New Jersey Youth Symphony to present challenging repertoire under Bryttan's baton (10/24/99)

New Jersey Youth Symphony to present challenging repertoire under Bryttan's baton

MURRAY HILL, N.J. - There are numerous professional orchestras that have never attempted to perform the complete Act I from Wagner's "Die Walküre," but that is precisely what the New Jersey Youth Symphony, under Adrian Bryttan, will present at its final concert this season.

Starting his third year as music director, Maestro Bryttan has programmed the most challenging repertoire for his high school-aged 90-member orchestra. Moreover, this will be the first time that a youth orchestra has been invited to perform as part of the Seton Hall University International Music Festival, where the other participating performers are professional ensembles from Europe, including the Moscow Chamber Orchestra.

Rachmaninoff's monumental Second Symphony will be at the heart of the Seton Hall concert program. Featured soloist at the concert will be soprano Liuba Shchybchyk, who will sing well-known arias by Verdi and Puccini. Ms. Shchybchyk was trained in Lviv and engaged by the Kyiv National Children's Theater before coming to the United States to make her stage debut as "Madama Butterfly" with the New Rochelle Opera last year. Ms. Shchybchyk has performed widely for Ukrainian audiences throughout the United States and has appeared in the Music and Art Center of Greene County summer concert series at the Grazhda in Hunter, N.Y.

The Seton Hall concert with Ms. Shchybchyk will take place November 16 at 8 p.m. and the same program will also be played earlier at the John Harms Theater on November 7 at 3 p.m. (The John Harms Theater is located just minutes from the George Washington Bridge.)

On February 6 at 3 p.m. at the Community Theater in Morristown, Mr. Bryttan will conduct a program featuring Richard Strauss' demanding and brilliant tone poem "Death and Transformation."

To be able to guide teenage players to stylishly execute such complex music, Mr. Bryttan spends countless hours meticulously editing and marking all the orchestral parts in order that the actual rehearsal time can be minimal and utilized to the best advantage. The soloist for this second program will be Luis Rodrigues, the young prize-winning pianist from Puerto Rico, performing the Piano Concertino by Roberto Milano. Rounding out this program will be Handel's "Water Music."

The final concert of the season will be a gala performance to be held May 13, 2000, at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. It is at this concert that the complete first act from Wagner's "Die Walküre" will be performed.

Mr. Bryttan has assembled a cast that will include bass Gustavo Halley of the Kansas City Opera and heldentenor Stefano Algieri, who just this year signed a contact with the Metropolitan Opera as a cover for "Tristan und Isolde."

To attempt to prepare such a demanding program with an orchestra that meets only once a week requires extensive preparation. Successful preparation is due, in no small measure, to Mr. Bryttan's extensive operatic experience with many theaters here and abroad, including opera houses in Lviv and Kharkiv.

For additional information about the individual concerts and to be placed on the NJYS mailing list call (908) 771-5544.

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