New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
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The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American
symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
based in the state of
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert series and specials in six venues across the state, including the
New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, New Jersey, United States, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors (i ...
in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...
:
New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, New Jersey, United States, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors (i ...
(NJPAC) * Red Bank:
Count Basie Theatre The Count Basie Center for the Arts is a landmarked performing arts center in Red Bank, New Jersey, United States. In 1926, the building opened as the "Carlton Theater" became the "Monmouth Arts Center" in 1973, and was renamed "Count Basie The ...
* Morristown:
Mayo Performing Arts Center The Mayo Performing Arts Center (MayoPAC) is a nonprofit multi-use performing arts center located in Morristown, New Jersey, United States. History The Community Theatre was built in 1937 and was once the crown jewel of Walter Reade's chain o ...
*
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
: State Theatre *
Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
: Richardson Auditorium at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
* Englewood: Bergen Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Symphony previously presented concert series at the
War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...
in Trenton and the
Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in ...
in Millburn. The New Jersey Symphony performs summer concerts at multiple venues across New Jersey, such as: *
Overpeck County Park Overpeck County Park is an county park in Bergen County, New Jersey, with major sections in Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park, and Teaneck, surrounding Overpeck Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River. The Overpeck Creek flows to the ...
(Bergen County) *
Echo Lake Park Echo Lake Park is a park located along the Mount Evans Scenic Byway about west of Denver, Colorado. The park provides a stone shelter with picnic tables and barbecue grills on one end of the lake, and the 1926 Echo Lake Lodge (gift shop and res ...
(Union County) *
Giralda Farms Giralda Farms was the estate of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Mor ...
(Madison) *
Branch Brook Park Branch Brook Park is a county park of Essex County, New Jersey. It is located in the North Ward of Newark, between the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and Roseville. A portion of the park is also located within the Township of Belleville. At , B ...
(Newark) * Meadowland Park (South Orange) * Pier A Park (Hoboken) * Mercer County Park (Mercer County)


History

Philip James founded the orchestra in 1922. During the 1940s, the orchestra performed at
Newark Symphony Hall Newark Symphony Hall is a performing arts center located at 1020 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey. Built in 1925, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It ...
. Following the 1968 departure of Kenneth Schermerhorn as its music director, the orchestra subsequently appointed Henry Lewis as its next music director, the first African-American music director of a major orchestra in the United States.


"Golden Age" string collection

The New Jersey Symphony purchased 30 string instruments (including several made by
Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloquia ...
), for its string players, purchased from the collection of
Herbert R. Axelrod Herbert Richard Axelrod (June 7, 1927 – May 15, 2017) was an American tropical fish expert, a publisher of pet books, and an entrepreneur. In 2005 he was sentenced in U.S. court to 18 months in prison for tax fraud. Early life Axelrod was born ...
in 2003. The orchestra named this collection the "Golden Age" string collection, and hoped this acquisition would enhance the prestige of the orchestra and attract increased audiences and donations. Doubts later surfaced as to the actual value of the collection. Axelrod had claimed their value at $49 million, and sold it to the New Jersey Symphony for $17 million. However, it turned out that the $17 million value was closer to the current market value. News reporter investigations also raised doubts as to the authenticity of several of the instruments in the collection. Axelrod pled guilty for an unrelated criminal charge of federal tax fraud on this transaction. The New Jersey Symphony had planned to retain the violins and not sell them, as of July 2006. However, in March 2007, the New Jersey Symphony stated that they would try to sell the Golden Age instrument collection to help alleviate their severe budgetary fiscal and deficit issues. The original agreement with Axelrod was that the orchestra would retain the instruments for at least 10 years, but Axelrod gave his assent to their sale.Peggy McGlone, "NJSO giving up prized strings". ''The Star-Ledger'', 9 March 2007. The intentions were to use the funds from the sale of the instruments to retire orchestra debt and to build up the orchestra's endowment fund. The orchestra had stated that their ideal scenario would be that the collection would be bought as a whole and then lent back to the orchestra, but commentators noted the difficulty of realizing such a plan. In November 2007, the New Jersey Symphony announced that they had sold the Golden Age instruments to the American investment bankers (and twin brothers) Seth Taube and Brook Taube, along with a group of other investors, for $20 million and a portion of the proceeds from any future sales of the instruments. Part of the agreement allowed the orchestra to retain playing rights to 28 of those instruments for a minimum of 5 years.Peggy McGlone
"NJ Symphony sells its ill-fated strings to twin investment bankers,"
''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...
'', November 23, 2007.


