originally published: 11/10/2019



(NEWARK, NJ) -- The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents a Lunar New Year Celebration welcoming the Year of the Rat on January 25 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The event includes an NJSO performance, led by Music Director Xian Zhang, and a pre-concert cultural festival. A post-concert gala dinner is available as an add-on to the concert and festival.

The cultural festival begins at 6:00pm in NJPAC’s Prudential Hall lobby. Festivities designed for the whole family include traditional Chinese music performers, calligraphy demonstrations, crafts and more.

The concert, which begins at 7:30pm, blends Eastern and Western musical traditions. The program opens with the Orchestra performing Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture.

The Orchestra welcomes the Peking University Alumni Chorus, Starry Arts Group Children’s Chorus, soprano Chiara Taigi, tenor Dashuai Chen and bass Hao Jiang Tian for selections from Verdi’s Nabucco and La Traviata, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Lehar’s The Merry Widow and Wang Lipang’s Overture to Dream of the Red Chamber, as well as the traditional “Kangding Love Song.”

Miya Yvette Menscher and Wesley Chu Yang Meynen co-host the concert.

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Zhang says: “I want everyone to enjoy this event. It’s not just for Asian communities—it’s for everyone in New Jersey. So I wanted to combine Western music and Eastern music. This whole year I wanted to plan to bring other elements of art into music, and we bring opera into the Lunar New Year program. We will have a fabulous soprano from Rome who speaks Chinese. I think [audiences] are going to be wowed.”

Concert tickets start at $20 and include both the NJSO performance and pre-concert festivities. Discounted children’s tickets are available in select sections.

Gala event tickets include a post-concert dinner with Zhang and special guests.

Tickets are available for purchase at njsymphony.org or 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476). Student tickets are $10, available at njsymphony.org/students one month in advance.

CONCERT PROGRAM

Lunar New Year Celebration

Sat, Jan 25, at 7:30 pm | NJPAC in Newark

XIAN ZHANG conductor

CHIARA TAIGI soprano

DASHUAI CHEN tenor

HAO JIANG TIAN bass

PEKING UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CHORUS

STARRY ARTS GROUP CHILDREN’S CHORUS | Rebecca Shen, director

MIYA YVETTE MENSCHER co-host

WESLEY CHU YANG MEYNEN co-host

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

LI HUANZHI Spring Festival Overture

VERDI “Sperate o figli” from Nabucco

VERDI “Va’ Pensiero” from Nabucco

BIZET “Au fond du temple saint” from The Pearl Fishers

TRADITIONAL “Kangding Love Song”

PUCCINI “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi

MASCAGNI “Regina Coeli” from Cavalleria Rusticana

VERDI “Sempre libera” from La Traviata

LEHAR “Lippen Schweigen” from The Merry Widow

Photo by Fred Stucker