The Princeton Festival

The Princeton Festival
Noah Baetge as Florestan in The Princeton Festival's performance of Fidelio (2017)
Status Non-profit
Venue McCarter Theater, Miller Chapel
Location(s) Princeton, New Jersey
Founded 2004
Attendance 8,000
Leader Richard Tang Yuk

The Princeton Festival is a performing arts company located in Princeton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The festival typically takes place over the course of three weeks in June and early July, and consists of high-quality professional performances of opera, musical theater, chamber music, jazz, dance, drama, and more. In addition to being the only festival of its kind in New Jersey, The Princeton Festival is also the premier organization in the state for opera.

The 2018 Season of The Princeton Festival will run from June 9 to July 1 and include performances of Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.[1]

History

The Princeton Festival was founded in 2004 by its current artistic director Richard Tang Yuk, who had formerly served as the Assistant Conductor of the Opera Festival of New Jersey. Recognizing the need not only for opera but diverse programming capable of reaching a larger audience in the area, Tang Yuk assembled a program of five events to run in the summer of 2005, which culminated in a performance of Sweeney Todd. Over the years, the festival has grown to encompass as many as fifty different events at venues across central New Jersey, adding public lectures, master classes, and a piano competition to the traditional performing arts lineup.[2][3]

Production

The Princeton Festival is known for taking on challenging opera productions, often with the help of considerable international talent and in partnership with other musical groups.[4][5] Past notable performances include Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Handel's Ariodante, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, and Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the last of which was praised by The New York Times for its strong cast and imaginative production style.[6] For four consecutive years, The Princeton Festival has received the People's Choice Award from the Jersey Arts organization, in recognition of the highest quality opera produced in the state of New Jersey.[7]

Past performance venues have included McCarter Theatre, Miller Chapel, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University Chapel, Richardson Auditorium, the Princeton Abbey, and Taplin Auditorium. Though the opera and musical theater performances are cast nationally, The Princeton Festival also partners with local groups such as LustigDanceTheatre, Bucks County Choral Society, VOICES Chorale, Concordia Chamber Players, Jazz Nights, and The Westminster Solo Vocal Institute, in order to offer a broader range of orchestration and programming. The Princeton Festival Baroque Orchestra was introduced in 2015 and regularly performs a wide cross section of music from the baroque period.

A sample of headline performances from the 2017 schedule:

Organization

The Princeton Festival has grown from a largely volunteer-based operation to a full staff of administrative and musical coordinators under the directorship of Richard Tang Yuk.[8] The Festival is also supported by a board of trustees and a group of volunteers known as The Princeton Festival Guild, who assist with everything from marketing and fundraising efforts to event staffing.

The Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization made possible by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works, and New Jersey State Council on the Arts, among other groups and foundations.[9] Additional annual fundraisers are held in the Princeton area to support musical programming.

References

  1. ↑ "The Princeton Festival". The Princeton Festival. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Community News". Community News. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Princeton Info". Princeton Info. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Stoeckert, Anthony. "Stage Review: The Princeton Festival's 'Man of La Mancha'". Central Jersey. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Grace, Toby. ""Fidelio," by Ludwig van Beethoven at the Princeton Festival". Out in Jersey. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Tommasini, Anthony. "Britten’s ‘'Dream,’' Tweaked With an Otherworldly Pungency", The New York Times, June 21, 2009. Accessed December 23, 2017. "The Princeton Festival, which started in 2005, offers a wide range of performances and productions in the performing arts. In recent years the offerings have had an overall theme, and this summer it is 'Midsummer Magic, Dreams and Deceptions.'"
  7. ↑ "People's Choice Award". Jersey Arts. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  8. ↑ Plum, Nancy. "The Last Word: Richard Tang Yuk", Princeton Magazine. Accessed December 23, 2017. "Richard Tang Yuk is General and Artistic Director of The Princeton Festival, which will be opening its 11th season in June."
  9. ↑ "The Princeton Festival - Donate". The Princeton Festival. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
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