Subsequent and recent history

Other press comments have noted that in spite of the financial troubles and controversy over this instrument collection, the orchestra has improved artistically during the tenure of Neeme Järvi (2005-2009). In October 2007, the New Jersey Symphony announced that Järvi had extended his contract as music director through the 2008–2009 season, with a commitment to six weeks of subscription concerts. In February 2008, the orchestra confirmed the conclusion of Järvi's tenure as the New Jersey Symphony's music director at the end of the 2008–2009 season. In March 2009, the New Jersey Symphony indicated that Järvi had agreed to serve as the orchestra's artistic adviser after the conclusion of his contract as music director, and subsequently to take the title of conductor laureate. The orchestra also reduced its staff and the number of subscription concerts, from 70 to 61, scheduled for the 2009–2010 season. The New Jersey Symphony has had a series of radio broadcasts in the US since the 2006–2007 season. Gremillet announced in October 2007 that the radio broadcasts would continue. In addition, he stated the New Jersey Symphony's accumulated debt is at $15 million as of October 2007. After the announcement of the November 2007 sale of the Golden Age instruments, Gremillet stated that their scheduled sale cost will allow the orchestra to retire its accumulated debt of $14.2 million, and restore $3.1 million used from the New Jersey Symphony endowment used for the purchase of the instruments. In November 2008, Jacques Lacombe guest-conducted the New Jersey Symphony for the first time. In October 2009, the New Jersey Symphony announced the appointment of Lacombe as its 13th music director, effective with the 2010–2011 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. Lacombe held the title of music director designate for the 2009–2010 season. In July 2012, the New Jersey Symphony announced the extension of Lacombe's contract as music director through the 2015–2016 season. In October 2014, the New Jersey Symphony announced the scheduled conclusion of Lacombe's tenure as the orchestra's music director after the conclusion of the 2015–2016 season. Following the departure of Gremillet as New Jersey Symphony president, the orchestra appointed Richard Dare as its next December 2012. Dare took up the post at the beginning of January 2013. On January 10, 2013, Dare resigned as NJSO president, following reports of a prior accusation of a sexual offense in 1996, and possible exaggerations of his business accomplishments. Controversy subsequently ensued on the question of how much information New Jersey Symphony officials and board of trustees, and the search committee, knew of this situation during the source of the search for a new executive director. In June 2013, the New Jersey Symphony announced the appointments of James Roe as its next president and chief executive officer (CEO) and of Susan Stucker as its chief operating officer (COO), effective July 1, 2013. In June 2016, the New Jersey Symphony announced Gabriel van Aalst as its new CEO, beginning in October 2016. Xian Zhang first guest-conducted the New Jersey Symphony in 2010. She returned for further guest appearances in February 2012 and May 2015. In November 2015, the New Jersey Symphony announced her appointment as its 14th music director, effective in September 2016, with an initial contract of 4 years. She is the first female conductor to be named music director of the New Jersey Symphony. In March 2022, the New Jersey Symphony announced the second extension of Zhang's contract, through the 2027–2028 season. In 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the orchestra launched 'New Jersey Symphony Virtual', featuring concert Fflms, musicians performing in chamber ensembles and virtual education programs. In December 2021, the organization changed its name from "New Jersey Symphony Orchestra" to "New Jersey Symphony" as part of a rebranding effort. The new brand consolidated the previously marketed name and "NJSO" acronymn into a new singular marketing wordmark and name of "New Jersey Symphony." The New Jersey Symphony has made several records for the Delos label with former music director
Zdeněk Mácal Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor. Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...
, including works of
Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
,
Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
,
Reinhold Glière Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (born Reinhold Ernest Glier, which was later converted for standardization purposes; russian: Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр; 23 June 1956), was a Russian Imperial and Soviet composer of German and P ...
and
Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
. With Lacombe, the New Jersey Symphony made a commercial recording of ''
Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...
'', taken from Lacombe's debut appearances with the orchestra.


Music Directors

* Philip James (1922–1929) * Rene Pollain (1929–1939) *
Frieder Weissmann Frieder Weissmann (23 January 1893 – 4 January 1984) was a German conductor and composer. Life and career Weissmann was born in Langen, Hesse. His civil name was Samuel, which he kept - in the form ''Semy'' or ''Semmy'' - until 1916. After th ...
(1940–1947) * Samuel Antek (1947–1958) * Matyas Abas (1958–1960) *
Kenneth Schermerhorn Kenneth Dewitt Schermerhorn ( ; November 20, 1929 – April 18, 2005) was an American composer and orchestra conductor. He was the music director of the Nashville Symphony from 1983 to 2005. Early life Schermerhorn was born on November 20, 1 ...
(1962–1968) * Henry Lewis (1968–1976) * Thomas Michalak (1977–1983) *
Hugh Wolff Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor. Biography Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London. He received his ...
(1985–1993) *
Zdeněk Mácal Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor. Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...
(1993–2002) *
Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...
(2005–2009) * Jacques Lacombe (2010–2016) * Xian Zhang (2016–present)


References


External links


Official website of the New Jersey Symphony

Website of the Musicians of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1922 Orchestras based in New Jersey History of Newark, New Jersey Culture of Newark, New Jersey Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras