November 13, 2024

BOE Winners Look to Upcoming Challenges

By Donald Gilpin

With a few final mail-ins and provisional ballots still being counted, incumbent Mara Franceschi and new candidates Christopher Santarpio and Ari Meisel have won three-year terms on the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) beginning January 1, 2025, defeating three other challengers in a hotly contested race.

The unofficial results based on most recent tallies show Franceschi as the top vote-getter with 5,617 votes (20.66 percent), followed by Santarpio with 4,851 (17.84 percent) and Meisel with 4,662 (17.15 percent). Erica Snyder fell short with 4,523 votes (16.64 percent), as did Z. Lisa Potter with 4.385 (16.13 percent) and Shenwei Zhao with 3,084 (11.34 percent).

Final counts and certification by the Mercer County clerk are expected to take place next week. more

Princeton University Reports 3.9% Endowment Gains, Lowest in Ivy League

By Donald Gilpin

Princeton University’s endowment fund has reported a return of 3.9 percent and a total value of $34.1 billion for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2024. The University has recorded an average annual return of 9.2 percent over the past 10 years, but the 2024 gain was the smallest among the eight Ivy League universities and follows Princeton’s losses of 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent in the two previous years.

Returns for the 2024 fiscal year at other Ivy League institutions ranged from 11.5 percent at Columbia to 5.7 percent at Yale, with Princeton’s underperformance for the year apparently due to large investments in private equity and venture capital at a time when publicly traded stocks, particularly technology stocks and the S&P 500 index, have outperformed most experts’ predictions.

PRINCO, the Princeton University Investment Company, emphasizes a “long horizon” investment strategy, focusing on many decades rather than a single year. The endowment’s investments returned 46.9 percent in 2021 and have averaged 9.9 percent over the past 20 years.  more

Ribbon Cutting to Officially Open 153-Acre Green Space Preserve

By Anne Levin

On Friday, November 15 at 2:30 p.m., municipal and environmental officials will cut the ribbon on Princeton’s newest open space preserve. The 153-acre expanse formerly known as the Lanwin tract has frontage on Province Line and Cherry Valley roads and is located in the northwest corner of Princeton.

The parcel was at one time targeted for a housing development, which would have resulted in the loss of some 4,000 trees that form part of an old-growth forest. But through an agreement struck in October 2021 between the municipality, Bryce Thompson, and Lanwin Development, the tract was acquired for $8.775 million and set aside for conservation and passive recreational use. more

Morven Museum’s Annual Festival of Trees Highlights Traditions and Celebrations

FESTIVAL MAGIC: Morven Museum & Garden’s 19th annual Festival of Trees, accompanied by a lineup of programs and events, will take place at the historic Stockton Street house from November 20 to January 5, with trees and mantels decorated throughout the museum galleries under the theme of Traditions and Celebrations. (Photo courtesy of Morven Museum & Garden)

By Donald Gilpin

Morven Museum & Garden’s 19th annual Festival of Trees will open on Wednesday, November 20 with displays by a wide variety of decorators representing more than 20 different local nonprofits, schools, garden clubs, community groups, and individual artists.

Running through January 5, 2025, the Festival will feature a juried selection of creations by groups and individuals who submitted applications to decorate trees and mantels throughout the museum’s galleries. more

Eclectic Range of Folk Musicians To Perform in Anniversary Season

FOLK HEROES: Members of the Princeton Folk Music Society have been busy planning their 60th anniversary season in 2025. From left are Frank Kubitsky, Dave Leonard, Bill Houston, Robert Ey, Mary Curtis, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Peter Hester, Madhumita Chakrabartti, Peter Kernast, Alexandra Radbil, Lisa Roth, and Walt Miziuk. Not present: Pat McDonnell and Anne Gribbon.

By Anne Levin

From its earliest days on the Princeton University campus, the Princeton Folk Music Society (PFMS) has been an active participant in the local music scene. What started in 1965 as an informal organization holding group sings soon grew into a nonprofit presenting such noted folk artists as Mick Moloney, Beppe Gambetta, and Elizabeth Cotton, a tradition that continues today.

The PFMS, which brings the duo Mustard’s Retreat to Christ Congregation Church on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m., is about to enter its seventh decade. To mark this milestone, the 2025 season has been curated to include an especially diverse roster of musical events. Among them are John McCutcheon, The Ebony Hillbillies, Poor Man’s Gambit, and a Phil Ochs Song Night, to name a few. more

New Dormitory Campus Under Construction for HomeWorks Trenton Leadership Program

BREAKING GROUND: Pictured with local officials, Natalie Tung, fourth from left, co-founded HomeWorks Trenton to give high school girls the tools to succeed. The organization has officially begun the renovation of an existing house into its permanent home.

