Artistic Director Stéphane Denève leads the NWS fellows in four works spanning Latin American and French repertoire, according to Miami Living Magazine. Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, making her NWS debut, performs "Fandango," a piece she commissioned from Latin Grammy-winning composer Arturo Márquez. NWS conducting fellow Ziwei Ma, who holds the orchestra's Judith Rodin Fellowship for an Outstanding Woman Musician, opens the evening with "Kauyumari" by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, a Grammy and Latin Grammy winner.

The program closes with Debussy's "Iberia" and Ravel's "Boléro." For "Boléro," NWS Media created custom visuals featuring projections of Miami City Ballet principal dancers Stanislav Olshanskyi and Macarena Giménez performing choreography by fellow principal Natalia Arja.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. A second performance follows at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, according to South Florida Classical Review.

Beethoven's Ninth honors Michael Tilson Thomas

One week later, Denève returns to the podium for a tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas, the NWS co-founder who died April 22 of glioblastoma. He was 81.

The orchestra performs Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 Saturday, Oct. 10, at the New World Center. The concert will also be shown free as a Wallcast on the 7,000-square-foot projection wall in adjacent SoundScape Park. Past Wallcast events have drawn as many as 2,000 people to the park, according to WLRN.

Tilson Thomas co-founded the New World Symphony in 1987 with philanthropists Ted and Lin Arison. The orchestra played its first concert Feb. 4, 1988, at the Gusman Cultural Center in downtown Miami. It later moved to the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center, a $160 million building that opened in 2011. The auditorium was renamed the Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall in 2022, when he stepped down as artistic director.

"I will forever treasure the cathartic effect his music-making had on me," Denève said in an April statement after Tilson Thomas' death, the Miami Herald reported.

New fellows class and ticket information

The 2026-27 class includes 32 new fellows selected from more than 1,800 applicants, an acceptance rate of less than 2%. In all, 87 fellows cover 17 instruments, plus three noninstrumental positions.

Subscriptions and single tickets are available at nws.edu or 305-673-3331. More than one-third of NWS concerts are pay-what-you-wish, many starting at $0.

Upcoming at the New World Center:

  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3: Season opener with music by Ortiz, Márquez, Debussy and Ravel, featuring Anne Akiko Meyers
  • 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4: Season opener (repeat)
  • Saturday, Oct. 10: Beethoven's Ninth tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas, with a free Wallcast in SoundScape Park