Rick Steves Joins New Jersey Symphony for a Symphonic Journey Through Europe

Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 10/23/2026

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Guidebook author and public television host Rick Steves joins New Jersey Symphony November 7–8, 2026 for Rick Steves' Europe: A Symphonic Journey, a concert that pairs Europe's most stirring Romantic-era anthems with high-definition travel footage and Steves' insights into European history.

Nicholas Hersh, music director of California's Modesto Symphony and former associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, returns to conduct performances at Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) in Morristown and State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. Steves appears in person as host.

The concert begins at home with "The Star-Spangled Banner," then heads across the Atlantic. At each stop, from Austria and Germany to Norway and France, Steves sets the historical and cultural scene before the orchestra plays music that captures that nation's spirit, as footage from the country fills a big screen behind the musicians. Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," the official anthem of the European Union, closes the European leg before Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever brings the journey home.

The graduation-day melody in Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 is better known in Britain as the patriotic song "Land of Hope and Glory." Verdi's Nabucco Overture quotes "Va, pensiero," the chorus Italians have long embraced as an unofficial national anthem. And while Grieg's "Morning Mood" may evoke a Norwegian sunrise, in Ibsen's play Peer Gynt it greets the dawn in Morocco.

On Saturday, November 7, Steves gives a live talk at MPAC at 1:00pm. Concertgoers can meet him before the afternoon performance as he shares stories from his travels and some of his favorite places in Europe.

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Performances take place Saturday, November 7 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm at Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and Sunday, November 8 at 2:00pm at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. Tickets are available for purchase online.

EVENT DETAILS

Rick Steves host
Nicholas Hersh conductor
New Jersey Symphony

John Stafford Smith/arr. Walter Damrosch "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Johann Strauss II Emperor Waltz
Richard Wagner Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
Bedřich Smetana "The Moldau" from Má vlast
Sir Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio espagnol (Movements IV and V)
Giuseppe Verdi Nabucco Overture
Edvard Grieg "Morning Mood" from Peer Gynt
Camille Saint-Saëns "Marche militaire française" from Suite algérienne
Ludwig van Beethoven "Ode to Joy" from Symphony No. 9
John Philip Sousa The Stars and Stripes Forever

New Jersey Symphony is a GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning orchestra. Under the direction of Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony performs more than 55 concerts at mainstage venues, as well as in schools and public spaces. Programming at the Symphony reflects an unwavering commitment to diverse communities in New Jersey, while providing students with unparalleled opportunities to achieve musical excellence through its Youth Orchestra and other education programs. The Symphony is embarking on an expansion into Jersey City, with a new, permanent office, rehearsal, and concert space called Symphony Center.