By Anne Levin

This past weekend, construction got underway on the transformation of a free-standing house into the cozy headquarters for HomeWorks Trenton, an after-school boarding program for marginalized girls who attend the city’s public schools.

If all goes according to schedule, 42 high school girls, staff, and their families will be living in the repurposed, state-of-the-art building on Edgewood Avenue, near Cadwalader Park, by September of next year. The young scholars, as co-founder Natalie Tung refers to them, will go home on weekends but live in the facility during the week. The idea is to provide a supportive environment that will prepare the young residents to excel in high school, college, and beyond through tutoring, leadership development, and community involvement. more

Elon Musk and the Ancient Mariner

By Stuart Mitchner

On Election Day, I began reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk (Simon & Schuster 2023) along with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which Samuel Taylor Coleridge first conceived during a walk with William Wordsworth on November 13, 1797.

Early Reading

Coleridge’s tale came to mind while I was reading the chapter about Musk’s early reading habits. As a teenager pondering “the meaning of life and the universe,” Musk found nothing helpful in philosophers like Nietzche, Heidigger, and Schopenhauer (“I don’t recommend reading Nietzche as a teenager”). His salvation was science fiction, novels like Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Hard Mistress and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series, about sending settlers to a distant region of the galaxy “to preserve human consciousness in the face of an impending dark age.” More than 30 years later Musk claimed that the Foundation Series was fundamental to the creation of SpaceX, whose stated goal is “to build the technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary.” Says SpaceX Chief Engineer Musk, “This is the first time in the four-billion-year history of Earth that it’s possible to realize that goal and protect the light of consciousness.”  more

Princeton Pro Musica Opens Season with Haydn Oratorio 

By Nancy Plum

Certain musical pieces are tailor-made for specific ensembles. Princeton Pro Musica, now celebrating its fourth decade of music-making, has long excelled at choral/orchestral works requiring precision, block sound and expert counterpoint. Eighteenth-century Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn composed numerous sacred masses combining chorus, soloists, and orchestra, but fewer oratorios. The first of these was Die Schöpfung (The Creation), Haydn’s musical interpretation of the creation of the Earth, the animal world, and man. Premiered in 1798, The Creation was an immediate hit in Vienna, receiving instant acclaim and becoming an unofficial anthem of Vienna until falling into obscurity toward the end of the 19th century. Revived in the mid-20th century, The Creation is now a staple of choral societies worldwide and an audience favorite.

Led by Artistic Director Ryan J. Brandau, Princeton Pro Musica presented Haydn’s illustrative oratorio Sunday afternoon at Richardson Auditorium. Together with a chamber orchestra and three vocal soloists, the 100-member chorus performed Haydn’s uplifting music showing solid preparation and command of the music. Conductor Brandau began the long orchestral introduction with restraint, as the earth slowly came into being. The string sections demonstrated an ability to play very quietly, with wind solos depicting life forms emerging amid the murky chaos. Clearly rooted in the oratorio tradition of George Frideric Handel, The Creation also showed the influence of Mozart in lyrical arias and poignant duets.  more

A Teenager is Sent to a Mental Health Facility in “A Life Worth Living”; Lewis Center for the Arts Presents a New Musical by Jeffrey Chen ’25

“A LIFE WORTH LIVING”: Performances are underway for “A Life Worth Living.” Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and directed by Chesney Snow (assisted by Ava Adelaja), the musical runs through November 16 at the Lewis Arts complex’s Wallace Theater. Above, from left: Cecilia (Kailani Melvin), a therapist at a mental health facility, attempts to help Gavin (portrayed by writer and composer Jeffrey Chen) heal from a traumatic past. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski/Lewis Center for the Arts)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University is presenting A Life Worth Living. The new musical has a book, music, and lyrics by Jeffrey Chen, a senior who is majoring in neuroscience, with a minor in musical theater.

A Life Worth Living is described by the Lewis Center’s website as a “dramatic-comedy musical.” Its plot centers on Gavin, a teenager who is involuntarily sent to a residential mental health treatment facility. He reluctantly but steadily forms bonds with the other residents, as the staff works to uncover the past experiences leading to the incident that necessitates his treatment. more

American Repertory Ballet Presents “The Nutcracker”

HOLIDAY BALLET: American Repertory dancers, from left, Lily Krisko, Erikka Reenstierna-Cates, Rachel Quiner, Roland Jones, and Tomoya Suzuki will appear in “The Nutcracker” at McCarter Theatre and other New Jersey venues this season. (Photo by Harald Schrader)

American Repertory Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is one of the longest running in the nation. Performances will take place from Friday, November 29 through Sunday, December 22, in Princeton, Red Bank, Trenton, and New Brunswick, starting with McCarter Theatre November 29-December 1.

