New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) continued its dazzling film series with the classic film “The Empire Strikes Back!” From January 3 through 6, fans could choose among six different showings from Red Bank to Newark to New Brunswick and the fans showed up in droves!
Greeted by favorite Star Wars characters at the 3 pm show on January 5 at Newark’s NJPAC, the audience was thronging around for pictures with Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and R2D2, to name a few! The all-ages audience had amazing energy and there were many young people for whom this was clearly their first time out.
Constantine Kitsopoulos conducted the score and this is no mean feat. Staying in tempo in concert is one thing, playing in concert with a moving film is something else entirely! Brennan Sweet was our Concertmaster for the 3 pm show and hearing the famous themes and music was thrilling with this showing. Maestro Kitsopoulos encouraged the audience members to react to what was happening on film, cheering and booing when characters appeared. I was a bit surprised at how many people cheered for Darth Vader, but then a lot of folks love a good villain and Vader is truly a dastardly one.
Pro tip for regulars at NJPAC–when attending a film in concert, people with children may want to get orchestra seats to get the full effect of the energy around them. If you enjoy hearing the orchestra, and seeing what they are doing while you are watching the film, you may want to consider sitting in one of the upper tiers. The music is glorious and for those of us who like to watch world class musicians, you can see every single one—even percussionists—and the experience is, well, heavenly!
Join me at the 2019 Winter Festival, “Music Speaks,” featuring Emanuel Ax, Dawn Upshaw and Daniil Trifonov, starting January 10–get your tickets now for the very best seats at www.njsymphony.org.