By Susan Wallner

The students have left town and parking spaces are abundant. June in Princeton is quiet – except for the music coming from The Princeton Festival. The Festival, which began in 2005 with five performances, now has 20, including musical theatre, opera, jazz, dance, chamber music, world music, cabaret and choral performance. Lectures, a piano competition, and other events are also part of this eclectic festival.

Artistic Director Richard Tang Yuk says that so many different forms of the performing arts are featured at The Princeton Festival because each has its own following. Dance lovers go to dance, and opera lovers to opera. However, he says that discounted Festival passes to multiple events and the close proximity of the venues “encourage people to try something they may not have attended before.”

On June 9, Festival goers had the chance to see Lustig Dance Theatre onstage at the McCarter Theatre. Two of the three pieces, all choreographed by Graham Lustig, were danced with live musical accompaniment. The New Jersey based Celtic folk band Trinity played for a piece that fused traditional Irish dances with ballet. In “Dialogues,” mezzo soprano Lorraine Earnest sang while also playing a role onstage as one of four women representing various stages of life. A young girl made an appearance; company dancer Kristin Naylor danced the part of a woman in the midst of life; and the fourth was played by Alice Teirstein, a former professional dancer now in her 80s. The music was composed by Pat Rasile.

Lustig has also choreographed several of the Festival’s operas over the years, including this season. Richard Tang Yuk considers opera to be the heart of The Princeton Festival. He is conducting the “Opera Double Bill” on June 29 at the McCarter Theatre. “It’s a very unusual offering this year,” according to Tang Yuk. “We have the very rarely performed Rachmaninoff opera, Francesca da Rimini, a tragedy, paired with a very popular comedy by Puccini, Gianni Schicci.”

The characters in both of these very different operas each find themselves in Dante’s Inferno. The Princeton Festival plays out this theme with lectures still to come this month: “Visions of Hell in Art – An Illustrated Tour” on June 18 and 24, and “Visions of Hell in Music” on June 20.

The last weekend of the Festival features not only the Opera Double Bill but also two-time Grammy winner Sylvia McNair singing cabaret, and the musical “Once Upon a Mattress.” Simply put, something for everyone.

For a full calendar of events, visit www.princetonfestival.org.

Susan Wallner is an award-winning producer with PCK Media. She is a long-time contributor to State of the Arts, airing on NJTV Sundays at 8 pm.

WATCH VIDEO:

Behind the Scenes at The Princeton Festival.