Anthony Roth Costanzo, photo by Matthew Placek

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- In the new year, Metropolitan Opera star, GRAMMY@ Award winner, and Princeton University alum Anthony Roth Costanzo headlines the first concerts of the year for the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO). Performances take place Saturday, January 13 at 8:00pm and Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 4:00pm at Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall at Princeton University.

The countertenor will be performing George Frideric Handel’s aria “Quella fiamma” from Arminio and fellow alum Gregory Spears’ Love Story, with words by 22nd US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith. Also on the program is Nina Shekhar’s Lumina; the composer is currently pursuing a doctorate in composition at the University and recently completed her 2021-23 tenure as Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. Under the baton of Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the Orchestra will perform these works and Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36.

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. He was recently awarded a GRAMMY®, an Honorary Doctorate from Manhattan School of Music, a visiting fellowship from Oxford University, and the History Makers Award from the New York Historical Society, and in the spring will be a distinguished visiting scholar at Harvard. This season, he returns to the Metropolitan Opera after starring in Akhnaten, in another title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, the Santa Fe Opera for a world premiere, and to the Teatro Real; makes his Paris Opera debut, gives solo recitals at the Kennedy Center and Boston’s Jordan Hall, makes his debut at Wigmore Hall in London, and appears in Carnegie Hall with the Met Chamber Orchestra. As a producer, he has created projects for Opera Philadelphia, The New York Philharmonic, The BBC Proms, WQXR, and St. Ann’s Warehouse among others.

Other guest artists appearing with the PSO in 2024 include the exciting trio Time For Three, returning to Princeton to perform the 2023 GRAMMY@ Award-winning composition by Kevin Puts, Contact (March 9-10) and the gifted pianist Sara Davis Buechner performing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto on a program including John Luther Adams’ Become River (May 11-12). The PSO’s 2024 Princeton Festival held at Morven Museum & Garden (June 7-22) will include a fully staged opera, orchestral concerts, Baroque and chamber music, dance, plus appearances by celebrated stars of the stage.

Prior to the Anthony Roth Costanzo concert weekend, composers Gregory Spears and Nina Shekhar will converse about their creative process and the state of modern orchestral music with Princeton University Music Department Chair Dan Trueman, at the PSO Soundtracks Talk “Meet the Composers” on Wednesday, January 10 at 7:00pm at Princeton Public Library’s Community Room. Soundtracks is offered as a PSO BRAVO! community enrichment program in partnership with the Princeton Public Library. It is free and open to the public.

Tickets for all Princeton Symphony Orchestra orchestral concerts range from $30-112; youth 5-17 half-price. For concert tickets and information about the Princeton Festival, visit princetonsymphony.org or call 609-497-0020.

Health and Safety: The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is closely monitoring and adhering to the New Jersey Department of Health’s COVID-19 Requirements. Attendees will receive information regarding safety procedures, entry, seating directions, etc. in advance of their selected live performance(s).

Accessibility: The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is committed to ensuring all programming is accessible for everyone, working with venues such as Richardson Auditorium to provide needed services. Contact Mika Godbole for questions about available services at [email protected] or (609) 905-0931. Note: some services require at least two weeks’ notice to arrange.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey’s finest music organizations, a position established through performances of beloved masterworks, innovative music by living composers, and an extensive network of educational programs offered to area students free of charge. Led by Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and related events that supplement the concert experience. Its flagship summer program the Princeton Festival brings an array of performing arts and artists to Princeton during multiple weeks in June. Through PSO BRAVO!, the orchestra produces wide-reaching and impactful education programs in partnership with local schools and arts organizations that culminate in students attending a live orchestral performance.

The PSO receives considerable support from the Princeton community and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, regularly garnering NJSCA’s highest honor. Recognition of engaging residencies and concerts has come from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the PSO’s commitment to new music has been acknowledged with an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and a Copland Fund Award. The only independent, professional orchestra to make its home in Princeton, the PSO performs at historic Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.