BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN — The Manalapan Battleground Symphony will present its annual holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Manalapan Englishtown Mid-dle School, 155 Millhurst Road.
The symphony is sponsored by Man-alapan Parks and Recreation,
The concert will be conducted by Chiu-Tze Lin, now in her fifth season with symphony.
“This performance is our annual holiday concert,” said Lin, whose daughter, Courtney Lin Kaita, will be soloing with the symphony. “Courtney just won the New Jersey Music Teachers Association competition two weeks ago and will be representing New Jersey in the competition of 14 eastern states.”
Highlighting the program will be a world premiere of two Gypsy music pieces arranged for solo violin and orchestra by New Jersey composer Ed Prince.
“Mr. Prince is a resident of Brick and is a newspaper editor,” said Lin. “He has written works for piano, organ, chamber ensembles and band. His composition for wind trio and string quartet has been performed at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the fifth largest church in the world. The two Gypsy music pieces are his first compositions for a symphony orchestra.”
Also on the program will be violinist Milena Dawidovicz, a Jackson resident, formerly of the Ukraine. Dawidowicz has established herself as a foremost violinist in the performance of Gypsy music and has performed around the world.
“Most of the Gypsy music she has performed is not published, but she obtained it in Israel, Romania and Macedonia,” Lin said.
Lin’s daughter, Courtney, 14, is a cellist who will be performing the “Hun-garian Rhapsody” by David Popper. Courtney is a two-time winner of the Music Teachers National Association Strings Competition in New Jersey.
She has performed as a soloist in Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, New York, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, New York, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China.
Courtney, a freshman at Freehold High School, made her orchestral debut at age 13 with the Edison Symphony. She is a student of Irene Sharp and Marnie Kaller.
Other highlights of the holiday concert will include “Sleeping Beauty” by Tchaikovksy, and a piece by Rimsky-Korsakov, “Christmas Eve.”
Doors will open at 7 p.m. for the free concert. For more information, contact the parks and recreation office at (732) 446-8355 or call Shirley Yang at (732) 687-8527.