Maestro Jacques Lacombe began the year in Canada, leading a program of Paganini, Tchaikovsky and Coulthard with the Edmonton Symphony and this week leads his home orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, in their annual Winter Festival, focusing this year on themes of Shakespeare.
Lacombe’s upcoming dates include a subscription week featuring works by Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Berlioz with the Montreal Symphony; French Masterpieces with the Omaha Symphony, and a program of Prokofiev and Wagner with the Quebec Symphony.
He also returns to Tanglewood in 2016 – his third season in a row – leading the Boston Symphony in their opening weekend, including works by Ravel, Prokofiev, Carmina Burana, and the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 with Joshua Bell.
In December, Lacombe was joined by Dashon Burton and Celena Shafer for performances of Handel’s Messiah with the New Jersey Symphony:
“Dashon Burton made an immediate impression in Part 1. His deep bass-baritone grabbed the ear and his expert diction made every word of the scriptures come to life …Soprano Celena Shafer uncorked gorgeous top notes….The string section shimmered, and Lacombe kept the balance of voices and instruments just right.” – James C. Taylor, NJ Advance Media, Dec. 22, 2015