Classical Music Returns to Live Audiences
Conductors and musicians excited to greeting full houses
Orchestra conductors will be waving their wands guiding musicians on string, percussion and wind instruments through their upcoming 2022 seasons. It will be a very welcome return to the stage for them all.
After nearly two years performing virtually, if at all, classical music groups are back in 2022 with a newfound appreciation for live audiences, as well as some important lessons learned on how to navigate performing during a pandemic.
This year brings will see them performing masterpieces by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Mozart. They will also perform chamber music, feature guests conductors and soloists, and even perform on stages set up on the sands of Miami Beach.
Classical music enthusiasts are sure to welcome them back with open arms, so tap and cue the wand, set the bow and glide it along the strings, clap the cymbals and bang the drums. Following are just a few highlights; visit the links provided for each group to view its entire schedule.
Cleveland Orchestra Miami
Cleveland Orchestra Miami rose to the challenge during the pandemic and created multiple digital programs: a podcast “On a Personal Note,” an archival concert audio stream on their website “TCO Classics,” and its flagship digital concert series “In Focus” on its Adella app and website Adella.live.
The Cleveland Orchestra is set to perform twice in January 2022 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, under the direction of conductor and music director Franz Welser-Möst.
Tchaikovsky’s Fourth leads off the 2022 season, followed by a concert featuring works by Mozart and Dvorak with a guest soprano.
“We are eager to be back in Miami for our audiences and supporters to help the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County celebrate their 15th anniversary, which also is the 15th year of our partnership,” said Cleveland's President & CEO, André Gremillet.
“This is a joyful reunion, we’ve missed our Miami audience and they’ve missed us. Miami is our community too, we’ve been part of it since 2006 and that will continue next year. We are proud to be part of the Miami community which is known as an international and global city.”
Update: Due to the omicron variant, Cleveland Orchestra has cancelled their Miami residency.
New World Symphony
A fixture on the Miami cultural scene for 34 years, led and co-
founded by Artistic Director and Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, New World Symphony has been the launching pad for young musicians who are granted fellowships of up to three years. Guest conductors and soloists accompany the symphony musicians in performances of both traditional and modern compositions.
“Fellows are bringing forward transformative performances. Of the 87 total Fellows, 11 have already secured professional positions and left the group. New Fellows have taken their place, and the program moves forward,” said NWS President and CEO Howard Herring.
And they’re excited to welcome audiences back and have protocols in place. “They are thrilled to be in the live performance environment. I expect the theater to be completely full beginning in January,” said Herring. A unique offering by the New World Symphony is watching their WALLCAST performances on the big screen at Soundscape Park just outside their New World Center.
Chamber Music: Songs of Stravinsky with a guest mezzo-soprano closes out January and in early February Thomas Wilkins conducts alongside Tilson Thomas in the WALLCAST concert “Harlem Renaissance Project.”
Orchestra Miami
Waving the conductor’s wand is Orchestra Miami’s Founder and Artistic Director Elaine Rinaldi, who leads a group of stellar musicians performing in fun, unconventional venues like Miami Beach. Although they were able to perform in late 2020 in very large venues with social distancing and at the outdoor Pinecrest Gardens in early 2021, going back to a normal season is certainly welcome.
Their Beethoven on the Beach is a yearly tradition for them, and this year it features a performance at Pinecrest Gardens in February and in March at Miami Beach’s North Beach Bandshell. Rinaldi said she’s most excited about their “Airborne: Discover Miami Through Music” concert in April at the historic Shake-A-Leg Miami in Coconut Grove and the season’s closing concert in May with singer Wendy Pedersen.
“When we had to shut down right before Beethoven on the Beach in March 2020, we started doing happy hours on Zoom and that helped keep that mission going. No one knew what to expect and those went great and those continued for a while,” said Rinaldi.
She is grateful to the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami Foundation and Florida Cares whose grants allowed them to keep operating and perform via livestream.
Seraphic Fire
The Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble performs at churches throughout Miami-Dade County as well as in Broward and are led by Founder and Conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley. Founded in 2002 they have an impressive repertoire and 16 recorded albums, two of those Grammy nominated.
2022 season highlights include January’s CD release concert featuring their recording released in summer 2022 where “we are excited to be with a French Opera Director Francesca Zambello and see it performed theatrically.”
And closing the season in April just in time for the Easter season, a piece they haven’t performed in many years, Handel’s Messiah.
“During the height of the pandemic in 2020 we shifted our business model which allowed us to reach our audiences digitally,” said Executive Director Rhett del Campo.
They also honored every contract with every artist throughout the pandemic. Sometimes that meant having them record something and send it in so “although business changed, we didn’t stop and we had to reinvent the wheel in every sense.”
South Beach Chamber Ensemble
Founded in 1997 and led by executive artistic director Michael Andrews, South Beach Chamber Ensemble is dedicated to a mission of promoting and performing chamber music throughout Miami-Dade County.
2022 will see them playing at the Coral Gables Museum, Miami Beach Botanical Garden and at The Betsy Hotel where they will begin their residency.
“Last year, we finished up at The Betsy Hotel and were actually the first group to perform there live in April,” said Andrews. “We then kept in conversation with the owners Deborah and Jonahtan Briggs and they asked if we would return ... the space is great, nice lighting and great noise reduction due to thick glass. The Briggs are big supporters of the arts and we’re a great fit there.”
They will also be accompanying Dance Now! Miami in April for Ekphrasis in the Garden at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden.
In 2020 they received funding to hold livestreamed performances that reached audiences in Europe and South America, but that's not all.
“Also in 2020, I put together a program Black Voices: An Evening of Music & Thought Nicole Henry was the host with music by black composers, one included Malcolm X and this performance, as well as others are available on our YouTube Channel,” said Andrews.