The New Jersey Symphony, led by conductor Xian Zhang, presented a thrilling evening of works both expected, and unexpected, on Friday,  March 14, 2025, at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University. 

 

The first half of the evening, with works by Debussy/Caplet, and Nico Muhly, was led by guest conductor Gregory D. McDaniel. The second half of the evening, the Second Symphony by Sergei Rachmaninoff, was led by the Music Director. All three works were thrillingly realized by the excellent artists gathered for this occasion.

 

Clair de Lune is rarely played hereabouts, and young Maestro McDaniel led the piece in splendid form. Nico Muhly’s Sounding for Piano and Orchestra introduced the startlingly handsome, and startlingly talented, pianist Adam Tendler. Mr. Tendler bounced boyishly onto the stage in an extremely flattering velour body sheath, accentuating his virile physique, and bulging biceps. Indeed, many in the audience thought him a twunk. He may be classical pianism’s answer to TikTok’s Donut Daddy. But we soon learned once we heard him play the work he commissioned from Nico Muhly, that we were hearing a fine and sensitive pianist. The large orchestra, led by the young Maestro McDaniel,  thrillingly realized the brilliant intent of the piece, and inspired Mr. Tendler to bardic splendor. Many in the audience hearing this new piece were immediately taken back to the American music that accompanied Erick Hawkins Dance Company, seen decades before in New York City. Indeed, Adam Tendler has said that the musical landscape was inspired by American hymns.