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William Paterson University to Present New Century Chamber Orchestra Featuring Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

--Performance to include Barber’s Adagio for Strings, as well as works by Rossini, Bolcom, and Mendelssohn

The New Century Chamber Orchestra, led by the world-renowned violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, will present an exciting program of chamber music during a concert at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, November 13 at 3 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus.

Tickets for the event, part of the University’s Vistas Series, are $25 for Gold Circle, $20 for orchestra, and $15 for loge. Free rear loge seats are available for students and senior citizen groups. Parking is free.

The program will feature a variety of chamber works, including Samuel Barber’s 1936 work Adagio for Strings, which is well known from many TV and film soundtracks, including Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning film, Platoon. Other works to be performed include Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Rossini’s String Sonata No. 1 in G Major, and Bolcom’s Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, “Romanza,” a 2010 work commissioned by and written for Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.

Salerno-Sonnenberg, one of the world’s leading violinists, is in her third season as music director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra. Founded in 1992 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the ensemble seeks fresh, exciting ways to present classical music by combining performances of extraordinary quality with innovative programming. Comprised of San Francisco-area musicians and others who travel from across the U.S. and Europe to perform in the Bay Area together, the ensemble performs without a conductor. In addition to presenting classic pieces of chamber orchestra repertoire, New Century commissions important new works, performs world premieres and brings pieces from other genres such as jazz and rock into the chamber orchestra setting.

A highly acclaimed soloist and recording artist, Salerno-Sonnenberg has won accolades for her exhilarating performances, passionate interpretations, musical depth and unique charisma. Her professional career began in 1981 when she won the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. In 1983 she was recognized with an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 1999, she was honored with the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, awarded to instrumentalists who have demonstrated “outstanding achievement and excellence in music.”

Salerno-Sonnenberg has released dozens of recordings, including several on her own label, NSS Music, founded in 2005. She has performed with orchestras around the world and played at the White House. The subject of the 2000 Academy Award-nominated film, Speaking in Strings, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Salerno-Sonnenberg has been interviewed and profiled on numerous television programs, including CBS’s 60 Minutes, and PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center and The Charlie Rose Show, among others.

For tickets or information, call the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.wplive.org.

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