The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey

The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey (PSNJ) opens its 14th season under the baton of Conductor and Music Director Philip Travaline at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at Eastern High School's Performing Arts Center, 1401 Laurel Oak Road, Voorhees. Highlighting the new season will be the American premiere of a work by composer Sean O'Boyle at the Fall Concert and the world premiere of a work by composer Frank James Staneck of Collingswood at the Spring Concert in May.

Maestro Travaline has chosen 'The Elements" as the theme of the initial concert in the orchestra's three-concert 2004-2005 subscription series. Earth, wind, fire and water will be brought together to form a musical universe encompassing Wagner and Debussy along with the incomparable American composer Richard Rodgers and innovative Australian Sean O'Boyle, whose RiverSymphony will be he! ard in its American premiere performance. Wagner's Magic Fire Music, Debussy's Nuages from Nocturnes, and Rodgers popular suite Victory at Sea, from the classic television documentary of the same name, will be followed by Rutter's For the Beauty of the Earth, selections from Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite, and Falla's Ritual Fire Dance. To conclude the evening, the audience will be invited to sing along as the orchestra performs a medley of pop standards that carry the concert theme to a toe-tapping conclusion.

A return to Russia will be on the agenda for PSNJ's winter concert, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22, 2005. The program includes Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian), Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite, Borodin's Polvetsian Dances and Jarre's Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago.

A collection of "This and That" provides the theme for the spring concert on Saturday, May 7, 2005. The concert will feature the world premier performance of Staneck's Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra. Forrest Rowland, a Collingswood resident and PSNJ's principal oboist, will be the English horn soloist. The program will also include Arutunian's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, with soloist Jim Norton of Pitman, PSNJ's principal trumpet, and Cowell's Air and Scherzo for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, with guest soloist Todd Groves of Cherry Hill. Also on the program are von Suppé's Poet and Peasant Overture, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, Weinberger's Polka and Fugue from Schwanda the Bagpiper and popular classics Body and Soul and Night and Day by Johnny Green and Cole Porter, respectively.

PSNJ's Family Concert, in which children and their families are introduced to orchestral music in an informal fun atmosphere, will be presented at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 10, at Eastern High School. Tickets for the Family Concert are $5.

Tickets for this season's three-concert series are $45 per seat, $35 for seniors and students. Tickets for individual concerts are $20 per seat, $15 for seniors and students. Send checks payable to The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey to P.O. Box 1750, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 or call (856) 779-2600.

The all-volunteer Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, comprising nearly 100 musicians, is supported by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts through the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission. Additional support comes from Fleet and from Kitchen & Associates of Collingswood.

The web site for the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey is www.psnj.org.

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Author: Press Release