The Gaelen Center for the Arts at JCC MetroWest announces a multi-faceted selection of arts and cultural programing for 2019. Building upon their already successful New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, popular youth theater programs and art gallery exhibitions, the coming season will include a Conservatory Chamber Music Concert Series, authors and concerts for children and families and will play host to Jewish authors. The Gaelen Center for the Arts at JCC MetroWest is located at 760 Northfield Avenue in West Orange, New Jersey.

2019 finds The Gaelen Center for the Arts at JCC MeroWest teaming up with four music conservatories across the nation to bring talented music students to the stage. Kicking off the Conservatory Chamber Music Series on January 17 was The Vera Quartet from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Additional chamber concerts include Trio Umani from The Julliard School in New York City on March 3, The Landon String Quartet from Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, on March 24 and The Mount Vernon Virtuosi String Orchestra from Peabody Institute of The John Hopkins University in Baltimore on June 13.

Authors and speakers will be a big part of the 2019 season featuring a wide range of talent that will appeal to adults and families. One not to miss this month is The Simpsons’ longest-serving writer and producer, Mike Reiss, who will offer a humorous look at the writing and making of the legendary Fox series on January 24. Jamie Bernstein, author of “Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein,” will give a rare look at her father Leonard Bernstein on March 14. Martin Fletcher, author of “Promised Land: A Novel of Israel” will speak on April 11 and Ariel Berger, who chronicles the intimate conversations between himself and Elie Wiesel over decades in his book “Witness: Lessons From Eli Wiesel’s Classroom,” will bring those stories to the JCC on May 2. In “President Carter: The White House Years,” Stuart E. Eizenstat presents a comprehensive history of the Carter Administration, demonstrating that Carter was the most impactful, consequential, modern-era one-term U.S. President. Eizenstat will be the guest speaker on June 12.

For a complete list of Gaelen Center for the Arts 2019 events, and to purchase tickets, visit https://jccmetrowest.org/programs/gaelen/#overview.