballet from Indiana University and danced with Nashville Ballet before DTH. Hutchinson’s repertoire includes Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Western Symphony, Swan Lake, Concerto Barocco, and Giselle.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 7 pm
The Presbyterian Church
Westfield, NJ
Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Sieminski Theater
Basking Ridge, NJ
Experience the intoxicating musical world of turn-of-the-century Vienna! Join us for a fanciful mix of Viennese waltzes, polkas, gallops and more, followed by Vienna's own Gustav Mahler's deeply emotional Symphony No. 4, featuring soprano Marcelina Román.
Artists
Marcelina Román Soprano
David Wroe Conductor
New Jersey Festival Orchestra
Guest Artist
Marcelina Román
Polish soprano Marcelina Román began her musical education as a cellist and later received her diploma at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław. Her professional stage and role debut was as Violetta in “La Traviata” by G. Verdi with conductor Andriy Yurkevych, winning her the Jan Kiepura Prize for “Female Debut of the Year”. Marcelina is a laureate and winner of more than 20 prizes in international competitions, among others: I Eva Marton Voice Competition, Hungary; IVC’s-Hertogenbosch; The Netherlands; Jāzeps Vītols Vocal Competition in Latvia; Adam Didur Singing Competition in Polonia. After her spectacular success as “Armide” J.B.Lully she was named “Operatic Revelation of the Year”. In 2021, Marcelina released her solo album “Polish Soul” in collaboration with pianist Gilbert den Broeder, which included songs and opera arias by Polish composers.