Students from Princeton Ballet School (PBS), the official school of American Repertory Ballet (ARB), participate in the ballet, which tells the story of Clara, a young girl who receives a magical Christmas gift and embarks on an enchanted journey. Clara and her Nutcracker Prince battle larger-than-life mice alongside toy soldiers, and travel through a whirlwind of dancing snowflakes to the Land of Sweets. Greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, Clara enjoys a suite of dances before opening her eyes to the familiar sights of her home, wondering if it was all a dream. more

Trombone Shorty, Orleans Avenue Play Brass Band

NEW ORLEANS SOUNDS: The music of Trombone Shorty’s native city is the focus of his appearance at State Theatre New Jersey on November 21.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue with support from New Breed Brass Band on Thursday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $39-$79.

The show is crafted in the rich music scene of Trombone Shorty’s hometown of New Orleans, La. Evoking the tradition of the second-line parades of the city, the performance fuses jazz, funk, pop, hip hop, and rock music into a celebratory bayou sound.  more

Orchestra Accompaniment at “Spider-Man” Screening

MOVIE WITH MUSIC: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in Concert” mixes the famed film with music by a live orchestra on November 14 at State Theatre New Jersey. (Photo by Victor Frankowski)

State Theatre New Jersey presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in Concert on Thursday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $29-$99.

Building on the success of the sold-out global shows of the first Oscar-winning Spider-Man animated Spider-Verse film, comes the sequel: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. more

Holiday Movies Planned at the Garden Theatre

The Garden Theatre has announced its programming lineup for the holiday season. Starting on Black Friday and running through Christmas Eve, the selection features cheerful classics, from Jim Henson to Jimmy Stewart to Dr. Seuss to Bruce Willis.

On Black Friday, November 29, Elf will be screened as part of the $5 Family Matinee series, which is free for members. The following day, A Christmas Story, the definitive Christmas film, is on the schedule. This series continues throughout December with The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Polar Express, the 2018 animated The Grinch, and a rare exhibition of the cherished Rankin & Bass work, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, on Christmas Eve. more

Airborne

Roxey Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker,” now in its 29th season, is onstage at Villa Victoria Theater in Ewing Township November 30 to December 8. The schedule includes a sensory-friendly performance on December 1, school matinees, and a tea dance party. Visit roxeyballet.org/nutcracker for dates, times, and tickets.

Richardson Chamber Players Present “Songs With/out Words”

On Sunday, November 24 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium, performance faculty from the Princeton University Department of Music comprising the Richardson Chamber Players will present “Songs With/out Words,” a program of songs with and without words written by female composers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano by lieder composer Josephine Lang, and for mezzo-soprano and mixed chamber ensemble by Dame Ethel Smyth, bookend the program. Included are works for string quartet, solo piano, and flute, viola, and harp that reference American, Jamaican, and European song and poetry in between. In addition to Lang and Smyth, the program includes music by Florence Price, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Eleanor Alberga. more

Family Show Followed By Treats in the Lobby

HOLIDAY MUSICAL REVUE: The MTM Players celebrate Christmas at Kelsey Theatre, on the campus of Mercer County Community College, November 29-December 1.

The MTM Players bring the family-friendly musical revue “The Best Time of the Year – Music & Memories of Christmas” to Kelsey Theatre, on the campus of Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, for one weekend and five performances, November 29-December 1.

The show celebrates the holiday season with song, dance, visual projections, snow — and even kazoos — featuring carols and Christmas songs. The hour-long performance is followed by treats and pictures in the lobby with Santa. more

Two Area Choruses Collaborate for Concert

JOINING FORCES: Voices Chorale NJ and the Trenton Children’s Chorus are presenting a concert together to celebrate the holiday season on December 14 at Trinity Church.

A celebration of the holiday season featuring Voices Chorale NJ and the Trenton Children’s Chorus will take place on Saturday, December 14 at 4 p.m., at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street.

“Sing Out, My Soul!” features Vivaldi’s Gloria accompanied by a chamber ensemble, as well as contemporary choral compositions and arrangements that invoke the many moods of the holiday season. Following Gloria, which Vivaldi wrote over 300 years ago, the program fast-forwards through the centuries, presenting old and new texts set to music by contemporary composers as well as a Hanukkah prayer, and a song of rejoicing in Latin (Gaudete!).  more

Holiday Pops Concerts Feature Andrea Ross

FESTIVE GATHERING: Members of the Princeton High School Choir are among the performers at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s annual Holiday POPS! concerts on December 14, at Richardson Auditorium. (Photo courtesy of PSO Staff)

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is set to celebrate the holiday season with Broadway vocalist Andrea Ross at this year’s Holiday POPS! concerts on Saturday, December 14 at 3 and 6 p.m., at Richardson Auditorium.

