Jacques Lacombe Extends his Contract with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra until 2016
Listen to Maestro Lacombe tell WQXR‘s host Elliott Forrest about his plans for the NJSO (May 2012):
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra‘s 13th music director, Jacques Lacombe, has extended his contract through the 2015–16 season. The acclaimed music director, who began his tenure with the NJSO in 2010, will continue in that capacity for three years beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of August 2013. Artistic Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières since 2006, Maestro Lacombe is the first Québecois conductor to become the music director of an American orchestra.
“My experiences as Music Director of the NJSO over the past two seasons have been both enjoyable and creatively stimulating,” Lacombe says. “I have relished the opportunity to bring this great orchestra to venues throughout and beyond New Jersey, and I have appreciated the chance to become familiar with wonderful, diverse communities across the state. I am thrilled to extend my relationship with the NJSO, and I look forward to continuing to present captivating programs and to interacting with the audiences and communities of New Jersey.”
Since becoming the NJSO’s Music Director in October 2010, Lacombe has garnered praise from critics and audiences for his creative programming and his talents on the podium. Under Lacombe’s leadership, the NJSO has presented daring new programs and engaged in inspired collaborations with other institutions in New Jersey and beyond. Highlights of the NJSO’s “Man & Nature” Winter Festivals have included performances of Tan Dun’s Water Concerto, Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire—with a realization of the composer’s “color organ”—and the commissioning of the Francesca Harper Project to create original choreography for Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus.
NJSO Board Co-Chair Ruth Lipper says: “Jacques has invigorated the orchestra both on and off stage, with fresh takes on beloved orchestral music, an investment in new and deserving works and a desire to be a part of the New Jersey communities in which the NJSO makes its home. We are thrilled that he will continue to lead the orchestra beyond next season.”
Lacombe created an ambitious multi-year initiative that the orchestra began in the 2010–11 season, his inaugural season as Music Director. Through the New Jersey Roots Project, the NJSO has performed the music of composers who were born in New Jersey or whose artistic identity was shaped by their time spent in the Garden State. The orchestra has presented multiple premieres through the project, including George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 4 (Strands) and Robert Aldridge’s Suite from Elmer Gantry.
Says NJSO Board Co-Chair Stephen Sichak Jr.: “Jacques has captivated audiences, musicians and critics with his compelling programs and engaging personality. He has led our orchestra to new artistic heights, and his Carnegie Hall debut with the NJSO at Spring for Music has been an acclaimed highlight of the orchestra’s recent history. He is a true asset to the NJSO, and we are very pleased to extend our relationship with him.”
