“A new group of musicians has joined forces to launch the fledgling Montclair Orchestra” in Montclair, New Jersey, writes Natalie Pompilio in Monday’s (10/16) Star-Ledger (NJ). “The company’s inaugural concert, ‘Operatic Connections’ … on Sunday … includes Verdi’s ‘La forza del destino’ overture and soprano Ying Fang.” The orchestra’s music director is David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the president is Andre Weker. Five 2017-18 concerts in Montclair are planned. Weker “spent more than a year … establishing a board of directors and raising money to pay musicians…. The orchestra is … composed of professional musicians; students from nearby conservatories, including Montclair State University’s John J. Cali School of Music; and skilled … avocational players…. Chan—who is the founder and artistic director of Musique et Vin au Clos Vougeot, in the Burgundy region of France—said he likes the idea of pairings …The inaugural concert opens with an opera overture, moves to [Mozart’s Symphony No. 29] and ends with a Mahler symphony [No. 4] that features a soprano solo…. ‘It really has this thread and narrative of the human voice throughout the program,’ said Chan…. ‘We thought it was perfect because of my own roots at the Met.’ ”
Posted October 18, 2017