Mentored by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ms. Ross, a soprano, will perform “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” and more. The Princeton High School Choir lends its collective voice to choral favorites including “Joy to the World” and “O Holy Night,” and leads the audience in the annual carol sing-along. Returning to Princeton from West Virginia’s Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, John Devlin conducts both performances.  more

Covered Bridge Artisans Tour Celebrates 30 Years

“COTTAGE FLOWERS”: Works by Karen Caldwell of Sunflower Glass Studio and others can be viewed November 29 through December 1 on the 30th Annual Covered Bridge Artisans Studio Tour.

This Thanksgiving weekend, the Covered Bridge Artisans will celebrate three decades of artistry, craftsmanship, and community with their 30th Annual Studio Tour. Taking place from November 29 to December 1 from 10 a,m. to 5 p.m. each day, this event invites visitors to explore the studios and workspaces of some of the Delaware River Valley region’s most talented artisans.

This self-guided tour will take place in nine professional artists’ studios in Lambertville, Stockton, Sergeantsville, and New Hope, Pa., areas with 12 additional artists at the Sandy Ridge Church.  more

Eclipse

This acrylic on canvas work by Larry Mitnick is featured in “Making Space,” an exhibition of his paintings at Belle’s Tavern, 183 North Union Street, Lambertville, through the end of December. Mitnick’s work has been exhibited internationally and he is currently a member artist at Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville.

Dwarf Wedge Mussel

Mary Waltham of Princeton received an honorable mention for this watercolor work at the “11th Annual New Jersey Highlands Juried Art Exhibition,” presented by New Jersey Highlands Coalition at the Maxfield Engine House in Boonton. The exhibit features a mix of photography, paintings, mixed media, prints and sculpture focused on the landscapes, flora, fauna and historic and cultural resources of the Highlands region. A virtual exhibit featuring all of this year’s artists can be viewed at highlandsart.org.

Open Studio Holiday Sale at Willowood Pottery

MASTER POTTER: Caryn Newman, shown here creating a hand-built vase, holds her annual Open Studio Holiday Sale this Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Willowood Pottery, 7 Willowood Drive, Ewing.

Once a year local Master Potter Caryn Newman opens her studio to the public – this year on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Busy firing work in her kiln from the past six months for this show, Newman said her latest work has some changes.

Decades of pottery-making added up, and she needed a shoulder replacement this past May. After a short break, she got back into the studio and started with hand-building new pieces as she recovered, instead of using the pottery wheel. more

New Sticky Fingers Cooking Program for Kids Offers Fun and Creative Cooking Opportunities

COOPERATION AND COOKING: “With the program, I can dedicate my efforts to focusing on community, cooperation, acceptance and kindness for and with children.” Chris Johnson, owner of the Sticky Fingers Cooking franchise in Princeton, is enthusiastic about this new after school cooking program for children.

By Jean Stratton

Chris Johnson knew about cooking from a young age.

“I was always interested,” he recalls, “and I especially enjoyed watching and helping my favorite aunt in the kitchen.”

A New Englander from Maine and Massachusetts, he headed to New York for job opportunities, eventually working in the corporate world, focusing on legal technology. more

Sparked by MacNab’s Playmaking, Stellar Defensive Play, PU Women’s Soccer Tops Brown in Ivy Final, Back in NCAAs

BIG MAC: Princeton University women’s soccer player Heather MacNab, left, chases after the ball in recent action. Last Sunday, senior defender MacNab had two assists to help top-seeded Princeton defeat third-seeded Brown 2-0 in the Ivy League Tournament final. The Tigers, now 14-4, are headed to the NCAA tournament where they will play at Virginia (12-5) in a first round contest on November 15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

In early October, Princeton University women’s soccer player Heather MacNab left the field at Roberts Stadium on a cart after suffering a severe gash to her forehead in a scary collision with a Penn player.

As senior defender MacNab lay on the ground that night, she was already planning her return. more

With Star Yeager Back from Olympics to Lead Attack, PU Field Hockey Earns Berth in NCAAs, Will Face BC

STICKING OUT: Princeton University field hockey player Beth Yeager, right, dribbles the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Sunday, junior star Yeager picked up an assist in a losing cause as Princeton fell 2-1 to Harvard in overtime in the Ivy League Tournament final. Yeager, a U.S. Olympian who was named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Year this fall, will look to keep producing as the Tigers, now 13-5, start play in the NCAA tournament where they are an at-large selection and will face Boston College (14-6) in a first round contest on November 15 at Saint Joseph’s. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

The last time Beth Yeager and the Princeton University field hockey team lost, they bounced back with seven straight wins.

The Tigers would settle for four straight this time in the wake of being awarded an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament hours after falling to Harvard, 2-1, in the Ivy League Tournament final in overtime Sunday. When Harvard scored with less than three minutes to play in regulation, Princeton responded with Yeager’s corner smash redirected in by Ella Cashman with 59 seconds left to force overtime. The Crimson scored 4:11 into the OT to pull out the win. more