New World Symphony and Artistic Director Stéphane Denève Open 2026-27 Season
The New World Symphony (NWS), America's Orchestral Academy, and Artistic Director Stéphane Denève kick off the 2026–27 season with programs that showcase the collaborative spirit, cutting-edge digital capabilities and ambitious artistic vision that define the season. Featuring the exceptional NWS Fellows performing alongside renowned guest artists, the season-opening concerts at the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center bring together beloved classics, contemporary masterworks and immersive experiences.
Denève welcomes Grammy Award–winning violinist Anne Akiko-Meyers in her NWS debut on October 3 & 4, 2026, performing Arturo Márquez's Fandango, a powerfully energetic three-movement concerto for violin and orchestra commissioned by Meyers. Fandango won two Latin Grammy Awards (2024) for Best Classical Album and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
The program opens with Kauyumari by Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, followed by French orchestral masterpieces Debussy's Iberia and Ravel's Boléro, accompanied by custom visuals created by NWS Media featuring projections of two Miami City Ballet principal dancers, Stanislav Olshanskyi and Macarena Gimếnez, performing choreography by MCB principal dancer Natalia Arja.
Ortiz's Kauyumari, which means “blue deer” among the Huichol people of Mexico, draws on a spiritual journey in which the deer transforms into peyote, connecting humans to ancestors and the invisible world. Ortiz weaves an ancestral Huichol melody into a rich orchestral texture that evolves and transforms, mirroring the mystical and hallucinatory power of the blue deer. The piece illuminates music's power to grant access to the intangible, heal wounds and connect listeners to what can only be expressed through sound. Kauyumari will be led by NWS Conducting Fellow Ziwei Ma, who holds NWS's Judith Rodin Fellowship for an Outstanding Woman Musician.
Completed between 1905–1908 as part of his Images for Orchestra, Debussy's Ibéria is a vivid, impressionistic portrait of Spain. Debussy captures the atmosphere through sparkling orchestration, lush harmonies, and evocative rhythms. Ravel's Boléro is one of the most enduringly popular works in the classical canon, instantly recognizable from its extensive use in countless films, television shows, and commercials. It is famous for its hypnotic snare-drum rhythm and gradual crescendo.
On October 10 & 11, 2026, Denève leads the NWS Fellows, the Master Chorale of South Florida—integrated with the orchestra—and soloists Ellie Dehn, soprano; Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano; Sean Panikkar, tenor; and Dashon Burton, baritone, in Beethoven's epic Ninth Symphony, the composer's revolutionary celebration of equality and shared humanity. These concerts are dedicated to Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), NWS's cofounder and Artistic Director Laureate, who died in April 2026 after nearly 40 years devoted to the New World Symphony, its Fellows and creating community in Miami Beach and beyond.
The program opens with MTT's Notturno, featuring Demarre McGill on flute. Notturno was written for the American flutist Paula Robison, who introduced it with members of the New World Symphony in 2005. In MTT's words, “Notturno evokes the lyrical world of Italian music. Its shape recalls concert arias, 'études de concert' and salon pieces—creations of a bygone world that I still hold in great esteem.
The piece has a subtext. It's about the role music plays in the life of a musician, and the role we musicians play (must play?) in life. It's about musicians first discovering the wonder of music and their own unique voice. Then, of course, there's the profession: the concerts, gigs, the routine, and the wear and tear that can lead you to ask, 'Why am I carrying on with all this trilling and arpeggiating?' But we play what we must play with excellence and commitment, even if it drives us nearly over the edge. The great part is, if we have the chance to take a little breath, we discover that the wonder never goes away.
I composed it in tribute to Paul Renzi, who was for fifty years principal flutist of the San Francisco Symphony.”
Following Notturno is Gustav Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5, a deeply moving work scored for strings and harp that moves from quiet tenderness to soaring intensity, offering a moment of reflection. The performance of this work will feature archival footage of MTT conducting, projected onto the Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall's “sails” that span the upper half of the performance space, creating a poignant visual and musical dialogue between past and present. Denève will lead the work from the podium, effectively conducting alongside his dear friend and colleague.
AT A GLANCE:
RAVEL'S BOLÉRO
Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Ziwei Ma, NWS Conducting Fellow*
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari*
Arturo Márquez: Fandango
Claude Debussy: Iberia
Maurice Ravel: Boléro
DENÈVE: BEETHOVEN 9
*Saturday, October 10, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 11, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Demarre McGill, flute
Ellie Dehn, soprano
Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano
Sean Panikkar, tenor
Dashon Burton, baritone
Master Chorale of South Florida
Brett Karlin, chorus master
Michael Tilson Thomas : Notturno
Gustav Mahler : Adagietto from Symphony No. 5
Ludwig Van Beethoven : Symphony No. 9