New Sussex Symphony’s Family Concert returns
Sparta. Sussex Symphony Orchestra’s Family Concert is Sunday, March 13 (rescheduled from March 12 due to snow). The one-hour, family-friendly event takes the audience on a trip through musical history, covering everything from Beethoven to “Star Wars.”
When Celine Hong won the New Sussex Symphony’s inaugural competition for high school musicians, she was just 14, and among the youngest to audition.
Little did anyone know at the time that her age would prove to be crucial, for her solo performance with the orchestra was abruptly cancelled in March of 2020 when Covid-19 suddenly swept into New Jersey.
Now, two years later, Hong gets a second chance to showcase her talent at the orchestra’s annual Family Concert at Sparta High School on Sunday, March 13. Had she been older when she won the competition, she would be away at college, or otherwise unavailable to perform.
This one-hour, family-friendly concert takes the audience on a trip through musical history, covering everything from Beethoven to “Star Wars.”
Hong’s audition impressed judges for the first annual Karen Pinoci Young Artist Competition, named in honor of the orchestra’s late conductor.
“Ms. Hong played with astonishing virtuosity and sensuous phrasing,” said Jordan Brown, now the orchestra’s conductor and music director. “She is genuine star material, in my opinion, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear her.”
Funding has been made available in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the State/County Partnership Block Grant Program, as administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council and supported by the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
The concert begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 13, and is free to children 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult. Tickets, which are $10 for seniors and students, and $15 for adults, are available at the door.