Conductor Xian Zhang. Photo: Cherylynn Tsushima
“On a recent afternoon at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center here, a scaled-down contingent of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra played its first concert program since March,” writes Steve Smith in Wednesday’s (11/4) New York Times. Music Director Xian Zhang conducted “the premiere of ‘i am a white person who _____ Black people’ … for strings and percussion by Daniel Bernard Roumain, [and] the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, a buoyant Mozart divertimento and ‘Delights & Dances,’ a frolicsome modern concerto grosso by Michael Abels…. Thursday’s performance [was recorded for] a six-concert virtual orchestral season…. In late September, Ms. Zhang conducted the Seattle Symphony…. Just over a week later, she made her debut with the Houston Symphony…. This week, Ms. Zhang will [conduct] the Detroit Symphony Orchestra [in] Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s ‘Primal Message,’ [and] the world premiere of ‘For Marcos Balter,’ a piece for violin and orchestra by Tyshawn Sorey, featuring the dynamic violinist Jennifer Koh…. Ms. Zhang said the New Jersey Symphony has set itself apart … by its commitment to reflecting New Jersey’s diversity onstage and in its programming…. ‘It’s very simple,’ she said. ‘We need to change…. We need to open up the repertoire.’ ”
