New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

The NJSO played the music and captivated the audience with the beauty of the notes.

Saw Jason Alexander in Las Vegas loved the diverse show With His Hair. This show had no comedy with an emphasis performing obscure Broadway show tunes with the quality New Jersey Symphony. Some song and dance is great not the entire show. Go back to the more enjoyable comedy and song and dance. Sorry not my preference of presentation. Theater is wonderful.

Although the show was excellent, I was expecting more of the Afro-Cuban sounds and music as advertised.

Randy Johnson from Zebra did a good job of keeping up with Plant. Different twist in listening to Zep music, very enjoyable. NJPAC is a classy place and was a perfect setting for this type of venue.

I purchased these Tickets originally for my husband but to my surprise, I myself had such a GREAT time and so did he, so much so I got lucky ! Whoo Hoo !

My first time at the pak and first time seeing an orchestra was better than I ever imagined The venue and the performance was fantastic

The theater is lovely and my seats in the second-tier front enabled me to see the stage fine. The orchestra was spot-on; they performed well and the musical arrangement and conducting was great. The drummer, bass player, and guitarist were outstanding--the best thing about the performance. Lead singer of Zebra hit most of the high Plant notes but his carriage, performance and enthusiasm were somewhat lackluster and deflating (at least one hair-toss, crotch-grab or hand-in-air wrist twist would have gone far here). I liked that the performers followed the originals (time sigs, flourishes, notes, etc) without much deviation or interpretation. However, my main complaint was that it wasn't loud enough, not by a long shot. The audience needs to feel the music; have it move and surround them. We wanted a lush orchestral wave to rock us, especially for songs like "Kashmir." Orchestrating Led Zep tunes was a brilliant move but loses its power when we all have to strain to hear it. Many audience members down in front even called out between songs to turn it up but were unfortunately ignored.

Played really well, excellent coordination with the symphony, fun. Played mostly popular hits.

The show was amazing. A tight rock band playing songs almost note for not surrounded by full orchestra. The vocals were excellent and the light show was tastefully done. It was great to hear these songs live after all these years. The music lent itself well to the orchestra and the songs spanned their entire career. We'll never hear Plant sing the songs again (I don't blame him, he can't hit the notes anymore) so this was an unexpected pleasure. Highly recommend to any Zep fan of any age.

It was a great performance and would come again if offered. Usually do the "Classic Album live when they do the Led Zepplin show and this show was almost as good as them.

Great! Even better than I thought it would be! Randy jackson knows exactly how to play the part...

If you're a Led Zepp fan, and like the idea of different arrangements you'll enjoy the show. They play all the favorites and play them very well. My only drawbacks are that the performance is slightly slowed down a couple beats/minute, resulting in a few "flat" areas, and the audio mixing did not bring out the Violins/Brass/Woodwinds which was the main draw for me. Props to the conductor who wrote the arrangements, great ideas, and well done. More violins please - and bring them out with stronger audio pop!

Loved the Beethoven works but thought the works by Previn and Cone were unpleasant to the ear. Awful, in plain English.

Beethoven is always wonderful and the symphonies were payed superbly by the NJSO. The US debut of the Previn concerto for Cello and Orchestra was a real event. The music was unusually melodious for a modern piece, the young cellist was outstanding, as was the orchestra. To add to the excitement, Mr Previn, the composer was in the audience. An unforgettable concert!

This was by far the best concert we've ever attended! And we have been concert goers for many years. We enjoyed every minute of it as did the entire audience and the orchestra and conductor. Was sad when it had to end, after approximately four curtain calls. Bravo!

Wonderful concert. Introduction by conductor informative and helpful.

I took my Mother (70yrs old) and my daughter (13 yrs old) and we all enjoyed the concert very much. The conductor did a fantastic job explaining each piece to the audience. I would go back and see the NJSO anytime!

I'm just a simple college student watching the concert for the written concert critique. I really enjoyed the concert and hope to find similar concert sometimes soon.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 01/15 performance. It was fabulous.

The conductor was fantastic! He had a great sense of humor and really tried to tell the story to the audience of each piece before it was performed by the orchestra. I would definitely recommend this to anyone!

Delightful concert on a cold winter's afternoon. The Moldau, Fingal's Cave, etc. Very much enjoyed John Hancock's wonderful singing particularly on the Chausson - what a gorgeous piece. If only all the patrons had turned off their cell phone ringers. At least three went off during the concert. Argh!!!!

