OPERA AND MORE: Ruth Ochs leads the Princeton University Sinfonia in a program of music from opera as well as works by student composers.

Ruth Ochs conducts the Princeton University Sinfonia on Friday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus for “A Night at the Opera,” an evening of excerpts from operas by Bizet, Mozart, Rossini, Delibes, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

The concert will include Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Procession of the Nobles” from Mlada and “Dance of the Tumblers” from The Snow Maiden; two selections by Bizet, a quintet from Carmen, as well as the famous duet “Au fond du temple saint” from The Pearl Fishers; the “Flower Duet” from Delibes’ Lakmé, and the finale from Act 1 of Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers.

The program also features new works by student composers Kasey Shao ’25 and Julia Young ’27, and Clara Conatser ’25 will play movements from Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3. Singers from the University’s Glee Club Opera Scenes and the University Clarinet Ensemble will also perform. Tickets are $15 general admission/$5 students and are available at tickets.princeton.edu. For more information call (609) 258-4241 or visit music.princeton.edu.

The Garden Theatre will be hosting its 7th annual Hollywood Awards Watch Party on Sunday, March 2. The second annual Red Carpet Reception will be held at the Nassau Inn before the ceremony.

The Watch Party will begin at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Bottomless popcorn and drinks are included with admission.

The Red Carpet Reception begins at 5:30 p.m. Guests will gather in the Palmer Room at the Nassau Inn and have light fare and drinks before strolling over to the Garden for the watch party, which is included with reception tickets.

Tickets for the Watch Party are $13.75 for general admission and $8.50 for members of the nonprofit Garden Theatre. Red Carpet Reception tickets are $50 for general admission and $40 for members.  more

ONE NIGHT ONLY: Lou DiPietro, playwright, left, and Louis Josephson, composer, of the new musical “It’s Never Too Late,” which will be presented as a one-night-only staged reading at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 20, at the Kelsey Theatre.

Kelsey Theatre, on the West Windsor Campus of Mercer County Community College (MCCC), will host a one-night-only staged reading — complete with a nine-piece orchestra — of the new musical It’s Never Too Late, presented by Theater to Go on February 20 at 7:30 p.m.

East Windsor resident Lou DiPietro began writing this play at the age of 90 and now, at 94, is excited to share his work with an audience. more

On Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium, the Princeton University Department of Music Performance faculty and undergraduate students comprising the Richardson Chamber Players will present “Serenade Meets Steampunk.”

The ambitious program pairs David Bruce’s whimsical 2010 piece Steampunk for Mixed Octet with the majesty and romance of Johannes Brahms Serenade No. 1, Op. 11, written in 1858.

“The Richardson Chamber Players often put together programs of lesser-heard works,” said Princeton University Concerts Director Marna Seltzer. “This is one such program, through which we look forward to celebrating the talents of our music department faculty and students.”

Performers are flutist Sarah Shin, oboist Yousun Chung, clarinetists Jo-Ann Sternberg and Dongkon Lee ’27, horn player Eric Reed, bassoonist Robert Wagner, violinists Erick Wyrick and Melody Choi ’25, violist Jessica Thompson, cellist Clancy Newman, and bass player Jack Hill.

Tickets are $15 general/$5 sStudent and can be purchased online at puc.princeton.edu or by calling (609) 258-9220.

VOCALIST AND GUITARIST: Guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas will perform with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in recital at State Theatre New Jersey on March 2. (Photo by Lisa Mazzuco)

State Theatre New Jersey presents Isabel Leonard and Pablo Sáinz-Villegas In Recital on Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m. Tickets range from $39-$79.

In October 2021, Sainz-Villegas was invited by Peter Gelb of The Metropolitan Opera to join forces, in part, with opera superstar Isabel Leonard in a worldwide broadcast live from Versailles. Following its success, the artists decided to work creatively to build out a special vocal guitar program for a limited-run tour in the United States, featuring popular arias and songs beloved around the world. more

IN MEMORY: Pianist Kairy Koshoeva and cellist Jordan Ensinger will play works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Bach in a concert in New Brunswick.

A memorial concert honoring music journalist Elaine Strauss will be presented by pianist Kairy Koshoeva and cellist Jordan Ensinger on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at Christ Church, 5 Paterson Street, in New Brunswick. Admission is free.

