The GARDEN STATE PHILHARMONIC brings Rutter & Beethoven to the Grunin Center for the Arts in March

TOMS RIVER, N.J. - Feb. 23, 2018 - PRLog -- The Garden State Philharmonic brings a special concert event to Toms River. The concert will feature Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and the full orchestra will be joined on stage by the GSP Chorus, members of the Concordia Chorale and the GSP Youth Chorus to present John Rutter's Mass of the Children 3:00 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the Jay & Linda Grunin Center for the Arts on the campus of Ocean County College.

Beethoven conducted the first performance of his Symphony No. 7 on December 8, 1813, in Vienna at a charity concert for Austro-Bavarian soldiers wounded at the Battle of Hanau. The premiere was so successful that a repeat performance of the symphony was scheduled by popular demand four nights later, and the second movement received an immediate encore at both concerts. While Weber stated that the Seventh Symphony suggested that Beethoven was "ripe for the madhouse," Wagner praised its Dionysian spirit and termed it the "apotheosis of the dance," and Beethoven himself regarded his "Grand Symphony in A" as "one of my best works."

The Mass of the Children is one of Rutter's most popular works. The Garden State Philharmonic is excited to welcome two young soloists to the stage to join in this intergenerational work. Soloists include soprano Margaret Taylor Woods, and bass/baritone Aaron Eaves.

Margaret Taylor Woods, soprano, is a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, under the tutelage of Dr. Kathy Kessler Price. Margaret recently portrayed Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites with Westminster Opera Theatre, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Jeunesses Musicales' Summer Music Festival in Croatia, and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with the American Singers' Opera Project in Wake Forest, North Carolina (now known as Painted Sky Opera in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma). A budding recitalist, Margaret performed on the 2017 Westminster Choir College Art Song Festival, featuring American Art Song. This year, she returns to the Art Song Festival, now named in honor of Lindsey Christiansen, where she will perform works of Robert Schumann. Margaret will also offer her own graduate recital later this spring at Westminster in collaboration with JJ Penna. Margaret received her Bachelor's degrees in Music Education and Voice from Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. She maintains a private studio of piano and voice students in Newtown, PA and is the organist for the Newtown Methodist Church. She specializes in the development of children's voices and elementary music education. Margaret frequently offers workshops for elementary and middle school choirs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and was last seen as the guest conductor for Central Dauphin School District's Middle School Choral Festival in Pennsylvania.

Baritone, Aaron Eaves is in his second year as a graduate student in vocal performance and pedagogy at Westminster Choir College. He received a Bachelor of Music Education from Kentucky Wesleyan College and has performed in many groups in the Kentucky area where he is from. His major performances include bass soloist in Messiah and bass soloist in the Mass in C major by Mozart with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Chorus. His major operatic experience includes performing the title role of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Prague Summer Nights opera festival and singing Moralés and Dancaïre from Carmen with the Cincinnati College-Conservatory Summer Bootcamp. Recently, he performed with the Westminster Opera Theatre as Le Marquis in their Fall production of Dialogue des Carmélites and will be performing Dr. Falke in their Spring production of Die Fledermaus.

Written following the death of Rutter's son, Christopher, the mass premiered in 2003 at Carnegie Hall. Its five movements combine traditional Latin and Greek mass text with English poems by authors Thomas Ken and William Blake. Rutter and his compositions have been widely praised. He has been regarded as "the world's greatest living composer and conductor of choral music."

Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Garden State Philharmonic Office: 732-255-0460 Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They may also be reserved on the Garden State Philharmonic website, http://www.gardenstatephilharmonic.org.

The Garden State Philharmonic Symphony Society, Inc. (GSP) is dedicated to a mission of maintaining and operating a professional symphony orchestra at the Jersey Shore; to giving concerts of cultural and educational value in and for the community; and to fostering such related activities that will encourage interest in and appreciation of music.