Rossen Milanov, photo by PSO staff

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) presents a very special Soundtracks talk, "A Symphony Celebration", on Tuesday, January 7, 2024 at the Princeton Public Library. Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov and former Executive Director Melanie Clarke look back at some of their favorite moments together on and off stage as they mark the Maestro's 60th birthday. Showtime is 7:00pm.

The two share a love of music and a passion for the culinary arts. Rossen's time at the podium has ushered the PSO into a new and exciting era, as he highlights old favorites and new works with great care and artistry. An audience Q&A immediately follows the free talk, which takes place in the Library’s Community Room.

As Edward T. Cone Music Director of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Rossen Milanov regularly collaborates with artists of the orchestral world, and helms the PSO’s popular June performing arts celebration – The Princeton Festival. He is also the music director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted operas presented by Komische Oper Berlin and Opera Columbus, as well as the Spanish premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Mazzepa and Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Opera Oviedo (awarded best Spanish production for 2015). He has conducted over 200 concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra and performances with the New York City Ballet, Zurich Ballet, and La Scala Ballet in Paris. He presents education projects with Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and leads the PSO’s BRAVO! concerts for school children. He is a 2011 ASCAP award winner and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School.

Melanie Clarke and Rossen Milanov, photo by Kevin Birch

Melanie Clarke currently serves as a board advisor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, having first played violin with the orchestra decades ago. She founded the PSO’s BRAVO! education program, and was instrumental in Rossen Milanov’s appointment as music director while serving as the PSO’s executive director.

The talk serves as a prelude to Rossen’s 60th Birthday Celebration concerts January 11-12 at Richardson Auditorium featuring violinist Leila Josefowicz. Tickets and information are available at princetonsymphony.org.

Soundtracks is free and open to the public, and is presented as a PSO BRAVO! community outreach program in partnership with Princeton Public Library. The series is sponsored in the 2024-25 season by AffinIT.

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. 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.