PROGRAM TO FEATURE NEW JERSEY ARMY NATIONAL GUARD 63RD ARMY BAND
STRAUSS MEETS SOUSA
Date: Saturday, November 23, 2019
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, 716 Watchung Avenue, Plainfield, NJ
$65 reserved seating/$45 general admission / $30 seniors & students
For tickets & information: 908-561-5140 / www.plainfieldsymphony.org
Plainfield, NJ – The Plainfield Symphony Orchestra welcomes acclaimed tenors Brian Cheney and Steven Scheschareg, along with the New Jersey Army National Guard 63rd Army Band, for the second concert of the Symphony’s 100th season. Under the baton of Maestro Charles Prince, the program will feature lively waltzes, polkas and marches.
“PSO’s November concert is traditionally a lighter concert to launch the holiday season,” said Rebecca Perkins, president of the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra. “These selections from Maestro Prince give us the opportunity to enjoy PSO’s favorite waltzes and to welcome a military band for Sousa marches. While this may seem an unlikely pairing, it is a nod to Plainfield’s history. When John Phillip Sousa formed his band in 1872, he gave his first public performance in Plainfield.”
One of PSO’s favorite guest soloists, tenor Steven Scheschareg, returns for this concert. A winner of the prestigious George London Prize of the Vienna State Opera, Scheschareg gained his early experiences in numerous Broadway musicals. As a concert singer, he performs regularly in Vienna’s Konzerthaus, New York’s Lincoln Center, and other prestigious venues.
Making his PSO debut is Brian Cheney, one of today's most versatile and exciting tenors. He is an accomplished recitalist performing recitals and concerts internationally, with performances in cities from Montreal, Vienna, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia to his New York City recital debut at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall.
The program will feature selections from Strauss (Die Fledermaus) and Lehar (The Merry Widow) as well as familiar waltzes and polkas. Cheney will also sing one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera, “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s opera Turandot.
Concertgoers and friends of PSO are invited to an afterparty at duCret School of Art, 1030 Central Avenue, Plainfield, NJ. New Jersey’s oldest art school, duCret is housed in the historic Wardlaw Mansion and has been featured on a PSO holiday house tour. Admission, which includes a full buffet supper and bar, is $50 and tickets can be purchased at www.plainfieldsymphony.org or paid at the door with a reservation.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra is New Jersey’s oldest community symphony and the third oldest continuously operating community symphony in the United States. Under the direction of Charles Prince, the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra represents the highest standard in musical excellence in programs designed to educate and uplift local audiences. Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through a grant administered by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs. Additional funding has been received from a 2018 HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.