Saturday, May 7, 2022  7:00pm

First United Methodist Church,  Westfield, NJ

Pre-concert lecture  6:00pm

ROSES FROM THE SOUTH

Celebrate Mother's Day with NJ Festival Orchestra

Great moms deserve great music! Celebrate Mother's Day in style as David Wroe leads NJ Festival Orchestra in a special tribute to moms everywhere. Concert features much loved masterpieces from J. Strauss and Debussy as well as Mother's Day serenades by renowned tenor Anthony Kearns. (PBS: The Irish Tenors)

Chinese born pianist, Yifei Xu will offer a free pre-concert lecture 6pm. Her talk is an informative and engaging way to learn more about the program, the composers and their respective masterpieces prior to the concert.

Saturday, March 26, 2022  7:00pm

First United Methodist Church,  Westfield, NJ

Pre-concert lecture  6:00pm

Fellowship Room, First United Methodist Church

Sunday, March 27, 2022  3:00pm

Pre-concert lecture 2:00pm

The Concert Hall, Drew University, Madison, NJ

VOICES FROM THE ARCTIC

NJ Festival Orchestra continues its triumphant return to the concert hall as masterworks from Rautavaara, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky come together in a passionate storm of ice and fire. Featuring authentic Arctic birdsong, soaring Sibelius melodies with internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso Jaewon Kim and, arguably, Tchaikovsky’s finest and most heartrending symphony, live music doesn’t get much better than this! 

Chinese born pianist, Yifei Xu will offer a free pre-concert lecture 6pm. Her talk is an informative and engaging way to learn more about the program, the composers and their respective masterpieces prior to the concert.

Program

J. STRAUSS II
Roses from The South Waltz Op. 388
Blue Danube Waltz Op. 314

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Selection of Irish ballads, love songs and serenades

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DEBUSSY

La Mer (The Sea)

Artists

David Wroe Conductor
Anthony Kearns Tenor

New Jersey Festival Orchestra

Program presented through the generous support of Mercedes-Benz of Union, a Ray Catena dealership.

MEET SPECIAL GUEST ANTHONY KEARNS 

Artists

Jaewon Kim Violin

David Wroe Conductor

New Jersey Festival Orchestra

Program

RAUTAVAARA Cantus Arcticus III. Swans migrating

SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D minor
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 in B minor Pathétique

Your health and that of our guest artists, musicians, and staff is important to us. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will be required upon arrival at concerts. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION. NJFO will also adhere to all protocols set by each of our venues.

MEET JAEWON KIM

South Korean violinist Jaewon Kim has performed as a soloist with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Busan World Philharmonic Orchestra, Busan Symphony Orchestra, Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra, Bomberg Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain, Korean National University of Arts Orchestra, China National Youth Orchestra, with renowned conductors such as Xincao Li, Alexander Anissimov, Chi Yong Chung.

At the age of 24, Ms. Kim was chosen as 2nd Concertmaster of the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, where she worked under the direction of Paavo Järvi until 2021. She also made guest appearances as 2nd Concertmaster of the l’Orchestre National de Lille in France, and 1st Concertmaster of the One Korea Youth Orchestra under the direction of Myung-whun Chung.

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Ms. Kim has given recitals in Italy, France, Switzerland and Korea and has performed at music festivals such as Charolais-Brionnais Chamber Music

Festival and Giverny Music Festival in France, Pyeongchang International Music Festival(Rising Star Series), Seoul Art Center Summer Music Festival, and Busan Classic Music Festival, where she is currently an assistant artistic director.

She was an artist-in-residence of the Foundation of the Banque Populaire in France 2017-2019 and an academician of Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and l’Opera de Paris during her study time in Paris.

Ms. Kim is a winner of numerous national and international violin competitions including Lipizer in Italy, Brahms in Austria, Schoenfeld in Hong Kong, Sofia Young Virtuoso in Bulgaria, and Kloster Schöntal in Germany.

Ms. Kim frequently plays chamber music concerts with musicians from the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich and with Olli Mustonen, Ilya Rashkovskiy, Andreas Janke, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Diyang Mei, Vladimir Bukac, Psophos Quartet, Michel Strauss, among others.

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A graduate of Korea National University of Arts, Ms. Kim obtained a Master’s degree and Artist Diploma at the Paris Conservatoire where she studied with Svetlin Roussev and Roland Daugareil.

* CLICK HERE for an important note about NJFO safety protocols.

Artists

David Wroe Conductor

Paige Faure Soprano 

James Moye Tenor
Marissa McGowan Soprano  

Dancers from Dance Theatre Harlem

New Jersey Festival Orchestra

Your health and that of our guest artists, musicians, and staff is important to us. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will be required upon arrival at concerts. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION. NJFO will also adhere to all protocols set by each of our venues.

MEET OUR GUEST SOLOISTS

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 lead 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”. Paige has been a part of of numerous readings, workshops and Broadway-bound productions, including “Tuck Everlasting”, “Honeymoon In Vegas” (Papermill Playhouse), “The Heart of Rock and Roll” (Old Globe), “From Here To Eternity” (Lorene), “Chess” (Kennedy Center), “Beetlejuice” and “Robin and the Seven Hoods”.  She has performed leading roles in many fantastic regional theaters, is a frequent performer with The New American Pops Orchestra in DC, and has taught Broadway master classes all over the country. As a Certified Yoga instructor thru The Yoga Ground in West Orange, NJ, she has created a new workshop series, “Namaste On Stage” to imbue future Broadway professionals with not only good use of their onstage talents, but offstage strengths as well, through mindfulness, healthy habits, clarity of goals, and versatility.   Learn more.

