MAKING MUSIC: Students from Westminster Conservatory are among those who will perform as soloists at its annual showcase on February 4.

The Westminster Conservatory will present its annual showcase featuring students and ensembles from the Conservatory and Rider University on Sunday, February 4 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus.

The performers will be the Westminster Community Orchestra conducted by Ruth Ochs; the Rider University Chorale directed by Tom Shelton; and Matthew Gao, clarinet, Daniel Guo, alto saxophone, and Madeleine Nieman, soprano, winners of the Westminster Conservatory Concerto Competition. Each soloist will perform with the Community Orchestra.

The concert also includes the world premiere of Through the Mist by former Westminster Conservatory Honors Music Program student, Evan Chang, as well as a performance of The Jasmine Flower, to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year. Pennington School student Jenny Zhu will be a soloist playing the erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument.

Rider University Chorale will perform excerpts from Haydn’s Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo. The Chorale, one of six curricular ensembles at Rider, provides the fundamentals of artistic choral singing and is open to current Rider students, faculty and staff, alumni, and members of the surrounding community. Director Shelton is an associate professor of sacred music at Rider University where he teaches classes in conducting, sacred music, and music education.

The Westminster Community Orchestra, conducted by Ochs, will perform Weber’s Overture to Die Freischutz, Bernardi’s Benedixisti, and American composter Florence Price’s Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, a musical depiction of the tragedy of slavery on US soil.

Now in her 19th season as conductor and music director of the Westminster Community Orchestra, Ochs has led the group in performances of major orchestral and choral-orchestral works, including symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. Under her leadership, the orchestra continues to feature ensembles and soloists from the Westminster Conservatory and highlight works by local and under-represented composers.

Now in its 39th season, the Westminster Community Orchestra is known for performances that showcase the artistry, commitment, and passion of a true community ensemble. Members are professional and gifted amateur musicians from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Tickets are $10-$15. Visit rider.edu/arts.