We attended the Sunday, Oct. 17 concert. The professionalism of the symphony members and guest artists was a true treat. To add to the overall enjoyment of the concert, the conductor explained each piece prior to our hearing it, supplying background information and musical nuances for which to listen. My companion and I were in another world consisting of nothing but glorious music by one of history's greatest composers.

fantastic, i was very happy to have discovered the njso . the conductor was marvelous, very personable.

The conductor and orchestra were FIVE STARS all the way! Synopsis of each piece was clear, precise and entertaining. Enjoyed each musical piece, some with accompanying choral presentation. I would highly recommend that everyone see the NJ Symphony as they are amazingly talented and their work is wonderful. However, I think that 1.5 hours of entertainment for the price of the ticket was a bit skimpy. There was no intermission, some of the played pieces were very short, and even when the group got a standing ovation, they didn't do an encore piece. That was disappointing. Everyone sitting around me said that the concert should have been longer. Doing this review is exasperating due to choosing a nickname! Too difficult to do this!

It was a wonderful experience. I was a bit disappointed that the orchestra did not play "1812".

Wow, what a show- It truly moved my soul. An amazing interactive conductor- who inbetween movements, delivered fasinating stories and facts about the life of Tchaikovsky and his music. The orchestra had an enormous amount of energy, and were able to transport me away to a different world. I was sorry that it had to end

With one original new piece debuting and Prokofiev and Respighi, this concert was a delight. We especially enjoyed the way conductor ran the Respighi Fountains and Pines of Rome together to create one flowing piece. Marvelous!

Loved every moment. Engaging conductor, great host, costumed attendees were awesome. Music was spot on and popular picks.

Event was as expected. Good music, good food at Nico\u2018s. I would definitely recommend.

This is a well though and fun show. I love the parts that they explained and showed how to play family of musical instruments. Although it is an hour long, not every kid was happy and be seated still. I would recommend it for young school age kids and older toddlers who like music, planets or Star War. Please don't waste your time and money if you have a (young) toddler who has 10 minute attention span. Otherwise other concert goers would not be happy with you. I wish I can give 4 and 1/2 stars for this program, but it has to be a 4 or 5...

Beethoven's 5th Symphony failed to be impressive due to a lack of sound amplification from the orchestra. Perched on the 1st Tier of the NJPAC, we all struggled to hear this great composition. Though the sound mixing equipment was turned on, just not sure the volume was turned up. Better luck next time.

Very enjoyable. Would have loved to see a camera projecting Maestro Zhang's face on a large screen as she conducted the orchestra. She was beyond amazing!

The best rendition of this concerto I have experienced!!! I have seen this piano concerto three times, and this was the most enjoyable I have seen. It was spot on! The music was so authentic to the original version, and the pianist was excellent!!! I recommend seeing the NJ Symphony Orchestra for their perfect performance! Bravo!!!

Highly recommend. Show was funny and songs they played were so good. Dance numbers were amazing also.

Where to begin? I brought my 4 year-old to this show. My son was looking forward to this show for weeks. He loved the instrument petting zoo beforehand, but it was all downhill from there. Fast forward past the stale $5 bag of M&Ms. The theater was full of parents with children, eagerly anticipating the show to come. After an introduction of all of the instrument families, the "show" finally began. It consisted of a guy reading lines of the story, pausing while the orchestra played the musical interpretation of the different lines. There were NO visual aids during the performance, even though there was a screen behind the orchestra. How hard would it have been to display, not even videos, but just pictures of the characters when they appeared in the story?? Also, the orchestra was not even into the performance. Members kept getting up, leaving, and coming back. And when it was over, it was just over. The lights turned on, and the orchestra just got up and left. It was 45 minutes long, and VERY low budget - totally not worth the price paid both for the length and the lack of visuals. This was supposed to be a show for CHILDREN. Judging by the response of the vast majority of children in the theater, It was not appealing to children under the age of 8.

NJ symphony was excellent! Enjoyed the music and dancing!

Peter and the Wolf was a great children's event. What a wonderful way to introduce children to music and instruments. My daughter learned about Peter from her prek teacher two years ago so this was an incredible opportunity to watch it performed live. We came all the way from Queens NY as there is no other event out there like this!

Amazing music complementing an excellent movie. Would definitely do it again.

Well, it snowed all day, and I live an hour away The venue said they only cancel if a "state of emergency " is declared I wasn't about to put my entire family at risk and drive up there during the height of the storm

I sat up in 3rd tier-- very poor seating choice since the theatre has no real microphone setup to carry the sounds of the instruments up throughout the theatre properly. I felt bored and sleepy during the first half. The music was lovely, but slow and low in sound quality/- i was disappointed and bored. The 2nd half picked up - but i decided to change my seat. I snuck mysef into an empty seat in 2nd row orchestra where the sound quality was much better! The music itself seemed to pick up tempo so it was far more enjoyable then.

