Mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges returns to NJSO stages for Handel's masterwork-a Christmastime tradition in concert halls and churches across the world. Conductor Roderick Cox, soprano Sarah Shafer, tenor Frederick Ballentine and bass-baritone Douglass Williams make their NJSO debuts.

"Cox is a trailblazer ... a conductor who will be in the vanguard," The Minnesota Star Tribune writes of the Minnesota Orchestra associate conductor.

The Star-Ledger has praised the NJSO's past performances of the masterwork with the Montclair State University Singers, writing: "Together, orchestra, chorus, conductor and soloists brought out the work's many shades, and delivered that one particular seasonal requirement, a rousing 'Hallelujah.'"