“I want to honor Elaine’s legacy and keep her spirit alive by sharing this with her fans and loved ones,” said Koshoeva. “Elaine Strauss was not just a dear friend to me; she was a kindred spirit who welcomed me into her home for many memorable concerts and gatherings. Her warmth and passion for music have left an indelible mark on my heart.”

A polymath, Strauss had several careers and began her journalism career at age 67, writing hundreds of articles for U.S.1 and Clavier magazine, mostly about music. An accomplished pianist, she was a student of Dorothy Taubman. She died on April 22, 2024 at the age of 95.  more

HALL OF FAMER: Peter Frampton, recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, comes to State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on April 7.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Award-winning guitarist, Peter Frampton in the “Let’s Do It Again! Tour” on Monday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $80-$360.

The upcoming performance arrives on the heels of a landmark 2024 for the musician, who, in addition to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, played concerts at venues across the U.S. Frampton’s “Never Say Never,” “Never EVER Say Never,” and subsequent “Positively Thankful” tours were unexpected by fans after the musician shared his diagnosis of the degenerative disease inclusion-body myositis.  more

Fresh from their 2025 Grammy win for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, So Percussion will appear with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at concerts the weekend of March 8-9 at Richardson Auditorium.

The ensemble will perform Viet Cuong’s concerto for percussion quartet, Re(new)al. Music Director Rossen Milanov conducts the program which includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral,” and Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances.

“I’m excited to perform with Sō Percussion as they are a fearless ensemble, musically gifted and always seeking to push artistic boundaries with new techniques and sound experimentation,” said Milanov.  more

On Thursday, February 20 from 5-8 p.m. at Princeton University’s Friend Center, the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination will present a screening of the documentary film Between Silence and Sin, followed by a Q&A with director Diana Nicolae.

This is the first screening of the film in the U.S. after appearing in film festivals throughout Europe, including taking part in the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremonies presided by the Spanish royal family.

The documentary is about Romanian poet and activist Ana Blandiana, a symbol in the fight for democracy and freedom of speech, values that are again under threat around the world. She is a legendary figure in Romanian culture, comparable to Anna Akhmatova or Vaclav Havel.

Blaniana has been called one of Europe’s greatest living poets, and has published dozens of books of poetry and prose, which have been translated into 24 languages around the world. Among her many awards are the European Poet of Freedom Prize, the Griffin Trust’s Lifetime Recognition Award, the Gottfried von Herder Prize from the Austrian Academy, and the Légion d’Honneur from France. In 2024, she received the Princess of Asturias Award.

The documentary delves into Blandiana’s decades-long career in the context of one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships, where poetry represented the “last molecules of freedom” and poets that dared to speak the truth became icons — as well as targets. As authoritarian governments wrestle for control throughout the world, in countries long considered to be bulwarks of democracy and free speech, Between Silence and Sin explores the power of the word as the last bastion of a nation’s collective soul in the face of oppression.

Nicolae, who produces and directs the film, is a native of Romania who began her career in media working as a TV news reporter in the post-Communist era, prior to working as a writer for BBC Radio and Radio Romania on the first dramatic series inspired by the country in transition to democracy. She is a professor of documentary and television at Rowan University.

Additional speakers at the event will be Margaret Beissinger, research scholar and lecturer at Princeton University’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literature; and Nadia Crisan, executive director of the Liechtenstein Institute.

RSVP is required to attend. Visit lisd.princeton.edu.

“The Most Formidable Weapon Against Errors: The Sid Lapidus ’59 Collection & the Age of Reason,” which celebrates the collecting achievements of Sid Lapidus, Class of 1959, is on view in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library, Princeton University, through June 8. Members of the public are welcome to visit the exhibition between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, and between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, visit library.princeton.edu/lapidus2025. (Photo by Brandon Johnson)

Albert Einstein was born 146 years ago on Pi Day, 3.14 (March 14), and celebrating the number and the man helps get kids excited about STEM topics.

The nascent Princeton Einstein Museum of Science will offer a variety of free hands-on activities related to Einstein’s scientific legacy on March 15 at the Princeton Public Library from 2-4 pm. They are suitable for ages 5-10.

Children can talk to Silvia Trinczek, a scientist from Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, to receive a free compass or space tattoo, while supplies last. Ask her your most probing physics question, or if you are not sure what to ask, choose one from the museum’s suggestions including “Why is the sky blue?” and “What’s inside a black hole?” more

This photograph by Rebecca DePorte is part of the “Members Exhibition” on view at Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography, 14 Mercer Street, Hopewell, through March 2.