New Jersey Symphony Orchestra - Location and Venues

Location and Venues

Philip James founded the orchestra in 1922. During the 1940s, the orchestra performed at Newark Symphony Hall. Currently, the NJSO gives concerts at venues in seven cities around the state:

• Newark: New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
• Englewood: Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
• Red Bank: Count Basie Theatre
• Morristown: Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts
• New Brunswick: State Theatre
• Princeton: Princeton University, Richardson Auditorium
• Trenton: Patriots Theater at the War Memorial

A 2007 internal evaluation by the orchestra studied the trends of attendance at each of the venues over the six seasons prior to the 2007-2008 season, during the tenure of then-NJSO president André Gremillet:

"Gremillet said the organization looked at every concert performed at the seven venues during the last six seasons and ranked the venues financially and artistically. Financially, the best city was Morristown, where the average concert at the Community Theatre at the Mayo Center for the Arts lost 11 percent over the six-year span. The worst was Trenton, where an average concert at the Patriots Theatre at the War Memorial lost 114 percent. Princeton's Richardson Auditorium, New Brunswick's State Theatre and NJPAC in Newark were in the top grouping; the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank and BergenPAC in Englewood at the bottom. NJPAC was at the top of the artistic ranking, while Trenton again was at the bottom. Gremillet said the programming changes resulted from a six-month effort that began last January. A committee of staff, board members and musicians examined all areas of the company to create a three-year road map to financial viability.

In February 2008, the NJSO announced the addition of a further performance venue effective with the 2008-2009 season, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn. The Paper Mill Playhouse was discontinued from the NJSO's list of performing venues as of the 2009-2010 season.