Independent Arts News Reporting Princeton Symphony Orchestra Announces 2024 Princeton Festival Line-Up
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Pictured Above: Superstar Soprano Angel Blue. Photo Credit: Dario Acosta.
Opera star Angel Blue, a Tina Turner tribute concert, a Mozart opera, Broadway’s Sierra Boggess, and more June 7-22
Newsroom Post: PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Princeton, NJ – The Princeton Symphony Orchestra announces its artistic line-up for this year’s Princeton Festival, New Jersey’s premier performing arts extravaganza. The Festival takes place June 7-22, 2024 with a state-of-the-art tented pavilion erected on the grounds of beautiful Morven Museum & Garden. The layout features concessions and space for attendees to gather outdoors before performances and during intermissions. Events range from an opening night concert featuring star soprano Angel Blue to a comic opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a tribute honoring Tina Turner, plus dance, a Juneteenth celebration with Black choral music, a Family Day with Latin American music, genre-defying ensembles, and a superstar finale with Santino Fontana. Baroque and chamber concerts take place at nearby Trinity Church.
Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the Festival’s artistic visionary, says, “We are offering Festival goers a chance to come together through the shared experience of delightful summertime live musical performances, light in mood, but with exceptional artistry.”
Pictured Above: Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s Edward T. Cone Music Director Rosen Milanov at the 2022 Princeton Festival. Photo Credit: Carol Pascale.
Opening weekend begins with Metropolitan Opera superstar soprano Angel Blue with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (Friday, June 7). Ms. Blue comes fresh off a season of performances in major houses both at home and abroad, joining the PSO for a program of favorite arias.
Saturday night (June 8), the mainstage is devoted to The Music of Tina Turner, a tribute honoring the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Three prominent artists including Broadway star and American Idol finalist LaKisha Jones, plus guest conductor Lucas Waldin and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra perform some of the trailblazing artist’s mega hits including “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Simply the Best,” “Proud Mary,” and “River Deep, Mountain High.”
Pictured Above: Tina Turner. Art Credit: Eric McCue.
Family Day (Sunday, June 9) offers child-centered activities culminating in a concert of Latin American family music featuring musical storytelling by Latin GRAMMY® nominee Sonia De Los Santos. De Los Santos and her band invite audiences to enjoy a delightful collection of original songs sung in Spanish and English.
The centerpiece of this year’s Festival is a fresh production of Mozart’s comedic opera Così fan tutte (June 14, 16, & 18), sung in the original Italian with English subtitles. The opera will be directed by James Marvel, with scenic design by Blair Mielnik and costumes by Marie Miller. This is the creative team hailed for last year’s rollicking version of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Performing the roles of the lovers are Aubry Ballarò as Fiordiligi, Alexis Peart as Dorabella, David Walton as Ferrando, and Benjamin Taylor as Guglielmo, with Calvin Griffin as the freewheeling Don Alfonso and Zulimar López-Hernández as the crafty maid Despina. Rossen Milanov will conduct all three performances.
Pictured Above: Sonia De Los Santos. Photo Credit: Hyphen Photography Inc.
The centerpiece of this year’s Festival is a fresh production of Mozart’s comedic opera Così fan tutte (June 14, 16, & 18), sung in the original Italian with English subtitles. The opera will be directed by James Marvel, with scenic design by Blair Mielnik and costumes by Marie Miller. This is the creative team hailed for last year’s rollicking version of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Performing the roles of the lovers are Aubry Ballarò as Fiordiligi, Alexis Peart as Dorabella, David Walton as Ferrando, and Benjamin Taylor as Guglielmo, with Calvin Griffin as the freewheeling Don Alfonso and Zulimar López-Hernández as the crafty maid Despina. Rossen Milanov will conduct all three performances.
Dance and orchestral worlds combine (June 15) in Interwoven: American Repertory Ballet + PSO Strings, a program of dance works performed by ARB dancers with string ensemble conducted by Rossen Milanov. The evening features choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Rainey, with music by Glass, Grieg, Scripp, and Sibelius.
The PSO celebrates Juneteenth (June 19) with a concert Honoring Black Choral Music. Choral conductor Vinroy D. Brown, Jr. of Westminster Choir College, leads a choir drawn from the community and anchored by the Capital Singers of Trenton. The program will feature Robert Ray’s iconic Gospel Mass with additional choral selections highlighting the joy and spirit of Black music.
Genre-bending, Juilliard-trained trio Empire Wild (June 21) takes over the pavilion stage with a captivating program featuring two cellos and piano, with vocals. The group brings its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon.
Across the way at Trinity Church, Festival attendees can take in the award-winning sound of the Abeo Quartet (Thursday, June 13). In its debut Princeton Festival performance, the quartet presents works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Esmail. The Sebastians: Brandenburgs and More (June 20) will also take place at Trinity. The acclaimed Baroque ensemble returns for its third Princeton Festival appearance with an exciting program featuring three of J.S. Bach’s beloved “Brandenburg” concerti along with classic works by Telemann and Vivaldi.
Pictured Above: Santino Fontana. Photo Credit: Nathan Johnson.
Anchoring the Festival on June 22nd is Tony Award-winning actor Santino Fontana, known on Broadway for his star turns in Tootsie and Cinderella, television roles in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Sisters, and voicing Prince Hans in Disney’s animated film Frozen, joins the Princeton Festival line-up with an entertaining, cabaret-style evening. Accompanied by piano, he sings delightful renditions of Broadway melodies while regaling audience members with anecdotes gleaned from performing on stage and screen.* “His is the relaxed, accessible charm of the guy next door who happens to be smart, handsome, and talented” – New York Stage
2024 Princeton Festival tickets are available now, and range in price from $10 – $135. While most performances take place in the pavilion at Morven Museum & Garden, some are located inside at Trinity Church. For dates, times, program information, and tickets, visit princetonsymphony.org/festival.
About The Princeton Festival
Founded in 2004, the Princeton Festival quickly established a reputation for artistic excellence and innovative programming in the performing arts. Every year in June, thousands of people from the mid-Atlantic region and beyond come to the Festival to enjoy the quality and variety of its programs. Offerings include opera, musical theater, dance, and a constantly evolving selection of other genres, including jazz, world music, orchestral pops, choral concerts, country music, chamber recitals, and an annual piano competition. The Festival has long-standing partnerships with public libraries and local churches, and promotes life-long learning in the arts through free educational lectures presented to a wide and diverse community.
ABOUT THE PRINCETON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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. Its flagship summer program the Princeton Festival brings an array of performing arts and artists to Princeton during multiple weeks in June. 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.
