Music Director Xian Zhang, photo by Cherylynn Tsushima

(NEWARK, NJ) -- The New Jersey Symphony will present two performances of Carl Orff's spectacular choral masterpiece, Carmina Burana: Friday, March 1, 2024 at 8:00pm and Sunday, March 3 at 3:00pm, both at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Music Director Xian Zhang conducts the program, which features the Symphony alongside renowned vocal soloists: Jana McIntyre, soprano; Barry Banks, tenor; and Hugh Russell, baritone. Frequent collaborators with the New Jersey Symphony, the Montclair State University Chorale, under the direction of Heather J. Buchanan, will sing the choral parts of Carmina Burana, including the world-famous opening movement “O Fortuna,” with text drawn from the medieval poem of the same name.

Carmina Burana uses texts, written in Latin, German and old French, from a manuscript found in a Bavarian monastery in 1847 that date back as far as the 11th century.

Also on the program, New Jersey Symphony English Horn/Oboe player Andrew Adelson will perform J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Oboe d’amore. Adelson has been a member of the New Jersey Symphony for more than 20 years, is on faculty at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. Opening the performances is Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, based on Hungarian folk music.

Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) is located at One Center Street in Newark, New Jersey.

The Emmy and Grammy Award-winning New Jersey Symphony is redefining what it means to be a nationally leading, relevant orchestra in the 21st century. The Symphony is renewing its deeply rooted commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by championing new, and often local, artists; engaging audiences for whom the inspiring depth and breadth of classical music will be a new experience; and incorporating the broadest possible representation in all aspects of our organization-all to better reflect and serve our vibrant communities. Since 2021, Music Director Xian Zhang has worked together with composer, violinist, educator and social-justice advocate Daniel Bernard Roumain, the orchestra's Resident Artistic Catalyst, to offer programming that connects with diverse communities in Newark and throughout New Jersey.

Internationally renowned Chinese American conductor Xian Zhang began her tenure as the New Jersey Symphony's current Music Director in 2016. Since her arrival at the New Jersey Symphony, Zhang has revitalized programming with an industry­ leading commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in mainstage concerts. In its second century of bringing concerts to the people of New Jersey, the Symphony will present audience favorites in 2023–24 including Dvorak's "New World" Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, violinist Joshua Bell leading the orchestra in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and pianist Daniil Trifonov playing Gershwin's Concerto in F. New Jersey Symphony co-commissions include works by internationally-renowned living composers: Anna Clyne's ATLAS and Jessie Montgomery's Snapshots. Composers Rob Kapilow and Daniel Bernard Roumain will present world premieres.

The New Jersey Symphony's programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.