A Baroque Beginning

February 6, 2013, 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Jim Wise Theater, NJIT Main Campus

NJIT’s Technology and Society Forum, which celebrates artistic creativity and offers incisive social commentary, will launch its 2013 presentations with a performance by members of the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey (BONJ).

Program selections will include Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel, Symphony 25 by Mozart and Mark Twain and the General, a chamber opera with music by Dr. Robert W. Butts, who founded BONJ in 1996 and is the group’s conductor and music director. Among the BONJ members performing will be Tamara Gund, violinist and professor in NJIT’s Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science.

BONJ and its founder have recently received significant recognition. Dr. Butts was awarded a special 2011 citation from The American Prize for Excellence in Music Education, Enrichment and Outreach, and BONJ was named one of the top three U.S. community orchestras. Concerts are now given at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison and Dolan Hall at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station.

BONJ originally specialized in the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: the Baroque and Classical eras. Today, it performs a wide variety of symphonic, chamber and operatic classical music from all periods. BONJ is also proud to premiere new music by contemporary composers. BONJ’s free annual Family Concert encourages young people and families to enjoy the orchestra concert experience. To foster the development and recognition of classical music students, BONJ sponsors the Pearl and Julius Young Rising Stars Music Competition. Winners of the competition, and other young musicians, have the opportunity to play with the orchestra. The annual BONJ Summer Festival of Baroque Music is a week-long event offering a variety of musical and related performances.

Download the flyer (PDF, 768 KB)

NJIT welcomed attendees from all area colleges, universities, and professions.

Sponsors:

Albert Dorman Honors College
NJIT Technology and Society Forum Committee
Sigma Xi