This week marks the opening performances of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s Princeton Festival, which runs through June 22. While the headlining event of the annual musical celebration is a fully staged opera — this year, Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” — additional programming ranges from Baroque classics to Broadway tunes and modern takes on old favorites.
The festival continues to make its home on the grounds of Princeton’s Morven Museum & Garden, where a tented pavilion allows performance to take place rain or shine. Two additional performances are scheduled for Princeton’s Trinity Church.
Friday, June 7, 8 p.m.
The festival’s opening day features a program of favorite arias sung by soprano Angel Blue, joined by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. The winner of two Grammy Awards, Blue most recently performed with the Metropolitan Opera and the Orchestre de Paris. She also appeared as Leonora in Verdi’s “Il trovatore” at the San Francisco Opera.
In her Princeton appearance she will perform arias by Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, and George Gershwin, while the PSO performs orchestral pieces by Antonín Dvořák, Giacomo Puccini, Ruperto Chapí, and Frederick Delius.
“Her voice, her presence, and grace make her a joy to collaborate with,” said PSO Music Director Rossen Milanov. “New Jersey is her home, and I’m delighted that she has returned to share the gift of her voice with our Festival family and friends at the start of this year’s celebration of the performing arts.”
Saturday, June 8, 7 p.m.
The music of rock ’n’ roll icon Tina Turner is next, as the Broadway star LaKisha Jones and guest conductor Lucas Waldin partner with the PSO for a live concert presentation centered on the artist’s mega hits such as “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Simply the Best,” “Proud Mary,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” and others.
Jones was a single mother working at a bank when she appeared on the sixth season of the television program “American Idol.” She has since appeared on Broadway in “The Color Purple” and released an album, “So Glad I’m Me.”
Waldin, a native of Toronto, Canada, has had wide-ranging influence as a conductor, working with everyone from pop stars like Carly Rae Jepsen and Ben Folds to prominent symphony orchestras in the U.S. and Canada.
Sunday, June 9
Family day at the Princeton Festival comes in three parts, starting with a free yoga class for ages 10 and up on Morven’s front lawn at 9 a.m. Activities for children continue from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. with a middle school Listen Up! art exhibit opening, plus free hands-on musical activities and treats. The day’s headliner is Sonia De Los Santos, whose bilingual family concert starts at 4 p.m.
De Los Santos and her band perform original songs sung in Spanish and English. The show incorporates stories about some of the singer’s favorite things — migrating birds, friendship, and chocolate — and about growing up in Mexico and realizing her childhood dream of moving to New York.
Thursday, June 13, 7 p.m.
The Abeo Quartet gives one of two classical concerts set to take place at Princeton’s Trinity Church at 33 Mercer Street. The quartet formed at Juilliard in 2018 and currently consists of members Njioma Grevious, violin, Rebecca Benjamin, violin, James Kang, viola, and Macintyre Taback, cello. The name “Abeo” is an expression of joy in Nigerian dialect that symbolizes the group’s passion for playing and sharing music.
The program for the quartet’s Princeton Festival debut includes Reena Esmail’s String Quartet “Ragamala,” Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 122, and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden.”
Friday and Tuesday, June 14 and 18, 7 p.m.; Sunday, June 16, 4 p.m.
The centerpiece of the festival is a fresh production of Mozart’s comic opera “Così fan tutte.” The romantic comedy first performed in Vienna in 1790 features stage direction by James Marvel, scenic design by Blair Mielnik, and score performed by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rossen Milanov.
The performance, in Italian with English subtitles, stars Aubry Ballarò and Alexis Peart as sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella; David Walton as Ferrando, a lover of Dorabella; Benjamin Taylor as Guglielmo, a lover of Fiordiligi; Jeremy Harr as Don Alfonso, an old philosopher; and Zulimar López-Hernández as Despina, a maid.
Two lectures accompany performances of the opera. Both are held in the Stockton Education Center at Morven.
On Friday, June 14, at 5:30 p.m., ahead of opening night, composer Julian Grant discusses how Mozart creates a comic opera by humanizing the sometimes cynical and sexist hi-jinks within “Così fan tutte.” On Tuesday, June 18, at 5:30 p.m. Dr. Timothy Urban, a musicologist affiliated with Rider University’s Westminster Conservatory and Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, examines the displays of Mozart’s genius in the musical highlights and intricacies of plot in “Così fan tutte.”
Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.
“Interwoven: American Repertory Ballet + PSO Strings” is a program of dance works with a string ensemble conducted by Rossen Milanov and featuring choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Rainey, with music by Glass, Grieg, Scripp, and Sibelius.
Wednesday, June 19, 7 p.m.
In honor of Juneteenth, 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. Other groups performing include the Capital Singers Women’s Ensemble, Caritas Chamber Chorale, Elmwood Concert Singers, St. David the King, Trenton Children’s Chorus, and Trenton’s Union Baptist Church. The program will feature Robert Ray’s iconic Gospel Mass with additional choral selections highlighting the joy and spirit of Black music.
Several Juneteenth festivities precede the concert. At 1 p.m. there is a flag raising led by the municipality of Princeton, and from 4 to 7 p.m. is a community celebration featuring anti-racist groups, social justice organizations, art organizations, and community groups.
Thursday, June 20, 7 p.m.
The second concert held at Trinity Church will be baroque ensemble The Sebastians making their third Princeton Festival appearance. Their program, “Brandenburgs and More,” features three of J.S. Bach’s beloved “Brandenburg” concerti along with classic works by Telemann and Vivaldi. The Sebastians are currently in residence at the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments.
Friday, June 21, 7 p.m.
Empire Wild is a genre-bending, Juilliard-trained classical crossover trio featuring two cellos, piano, and vocals. In this captivating program, the group brings its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon. Its members are cellists Ken Kubota and Mitch Lyon, and pianist Ji-Yong Kim.
Saturday, June 22, 7 p.m.
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. The intimate performance includes Broadway songs and favorite melodies accompanied by pianist, interspersed with personal anecdotes revealing the star’s natural charm and good humor.
Morven’s performance pavilion is located at 55 Stockton Street, Princeton. For tickets and more information, visit www.princetonsymphony.org/festival.
