When you have a Spring day with a friend, what better way to spend it than music? The first weekend in April, the Sunday concert NJ Symphony began with Tchaikovsky’s Polonaise from Eugene Onegin conducted by Gregory D. McDaniel. Its majestic opening evolves into a playful energetic invitation to the dance that’s perfect for Spring. Flutes in the central section bow to the grace of the cello who then nods back to flute. Rich and beautiful, the joy of the season burbles up through even a rainy day. McDaniel brings such joie de vivre, you feel it through the entire house.
Diaspora: Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra, Billy Childs’ masterful work, brings Music Director Xian Zhang to the podium with Steven Banks on Soprano and Alto sax. Percussion lends sense of motion while Soprano sax has an energetic moving line that seems adventurous as the work takes us through the Black American experience. Commissioned for Banks, the movements are interlocking starting with Motherland based on “Africa’s Lament” by Nayyirah Waheed. Taking melodies and weaving them through, the next movement “If We Must Die” takes Claude McKay’s poem of the same name as its source material. The Soprano sax is eloquent in its expression of bewilderment, despair and when the piano and orchestra engage in a dialogue with the Alto sax, it is a 4D conversation that spans time. It unites past, present and future with danger expressed in percussion and strings. The maelstrom is textural, rangy and violent. The opening of the third movement, based on “And Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou begins with an Alto sax solo for which Banks moved to the center of the orchestra where a gospel flavor on sax and piano fold us in the arms of hope. Banks moved forward again with the return of the motif with support from the orchestra. Smooth, warm and sweet, Banks builds to a majestic finish that rises up from your toes to wrap around your heart. Returning to the Soprano sax for a high keening call to action, then a flourish, Banks followed up his virtuosity with an arrangement of The Lord’s Prayer. Plaintive, pure tone, wholly his own. With quotes of Ave Maria.
Yet, the second act featuring Beethoven’s Ninth put the capstone on the afternoon. Xian Zhang conducted this powerful work with discernment and great skill, calling each section to its finest performances.
Allegro ma non troppo, in poco maestoso - small snippets of sound trickle then become a torrent, flirting with voice and dynamics in instruments that Beethoven echos during the choral sections. This movement sets the stage thrillingly for what is to come in every sense of the impending Romantic period.
Molto vivace - the familiar rhythms ring out and you get a true sense of Beethoven’s mastery. He gives us a romp of exuberance and antic play. Yet, when he was composing this, he was profoundly deaf - this magnificence becomes genius.
Adagio molto e cantabile - after the verve and energy, this adagio is beautifully rounded with regal brass alternating with the warm smoothness of singing strings. A sense of grace permeates the movement and with Nature’s abundance in bloom outside, all seems one.
Presto - Allegro assai- Allegro assai vivace - the thrilling final movement marks the first time a symphony includes a vocal secton. Beethoven chose Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” for its call for humanity to be one and now more than ever, we need to listen.
Special thanks to soloists Reginald Smith, Jr baritone leading off with the richness of message and mien. The quartet then added Felicia Moore, whose glorious soprano sailed. Kelley O’Connor’s mezzo and Issachah Savage as tenor gave glorious timbre to the tapestry of sound with Mr Savage getting his spotlight with the Chorale. The many voices of the Montclair State University Chorale, Heather Buchanan, Director, act as a precision instrument. Before Phil Spektor, Beethoven knew how to create a wall with music. Thrillingly executed Springtime perfection.

Select tickets are available now for the 2025-26 season now at www.njsymphony.org.