Short and sweet, funny and memorable. They interacted with the kids & made it special

The NJSO, along with the Montclair State choir, brought the time-honored Messiah by Handel to life on Dec 20th at NJPAC. Every detail was delicately cared for, and the results spoke for themselves. All four of the soloists were on their game, and the performance moved along a brisk pace under the diligent control of the conductor. Well done indeed! A perfect 2.5 hr afternoon to bask in the beauty of the Christmas holiday.

Beautifully done in partnership with Montclair State University singers. Most professional, soloists were outstanding; in fact, everything was! First professional concert with my grandson who sings Chamber Choir and plays trombone. He loved it - could there be a better review?

I was really looking forward to the uplifting experience of this performance for the holiday season. Overall, I enjoyed the performance even more this year than with past performances because I had recently read some Biblical commentaries on Isaiah and Luke, and that deepened the experience of this performance for me. Of course, the principal singers are important to the performance. The soprano was superb and the tenor was very good. The one downside to the performance was that during the magnificent Hallelujah chorus, a couple behind me seemed to think that they were not only supposed to stand up, but also sing along. Given that this is the anticipated moment for this performance that was indeed unfortunate. Perhaps a reminder in the program to stand, but not sing during the chorus.

This year's performance was not as moving and uplifting as last year. The soprano was wonderful, the mezzo soprano and tenor good and bass only fair. The halleluiah chorus was less than awe inspiring. I look forward to attending a performance of Messiah each year. This is my 2nd year attending at NJPAC. Rather disappointed in this year's performance.

All the musicians, lead singers, choir, and conductor- inspired and inspirstional! I thank them all, as I hear " .... King of kings, and Lord of lords..." on my mind'S ear, .....

This was a great concert, especially the lead violin, cello and bassist. The soprano was fantastic, the bass superb. The only reason why 4 stars and not 5, is that the chorus was a bit weak for bass voices.

Sound and video quality were excellent, as was the orchestra's performance! The venue was fantastic and the availability of snacks ordinarily found in movie theaters (e.g. popcorn) was a nice touch. Overall an excellent event!

The girls choir singers from NJ were absolutely amazing! They literally sounded like one beautiful voice, and added such spirit and liveliness to the commercial movie. A surprising treat to enjoy the talent of such a young choir, truly inspiring. My only complaint would be they should have performed more!

The pairing of Cirque de la Symphonie with NJSO was nothing short of perfection. It was a beautiful and well-coordinated production. This show was truly a unique and wonderful experience. It was a beautiful marriage of graceful and elegant acrobatics accompanied by the classical masterpieces played perfectly by NJSO. Bravo!

Unfortunately when NJPAC was opened, they forgot to tell the neighborhood that people would be visiting Newark. No restaurants open on a Saturday night in the area, and the restaurant/bar called Nico's in NJPAC decided to have a Prix Fixe menu at $49 only, no exceptions including children. This left the restaurant 80% empty and the bar area too packed to get a drink. The actual performance was forgettable as the selection of music was from "The Best of Otis", the elevator variety unfortunately. The highlights of previous shows were missing as was the excitement level. The conductor's introduction to acts was unnecessary and sounded like an audition for a roving reporter on the local news.

I bought tickets for 2 of NJSO's performances at Bergen PAC this season as a Christmas gift for my brother (a classically trained guitarist) and me. Both performances met and exceeded our expectations, and left us wanting more. We agreed that NJSO performances will now be regular annual gifts.

Sarah Chang played for 10 minutes only. The rest of the concert was fair. Price as high as Avery Fisher Hall and acoustics poor.

The first piece "Petrushka" was OK but without the ballet less enjoyable. "Scheherazade" was wonderful.

In all fairness, it was only because I truly thought it was going to be more of a "Music" experience, as opposed to hearing vocals all night long. I was bamboozled into going by my hubby and best friends. Both men are Zep freaks, so no-brainer for their liking of it. We wives were happy to head out to the bar when the occasion allowed. I think Robert Plant at his age would still move around a hell of a lot more than the guy we saw! :( If you are a die-hard Zeppelin fan, go see Jason Bonham play. His tribute will satisfy you soooo much more.

This is an amazing combination. Hard driving rock with a backdrop of stringed beauty creates an experience that I hope will come around again.