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Front Page » Arts & Culture » Performing institutions raising curtains for live audiences

Performing institutions raising curtains for live audiences

Written by on January 25, 2022
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Performing institutions raising curtains for live audiences

After two years in a hybrid virtual world, Miami-Dade’s leading performing arts institutions are not holding back and are safely starting the year with full scheduled seasons.

After being deprived of seeing full-scale in-person performances, audiences are slowly coming back and are clearly hungry for the performing arts, said Howard Herring, president and CEO for New World Symphony Orchestra.

The season has been a success, both in terms of the number of concerts played, the caliber, and the audience, he said.

“Music from the beginning of time, reaches out and touches the heart of the listener and you see it in a dramatic way when you have audiences that have not heard a live concert for two years and find themselves in front of an orchestra,” Mr. Herring said. “And I will say that it’s a powerful experience from the musicians’ point of view, from the fellows’ point of view, and it’s certainly powerful for all of us who spend our lives putting these concerts together and getting these fellows ready for the rest of their lives.”

This year’s first major performance for New World Symphony will be “I Dream a World: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond,” which will run Feb. 1-5, at the New World Center in Miami Beach, 500 17th St.

This is a culminating moment for a season that has 30% of composers and 35% of guest artists and conductors from underrepresented groups, Mr. Herring said. “We’re trying to resolve the racial divisions that define us. And we’re becoming more aware that diversity and inclusion brings advantage and certainly cultural richness.”

“We are going to see people who have never been to the New World Symphony as a result of this expanded repertoire,” he added. “We’re going to hear the excellence of this music and we’re also going to feel the reach and spread of the Harlem Renaissance explosion of creativity.”

Just wrapping up the presentation of Tennessee Williams’ and André Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” and getting ready for its grand opening of “Rigoletto” March 12 at the Adrienne Arsht Center at 1300 Biscayne Blvd., the Florida Grand Opera made its return entertaining audiences of all ages.

“I am most excited about our return to performances in a variety of theaters both large and small,” said Susan T. Danis, executive director for Florida Grand Opera. “Connecting live with our patrons, which we haven’t for almost two years, is like a homecoming.”

“Rigoletto” is one of those pieces that put the ‘grand’ in “Grand Opera,” she said. The theatrical experience is about a beloved staple in the operatic repertoire all over the world, Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto is a story of betrayal, dashed dreams and mistaken identity, promising the best cinematic thriller.

“I’m also tremendously excited about the variety of repertoire we are presenting. ‘Agrippina’ has the vocal fireworks and one of the fiercest heroines opera has ever seen,” added Ms. Danis, who is celebrating Florida Grand Opera’s 80th anniversary. “‘Fellow Travelers’ is both thrilling and romantic, and it tells a very important story from our recent history.”

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