New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

South Jersey Orchestra Presents a Night to Remember


By Gary Wien, JerseyArts.com

originally published: 01/17/2017


Symphony in C has an excellent program for classical music fans on January 28 at 8:00 p.m. The night includes a classic piece (Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88); a rarely performed work (Bernstein: “Serenade after Plato’s Symposium”) featuring special guest Augustin Hadelich, a 2016 Grammy Award-winning violinist; and the world premiere of “Vicious Circles” by Scott Lee, the winner of the orchestra’s 2016-2017 Young Composers’ Competition.

Lee, born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, is currently working towards his Ph.D in composition at Duke University. He describes his winning composition as, “a nine-minute orchestral work that explores a number of cyclical music ideas, each looping back on itself. The title refers to a chain of events in which the response to one difficulty creates a new problem that aggravates the original difficulty, resulting in an endlessly repeating loop.”

Symphony in C’s mission is to discover outstanding musical talents – artists who are on their path of becoming the musical leaders of tomorrow. The Young Composers’ Competition was created 20 years ago and each year the company chooses one selection from dozens of entries by composers throughout the country. The winner receives a professional recording of the performance and consideration by the Theodore Presser Company for inclusion in its rental library. Winning works have ranged from traditional to contemporary, with Lee’s composition definitely falling on the contemporary side.

“An essential aspect of my music is that it incorporates elements from different genres of popular music (like hip-hop and EDM) into its very core, alongside ideas from the world of concert music,” explained Lee. “While the influence of popular music might not be as apparent on the surface of ‘Vicious Circles’ as it is for some of my other pieces, the syncopated rhythms and thick orchestration are indebted to this sensibility.




Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



“About two-thirds of the way through the piece, the influence of hip-hop is made explicit when the opening material returns on top of a heavy and percussive groove. I’m inspired towards this wedding of popular music and concert music by some of the composers who are most influential on my writing, including Béla Bartók and Thomas Adés.”

Stilian Kirov, Symphony in C’s Music Director, calls it “the music of today. I think the audience will absolutely love Scott’s work.”

Kirov is in his second year at Symphony in C, following a highly successful tenure as Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony. Prior to that, he also served as Associate Conductor of the Memphis Symphony and Music Director of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program.

Kirov said he shared the same agent as Hadelich, whom he was able to hear perform many times. He asked the agent if Augustin would be willing to perform with Symphony in C and she said he would and would very much like to perform Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade after Plato’s Symposium” — a piece originally written for violinist Isaac Stern in 1954. Kirov thought Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 would be a good companion piece since both are related to nature, and the show was born.

Symphony in C is one of three professional training orchestras in the United States preparing musicians and conductors who are on the cusp of first-class careers through concert, educational outreach and professional development programs. Bringing in special guest artists like Hadelich helps further this mission.

“In our profession as musicians, we learn from the best,” said Kirov. “No matter how far you are in your development as an artist, you always learn and it never stops. I think having artists like Augustin Hadelich as guest for the orchestra is extremely important because it gives us inspiration. We learn a lot – not only in the process of observing but in working together and making music together. Having the opportunity to work with this extraordinary artist at this stage of our careers is a blessing.”




Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Kirov said he first learned of Symphony in C while studying at Julliard, a period in which he was able to hear the orchestra perform. After graduating, he travelled around the country with stops at Memphis and Seattle before receiving an invitation to apply for the position of Music Director.

“When I had the audition, there was a moment when I thought that this was an orchestra that had no artistic limits,” recalled Kirov. “The fact that we have so many young professional musicians from the top major U.S. conservatories is inspiring, but what I think is the most gratifying aspect of the position is that these are musicians who give all of their heart and soul when they play.

They are also hungry to perform in front of the audience. They aim to bring excitement through their art and music making, and we try to create as many opportunities as we can for them as well. Every time I have a rehearsal or concert with this symphony, I feel extremely rejuvenated in a way and artistically inspired to go further and further with the orchestra in exploring different répertoire. I am constantly thinking what can we do to make a difference in the classical music world.”

One way they are making a difference is by bringing world-class artists like Augustin Hadelich to Camden. Another is presenting new works like the one by Scott Lee, which will open the program on January 28. Combined, it will surely be a night to remember.

Symphony in C performs in The Gordon Theater at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts (314 Linden Street) in Camden, NJ. Tickets range from $24 to $51. For more information visit www.SymphonyinC.org.




About the author: Gary Wien is a music journalist from Belmar, NJ. A three-time winner of Asbury Music’s Music Journalist of The Year, his writing and photographs have been seen in publications like Upstage Magazine, Backstreets Magazine, Gannett Newspapers, and Princeton Magazine. He is the also the author of two books: Beyond The Palace (about the history of rock music in Asbury Park) and Are You Listening? (his picks for the Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists) and is the publisher of New Jersey Stage magazine.

Content provided by Discover Jersey Arts, a project of the ArtPride New Jersey Foundation and New Jersey State Council on the Arts.





FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Jax

Jax Hollow

Saturday, July 19, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, NJ 08087
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

A

A Night of Worship with Bishop William Murphy - Live in Concert!

Saturday, July 19, 2025 @ 7:00pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Joanna

Joanna Connor

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, NJ 08087
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Lynette

Lynette Sheard - ​​​​​​​Gatsby Reimagined

Thursday, July 24, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Morris Museum Back Deck
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Back

Back to the Eighties Show with Jessie’s Girl

Thursday, July 24, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC)
100 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

More events

Event Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Bergen

Bergen County Parks Department presents Music At The Barn

(PARK RIDGE, NJ) -- Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco and the Board of Commissioners invite the public to attend a free music concert featuring The Matt Chertkoff Trio and Houston Person on Sunday, July 27 from 4:00pm – 6:30pm at the Wortendyke Barn Museum, a County Historic Site (13 Pascack Rd, Park Ridge). This is the first concert in the 2025 music series.



71st

71st Annual Choir Festival: The Light of Life to Take Place on Saturday

(OCEAN GROVE, NJ) -- Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association joyfully presents the 71st Annual Choir Festival: The Light of Life on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 7:00pm. Set within the soaring arches of the historic Great Auditorium—an awe-inspiring 6,500-seat space revered as a sacred ground for worship and music—this beloved summer tradition gathers hundreds of singers for a night of profound praise.



Lizzie

Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Jax Hollow on Saturday

(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Jax Hollow on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 7:30pm. In a city teeming with some of the world's most talented entertainers, Nashville's Jax Hollow has emerged as a rare triple threat—a nuanced and hard-hitting songwriter, a powerhouse vocalist, and a world-class guitarist. She's a true embodiment of the Music City Trifecta.



Human

Human Wheels (Mellencamp Tribute Band) to Perform at Drew University

(MADISON, NJ) -- Human Wheels, the premier John Mellencamp tribute band, will perform at the Concert Hall at Drew University on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 8:00pm.



Lyceum

Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts presents Aria Nouveau

(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- On Saturday, August 2, 2025, the City of Burlington, Mayor Barry Conaway, and Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts' co-artistic directors, Barbara Fisher and Patty Howard will welcome Aria Nouveau. This is a classical crossover performance featuring vocalists Laura Auer (soprano) and John Riesen (tenor). Showtime is 11:30am.