News Release

THE ORCHESTRA AT WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY OPENS ITS 2000-2001 CONCERT SEASON The Orchestra at William Paterson University opens its 2000-2001 concert season on Saturday, October 21 with conductor Jindong Cai and Stewart Goodyear as guest pianist. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts at William Paterson University in Wayne. A highlight of the program will be "Rhapsody in Blue," the work that defined George Gershwin and elevated him to greatness. Other works include Joan Tower's "Last Dance" and Still's Symphony No. 2 "Song of a New Race." At 22 years of age, Goodyear has gained enormous recognition as a gifted and innovative pianist. He began his professional career at age nine in an acclaimed performance of Shostakovich's Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. By the age of 16, Goodyear made several guest appearances with major symphony orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the National Arts Center Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and several Canadian orchestras. Goodyear spent ten years at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, where he consistently received the highest competition scores ever awarded to any performer. He holds a master's degree from the Julliard School of Music and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music. Conductor Jindong Cai is known for his pioneering efforts to bring contemporary American music to his homeland of China and for being a courier of Chinese music to the United States. In 1995, he conducted the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra in their first Chinese music concert to a sold-out house. Cai is currently music director of the Orchestra and the Opera Theatre at the University of Arizona School of Music. Prior to this appointment, he served as assistant conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Born in Beijing, Cai received his musical training in China where he learned to play the violin and piano. In 1986, he traveled to the United States and was accepted into Boston's New England Conservatory of Music, where he earned his master of music degrees in both orchestral and choral conducting. In 1989, Cai was selected to study with famed conductor Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Center, and the following year won the Conducting Fellowship Award at the Aspen Music Festival. He won the award again in 1992. Tickets for the concert are $25 and $20, depending on the location. Students may purchase two tickets for the rear loge at $5 each; a valid I.D. card is required. The Orchestra, formerly known as the Wayne Chamber Orchestra, is supported in part by grants from the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council through a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State. In addition, the orchestra is underwritten in part by William Paterson University and supported by gifts from private individuals, area businesses and corporations. The ensemble has gained national recognition both for its excellence of performance and imaginative programming. For additional information, please call the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371. William Paterson University, one of the nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, offers 29 undergraduate and 17 graduate programs through five colleges: Art and Communication, Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the university enrolls approximately 10,000 students and provides housing for nearly 2,000 students. The institution's 352 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants from the Fulbright Program (24 scholars), the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Philosophical Society. ### For Further Information, contact: Mary Beth Zeman, Director Office of Public Information 973-720-2966 Back to News Releases