Bay Atlantic Symphony offers ‘Night at the Opera’

High spirits, soaring melody, and drama of symphonic music embodying the spirit of Italian opera herald the opening of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony’s 2009-10 season in concerts on Nov. 6, 7, and 8.
Entitled “Night at the Opera,” this series also marks the expansion of the orchestra’s subscription series to include Rowan University in Glassboro.
The performances will take place on Friday, November 6, at 8 p.m., at Rowan University’s Pfleeger Concert Hall, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro; Saturday, November 7, at 8 p.m., at the Frank Guaracini, Jr. Fine and Performing Arts Center, Cumberland County College, Sherman Avenue and College Drive, Vineland, NJ; and Sunday, November 8, at 2 p.m., at the Richard Stockton College Performing Arts Center, Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township, NJ.
Also new this season will be a discounted ticket price–$25—for all seats in all venues, subsidized by a generous grant from the PNC Arts Alive grant program.
The concerts, conducted by Music Director Jed Gaylin, will feature the second performance ever of Gaetano Panariello’s Triple Concerto (Homage to Opera Buffa), a tribute to comic opera commissioned by the concert’s soloists—the dynamic Poulenc Trio. This work deftly recalls the wit, humor, and long-lined melodies of the genre. Felix Mendelssohn’s brilliantly-hued, infectious, and sunny Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, “Italian” will also be a part of the program, as well as the overture to one of the most famous comic opera’s, Gioacchino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
All Bay-Atlantic Symphony performances will be preceded one hour prior to starting time with a “Pre-Concert Conversation with the Maestro.”
Tickets may be ordered by calling the Pfleeger Concert Hall box office at (856) 256-4545, the Guaracini Fine and Performing Arts Center box office at (856) 692-8499, or the Stockton College Performing Arts Center box office at (609) 652-9000.
For more information, please call the Bay-Atlantic Symphony at (856) 451-1169 or visit the Symphony’s website at www.bayatlanticsymphony.org.
The Poulenc Trio, the best a select few wind trios, consists of oboist Vladimir Lande, bassoonist Bryan Young, and pianist Irina Lande. The ensemble has toured extensively across the United States and at festivals around the world, including the White Nights Festival in Russia with violinist Hillary Hahn, the Ravello Festival in Italy, and the Festival San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. They were also recently featured in a live performance on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
The ensemble combines brilliant 21st-century vibrancy with the best of European musical tradition. With a long-standing commitment to living composers, the trio has commissioned many new works.
PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC) is the presenting sponsor for these concerts. The support is part of PNC Arts Alive, a five-year, $5 million investment from The PNC Foundation, to help area residents gain access to the arts, and help arts organizations expand and engage audiences.
Gaylin, in his 13th season as Music Director of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, is also the Principal Conductor of the Cape May Music Festival. He has been the Music Director of the Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra since 1993 and, since 2007, the Principal Guest Conductor of the National Film and Radio Philharmonic in Beijing, China.
A sought-after guest conductor, he has led orchestras including the Sibiu Philharmonic of Romania—where he served as Principal Guest Conductor, Shanghai (China) Conservatory Orchestra, Bucharest (Romania) Radio Orchestra, Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona, Spain), Lodz and Pomorska (Poland) Philharmonics, Gnessin Institute Orchestra and Moscow Chamber Symphony (Russia), Orquesta Sinfonica de Guanajuato (Mexico), Orvieto Festival Orchestra (Italy), and the Naples Philharmonic (Florida). He also maintains a close association with Baltimore’s Opera Vivente.
A much sought-after guest conductor throughout Europe, he has appeared with such orchestras as the Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, Spain, for repeat engagements, as well as the Bucharest (Romania) Radio Orchestra, Lodz (Poland) Philharmonic, and the Moscow (Russia) Chamber Symphony.
Now in its 26th season of providing classical music concerts, the Bay-Atlantic Symphony performs concerts and educational programs in Cumberland, Atlantic, Gloucester, and Cape May counties. The orchestra-in-residence of the Cape May Music Festival since 2003, it is also the resident orchestra of the Guaracini Fine and Performing Arts Center and the Stockton College Performing Arts Center. It has received worldwide exposure through its appearance on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition.
“The PNC Foundation has a long history of providing grants to non-profit organizations that strengthen and enrich the lives of our neighbors,” said Bill Mills, president of PNC for Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. “We understand the valuable return that investing in the arts can deliver. Today more than ever, the businesses we attract, the jobs we create and the visitors who extend their stay are drawn by what South Jersey has to offer.”
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com) is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management; asset management and global fund services.