(OCEAN GROVE, NJ) -- Classical music returns to Ocean Grove every Thursday night with the 2018 Summer Stars Classical Series.  Presented by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association’s (OGCMA), the series presents renowned American and international artists in the Great Auditorium.  This year's lineup includes Imperial Brass, Solisti Ensemble, Anthony Trionfo and Albert Cano Smit, Alex and Wesley Park, and the OGCMA Ochestra Finale.

July 5 - Imperial Brass returns with a new program of traditional and contemporary works especially arranged for them. Guest soloists include PHILIP SMITH (former principal trumpet, New York Philharmonic), and jazz great WARREN VACHÉ. Conductor/musician RONALD WAIKSNORIS ranks among the very best on the worldwide brass band scene, achieving worldwide acclaim as a cornetist. He has been an inspirational teacher and guide to thousands of rising brass players for 41 years. Founded in 1991 by Rutgers University alumni, Imperial Brass was designed to provide a unique opportunity for NJ-area musicians to play a challenging repertoire of diverse styles, often with world-class soloists. The ensemble has won numerous awards; performed in top concert venues, festivals, competitions, schools and churches; and has a distinguished history with Ocean Grove, having performed on several occasions, including a collaboration with organist Gordon Turk to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great Auditorium’s world-famous organ.

July 12 - Solisti Ensemble this 11-piece string ensemble is back at Ocean Grove by popular demand, having garnered a devoted following after performances over the past several summers. Directed by violinist BYUNG-KOOK KWAK, Solisti will perform a program featuring works by Dvorak, Handel, Mozart, Lalo and Elgar, among others. Kwak enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. He is also very active as a concertmaster and appears in that capacity with virtually every major symphony orchestra around the metropolitan New York area. He has previously been the conductor of and/or performed with countless orchestras worldwide. 

July 19 - Anthony Trionfo (flute) and Albert Cano Smit (piano) are making their Ocean Grove debut. Mr. Trionfo received the St. Vincent College Series prize, the Ruth Laredo Award, the Lied Center of Kansas Prize, the Michaels Award, and the LP Classics Debut Recording Prize at the Young Concert Artists 2016 International Auditions. Mr. Cano Smit won First Prize at the Walter W. Naumburg International Piano Competition in 2017, and was awarded the MIMC Grant as Finalist of the Concours Musical de Montreal that same year. Together they will perform a program of Gabriel Fauré, J.S. Bach and original pieces.

July 26 - Alex and Wesley Park were promising young pianists before they turned their remarkable talents to the guitar. They began their classical guitar studies in their teens with Christopher Parkening at Pepperdine University, then came together as a guitar duo. The brothers enjoy working together, complementing each other with a natural synergy of sounds. They have performed together in Heidelberg, Germany and Hermagor, Austria, and have participated in masterclasses with Christopher Parkening, Andrew York, and Detlev Bork. In the 2014 Pacific Guitar Competition in Monrovia, California, The Park brothers placed as finalists in the chamber mixed division category. For their Ocean Grove debut they have designed a program of Renaissance, Spanish, and contemporary pieces.

August 2 - OGCMA Orchestra Finale will offer a wonderful showcase of OGCMA’s own esteemed organist GORDON TURK, conductor JASON TRAMM, and THE MID-ATLANTIC OPERA ORCHESTRA. The evening’s program will include assorted opera highlights and the grand Concerto in A Minorby Bossi and Symphony No. 1 by Guilmant.  Gordon Turk is OGCMA’s Organist-In-Residence and Artistic Director of the “Summer Stars” series. He is a devoted champion of the pipe organ; a consultant for the building of new pipe organs and the restoration of historic ones; and is a frequent adjudicator of organ competitions. He is also the organist and choirmaster at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Turk has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and Japan in concert halls, cathedrals, and universities in both solo performances and with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. Dr. Jason C. Tramm is OGCMA’s Director of Music Ministries and is recognized as one of today’s most dynamic young conductors. He has been hailed by critics and audiences alike for his work in the operatic, symphonic, and sacred music realms. He also serves as Director of Choral Activities at Seton Hall University and is the Artistic Director of the Mid-Atlantic Opera Company, with which he made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2015.

The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. All facilities are handicapped accessible. Shows begin at 7:30pm; tickets are $16 ($10 for students) and $75 for a subscription to all five concerts. For reservations: phone 800-590-4064 or go online to www.oceangrove.org .