Since his arrival as conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra six years ago, Jacques Lacombe has sought out unique partnerships, including two previous collaborations with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. On the Princeton leg of his “farewell tour” before leaving the NJSO to take the helm of the Bonn Opera Company in Germany, Mr. Lacombe and the NJSO presented a concert with many levels of collaboration — among ensembles, artists, and artistic disciplines.

Friday night’s concert in Richardson Auditorium brought together the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Montclair State University Prima Voce women’s chorus for a semi-staged production of Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Although labeled “incidental music,” which the composer provided for an 1843 performance of Shakespeare’s play, Mendelssohn’s score has long stood on its own as a crowd-pleaser and as accompaniment to dance productions.

The Shakespeare Theatre has a strong history of commitment to the works of William Shakespeare, as well as other classic masterworks. The actors in Friday night’s concert were all seasoned performers, with credits from Shakespeare, musical theater, and television. Working within a small lateral space at the front of the Richardson stage, these actors used animation, physicality, and an abridged script of the play to meld theater and music into a fluid production. Felix Mayes, playing the role of Puck, used the space particularly well to interact with both actors and musicians. Mr. Mayes tried as hard as he could to distract both conductor and musicians, and then energetically turned his attention to wreaking havoc among the other characters.

New Jersey Symphony Music Director Jacques Lacombe began Mendelssohn’s familiar “Overture” with delicate winds and a quick light texture. Mendelssohn’s score has several themes running concurrently, as does the play (with a convoluted love story and play-within-a-play), and the production as a whole commingled theater and music with the script alternating with music or declaimed over the score.

Both in the “Overture” and elsewhere in the score, the NJSO found effective levels of dynamics within Mendelssohn’s pizzicato string writing, and the music rolled along easily, punctuated by crisp brass. The violins seemed to never stop, as the winds introduced the play’s characters. Although there were no extensive instrumental solos, the players of the NJSO all brought refinement and an elegant classical style to the orchestral palette.

Working off both a score and pages from the script, Mr. Lacombe kept conducting gestures precise, building swells into the “Intermezzo” and presenting a crisp “Wedding March” marked by clean trumpets. An especially well-unified pair of horns made the “Nocturne” which particularly effectively closed the first half.

Shakespeare’s play revolves around three groups of people: the “Royals” and the “Lovers,” the Mechanicals who present the ill-fated play of Pyramus and Thisbe, and the Fairies, performed by the Montclair State Prima Voce women’s chorus. Mendelssohn’s score calls for only two “Fairies” choruses, but they are crucial to conveying the plotline of Fairy Queen Titania, and her mate Oberon. Chorus director Heather J. Buchanan selected six soloists from the chorus, two of whom performed small solos each performance night (the concert was also presented in Newark and New Brunswick). Friday night featured soprano Victoria Joel and mezzo-soprano Christine Rauschenbach. Ms. Joel proved herself to be a singer with a sure career ahead of her, easily commanding the stage and the music. Ms. Rauschenbach was also a strong voice, and both soloists were perfectly timed with the accompanying winds. The choral sound of Prima Voce was light and youthful, befitting a collection of high-spirited Fairies.

Mr. Lacombe has left a mark of innovation, teamwork, and collaboration on the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, within the framework of excellent music-making. Friday night’s highly entertaining concert ended his tenure with the orchestra in Princeton in good humor, with the audience no doubt hoping for Mr. Lacombe’s future return visit as guest conductor.