Montclair 2019-20 Season Announced

The Montclair Orchestra recently completed an extraordinarily successful 2018-19 season. In just its second full year of concerts, the ensemble garnered exceptional critical acclaim, where the New York Classical Review found the “group playing with pinpoint coordination, mature musical insight, and irresistible esprit that would be the envy of many a big-city symphony.”

The upcoming 2019-20 season will continue the same highly rewarding path of thematic programming, with the five programs exploring various inspirations ranging from the ancient Persian Empire to the Scottish Isles. The orchestra will also continue its mission as a premier developmental ensemble, pairing professional musicians from the region’s most prestigious orchestras with top-level conservatory talent from all around the Tri-State area — and performing together at “a level that many an all-pro orchestra might envy.”

The choice of guest soloists also spotlights the stars of tomorrow, such as soprano Gabriella Reyes and violinist Richard Lin. Of special note is the new collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in the season finale, where five of tomorrow’s opera stars will join bass Matthew Rose in famous operatic scenes including the Act I Finale from Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

1001 Nights

Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 7:00 pm
St Luke’s Episcopal Church

Rossini: Overture to Semiramide
Ranjbaran: Songs of Eternity (2002)
Gabriella Reyes, soprano
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35

The new season takes flight with an escape to Persia! Board your magic carpets and join us for this enchanting program featuring Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, which conjures up images of Sinbad, the sea, a storm, and the princess heroine of One Thousand and One Nights with a brilliant display of orchestral color and virtuosity. Before that, we will make our first stop in Babylon with Rossini’s scintillating overture to Semiramide; and hear rising star soprano Gabriella Reyes in New York-based Persian composer Behzad Ranjabaran’s “Songs of Eternity,” a setting of Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyat from the 12th century, with Montclair’s own Mahtab Foroughi reading the original Farsi texts as an added treat.

Carnival of Animals

Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Central Presbyterian Church

Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
and other classical favorites

The children’s program for the season is a delight for young listeners, as the orchestra visits the zoo in music! Hear the regal lion, the silly rooster, and the graceful swan along with the rest of the animals, complete with colorful narrations, in this family favorite. The program will also offer a selection of favorite symphonic treasures to introduce kids of all ages to the wonderful music to be found in the world of the orchestra. And our instrument petting zoo completes the hands-on experience for your youngsters!

Concerto Grosso

Friday, January 31, 2020 at 8:00 pm
St Luke’s Episcopal Church

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047
Schnittke: Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1977)
Daniel Khalikov and Quan Yuan, violins
Stravinsky: Apollon musagète (1947 version)
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048

Our mid-winter concert explores the Baroque ‘concerto grosso’ form, in which a small group of soloists is set against a larger ensemble. We begin and end the program with two of J.S. Bach’s ever-popular Brandenburg Concertos, but then jump forward through time to rediscover the form as presented by Stravinsky and Schnittke in the 20th century. Schnittke’s groundbreaking Concerto Grosso No. 1 (featuring Montclair Orchestra concertmaster Daniel Khalikov and principal second violin Quan Yuan) juxtaposes elements of Vivaldi with an obsessive microtonal world and a bit of Argentinian tango, while the clean lines of Stravinsky’s neoclassical ballet combine Apollonian elegance with dazzling instrumental solos.

Ceud Mìle Faìlte

Sunday, March 8, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Central Presbyterian Church

Maxwell Davies: An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise (1986)
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
Richard Lin, violin
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in a minor “Scottish,” Op. 56

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes from bonnie Scotland! Long an inspiration for artists and composers alike, the craigs, lochs and moors of Caledonia will be on full musical display this mystical evening. We kick off the festivities with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ rowdy and celebratory “An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise,” including a guest appearance from world-renowned bagpiper Kenneth Mackenzie. At the other end of the spectrum, Mendelssohn’s beloved Third Symphony gives us a more classical interpretation of the intrigue of the Scots. In between, we are proud to present Richard Lin, the 2018 Gold Medalist of the prestigious Indianapolis Violin Competition, as soloist in Bruch’s vibrant “Scottish Fantasy.”

Emerging Voices

Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Central Presbyterian Church

Mozart: Act I Finale from Così fan tutte
Matthew Rose, bass
Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists
and other operatic favorites

Our season finale brings an exciting partnership with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, featuring the best and brightest vocalists of tomorrow! Celebrated English basso (and Artistic Consultant to the Lindemann program) Matthew Rose joins five young artists in a joyous romp through the Finale from Act I of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, as well as other operatic favorites.