James Moye

James Moye is an accomplished singer, actor and director based in New York City. His career boasts ten Broadway shows, many films, TV shows, commercials, world premiere musicals and plays at many of America's finest regional theaters. Moye has worked with some of the most prominent directors in America today, including TONY winners, Walter Bobbie, Joe Mantello, Kathleen Marshall, Jerry Mitchell, Casey Nicholaw, Jack O'Brien, John Rando, Susan Stroman and Jerry Zaks. He has appeared to critical acclaim both on and off Broadway/Off-Broadway performing a variety of roles in Tootsie, Dear Evan Hansen, Aladdin, On The 20th Century, Bullets Over Broadway, Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, A Tale of Two Cities, The Full Monty, Urinetown, Far From Heaven (Playwrights), Happiness (Lincoln Center), and more.  His national tours include The Drowsy Chaperone (Aldopho), Little Shop of Horrors (Orin et. al), White Christmas (Bob Wallace, Ordway). Audience members may remember James performing the role of Buddy in Elf at Paper Mill Playhouse. James appeared in the movie Film/TV: Fair Game (w/ Sean Penn), and has made numerous TV appearances with roles in “Law and Order: C.I.,” “As The World Turns,” “Guiding Light.” He featured in original cast recordings of On the 20th Century, Bullets Over Broadway, Dogfight, Far from Heaven, Meet John Doe, Dream True, and more. He recently directed his third critically acclaimed production of Million Dollar Quartet at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA. In October 2021, he returned to the stage to sing alongside Broadway favorite Catherine Brunell with the Carolina Philharmonic in Pinehurst, NC.   Learn more.

Marissa McGowan

Return of

Presented by
PNC PRIVATE BANK

Artists

David Wroe Conductor

Jonathan Boyd Tenor

Brent Reilly Turner Tenor

Dane Suarez Tenor

Holiday Choruses

New Jersey Festival Orchestra

Your health and that of our guest artists, musicians, and staff is important to us. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will be required upon arrival at concerts. NJFO will also adhere to all protocols set by each of our venues.

MEET OUR TENORS

Brent Reilly Turner

American tenor Brent Reilly Turner has been critically acclaimed across the United States. His appearances in opera, concert and recital have been characterized as having a full, dramatic timbre, energetic personality and unique honesty. Recent engagements for Mr. Turner include multiple company debuts: with West Bay Opera as Florestan in Fidelio, Heartbeat Opera as Don Jose in Carmen, Opera Birmingham as Don Jose in The Tragedy of Carmen. and Pacific Opera Victoria as Florestan in Fidelio.    Other recent engagements include debuts with Austin Opera as Carlson in Of Mice and Men, Atlanta Opera as the Kronprinz in Silent Night, and his return to Austin Opera for their production of Bizet’s Carmen. Mr. Turner's Wagnerian repertoire includes roles such as Siegmund in Die Walküre, the title role of Lohengrin, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, and Froh/Loge in Das Rheingold. Other roles include Max in von Weber's Der Freischütz, Bacchus in R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen, Sam Polk in Floyd's Susannah, and Eisenstein in J. Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Learn more.

Dane Suarez

Praised for his “big, heroic voice” and “powerful emotions,” tenor Dane Suarez has developed an exciting and varied career. In the winter of 2020, Mr. Suarez returned to West Bay Opera to perform the role of Macduff in their production of Macbeth. In the summer of 2020, Mr. Suarez was thrilled to perform the role of First Armored Man in Opera Neo’s innovative digital production of The Magic Flute. In 2021, Mr. Suarez returned to Opera Memphis as a tenor soloist in concert and performed the roles of Tamino in The Magic Flute and Antonin Scalia in Scalia / Ginsburg as well as joining the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for The Magic of Memphis, and Maryland Opera for a concert. In the 2021-2022 season, Mr. Suarez sang Canio in Opera Memphis’ production of Pagliacci, reprises the role of Antonin Scalia in Scalia / Ginsburg at the Penn Square Music Festival, makes his Opera Birmingham and Newport Classical debuts as Rodolfo in La bohème, makes his NJ Festival Orchestra debut in a Christmas concert, and will sing the tenor solos in Verdi’s Requiem with the Butler Symphony Orchestra.  Learn more.

Jonathan Boyd

Tenor Jonathan Boyd who sings “with an easy lyricism” (Opera News) consistently performs to great acclaim in Europe, North America and South America. Mr. Boyd recently sang the role of Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata with Portland Opera, Icelandic Opera in Reykjavik, Iceland and Deutsche Oper Am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Germany. Noted international engagements include his role debut of Lensky in Eugene Onegin marking his company debut with L’Opéra de Reims and a return to Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole. Noted recent North American engagements include the title role Faust with Portland Opera and a triumph as Narraboth in Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Strauss’ Salome came following his successful company debut in the role of Heurtebise in Orphée by Philip Glass. Mr. Boyd’s concert appearances have included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Opéra de Rouen Haute Normandie, Britten’s War Requiem for Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Fort Worth Symphony, Haydn’s Creation with the Choral Arts Society at the Kennedy Center, and Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. He was recently heard in a live TV broadcast with Virginia Symphony the role of Mozart in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri.  Learn more.