Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, based in the West Windsor and Plainsboro area, is presenting its annual holiday concert on Sunday, December 8, at 7 p.m., at Princeton Alliance Church in Plainsboro. The orchestra includes professional musicians, high-level amateurs, university students, and gifted pre-college students. Its conductor, Chiu-Tze Lin, has performed around the world and is active throughout the tri-state area.
Violinist Cheng-Chih Kevin Tsai of West Windsor is the newly appointed concertmaster of the orchestra. A native of Taiwan, Tsai is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including winner of both the Chi-Mei and the Taiwan National Violin competitions and was also the first recipient of the Darrow Prize from the Killington Music Festival.
He has given solo recitals and master classes and performed as a soloist and in string quartets in many major cities in North America, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Tsai, who earned his doctoral degree of musical arts from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, has appeared in concert at Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. He is a member of Princeton Symphony and Princeton ProMusica orchestras. He has served as the concertmaster in the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and Sinfonietta Nova.
A community chorus of singers from area choruses and church choirs present selections from the Christmas section of Handel’s “Messiah.” John Leonard, director of choral activities at the College of New Jersey, conducts.
The concert will also feature the world premiere of “A Christmas for Everyone” by Matthew Liu, 17, a senior at Marlboro High School. The composition is a musical journey for choir and orchestra that takes its audience around the world with Latin dance rhythms, Asian sounds, and music from Europe.
NaYoung Yang, a senior at the Biotech Vocational High School of Monmouth County, is concertmaster of the Bravura Youth Orchestra. She will perform the Scottish Fantasy by Bruch.
The concert program will include the “Water Music” by Handel, a lively celebration of Russian tradition with the overture to Glinka’s “Ruslan and Ludmilla,” and “Festive Sounds of Hanukkah.” The audience will be invited to join in the holiday music sing-along at the end of the concert.
Concert, Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, Princeton Alliance Church, 20 Schalks Crossing Road, Plainsboro. Sunday, December 8, 7 p.m. “Holiday Joy from Near and Far.” $15 to $25. 609-790-9559. www.bravuraphil.org.
