New World Symphony: 100th WALLCAST^® Concert (4K Unveiling)

When: October 12 At 7:30 P.M.

Where: New World Center, 500 17th St

About: The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy (NWS), will present its 100^th WALLCAST^® concert on Opening Night – Saturday, October 12, 2019 at 7:30 PM – conducted by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas.

The WALLCAST^® concert will be the first-ever to be presented in end-to-end 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) technology, through a permanent upgrade to the capture and delivery system in the New World Center and SoundScape Park.  The upgrade was made possible through the City of Miami Beach’s G.O. Bond, voted on by residents of Miami Beach in 2018.  Future WALLCAST^® concerts, films in the SoundScape Cinema Series, and other presentations in SoundScape Park will utilize the system for projections on the 7,000 square-foot wall of the New World Center.

The milestone event marks eight years of presenting the world’s leading classical artists, musical works, films and cultural content for free to the South Florida community.  The impact and influence of the outdoor WALLCAST^® system has also been revealed in other cultural, civic and educational institutions mirroring its platform by launching their own outdoor presentations. Among nearly one dozen organizations that have launched or will soon launch outdoor systems inspired in part by the New World Center and Soundscape Park are the Kennedy Center, which inaugurates The REACH this month, an expansion of its campus that includes an outdoor projection wall; the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University, which features an outdoor presentation wall and courtyard and will open in October 2019 with performances by the New York Philharmonic; and downtown Jacksonville, which has approved an outdoor projection project scheduled to launch in 2020.

Benefits of outdoor presentation systems and programs include community building, placemaking, social inclusion and engagement, and there are potential financial benefits as well.  A one-year in-depth study of New World Symphony’s WALLCAST^® concerts by the independent research firm WolfBrown revealed these events attract diverse and intergenerational audiences and provide social fulfillment and a connection to community.  The WolfBrown study also found that 40% of WALLCAST^® concert attendees visit Lincoln Road – an adjacent outdoor pedestrian mall – either before or after the concert.

In addition to WALLCAST^® concerts, weekly films are shown free-of-charge on the wall as part of the City of Miami Beach’s SoundScape Cinema Series.  Commissioned video art, video installations from Art Basel Miami Beach, and other cultural content is also shown on the wall for free.

The Opening Night concert will be led by the organization’s co-founder and Artistic Director, 11-time Grammy Award-winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who was recently announced as a recipient of the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors.  “The Kennedy Center Honors celebrates icons who, through their artistry, have left an indelible stamp on our collective cultural consciousness,” said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein.

Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year Daniil Trifonov will join MTT and the New World Symphony Fellows for the occasion, marking his debut with the institution.  The Grammy Award-winning pianist, Gramophone’s Artist of the Year in 2016 and Artist in Residence with the New York Philharmonic during the 19-20 Season, Trifonov will perform Scriabin’s Piano Concerto.

Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and selections from Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet will complete the program, which will also be performed the following day, October 13 at 2:00 PM at the New World Center, without the outdoor WALLCAST^® component.

Institutional partners in the New World Center’s 4K upgrade include Hitachi, FOR-A, Enlighten Digital, and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

By the community and for the community, the City of Miami Beach’s $439 million General Obligation Bond Program is revitalizing public spaces, public structures and public security for the future of Miami Beach. Upgrading city functions and enhancing city aesthetics at an unprecedented scale, the G.O. Bond Program is working to implement 57 separate improvement projects that will positively impact quality of life, economic health and overall resilience in all North Beach, Middle Beach and South Beach areas.  For additional information on projects included in the G.O. Bond, their locations and status, visit www.GoMBInfo.com.

The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, prepares graduates of music programs for leadership roles in professional orchestras and ensembles. In the 32 years since its co-founding by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, NWS has helped launch the careers of more than 1,100 alumni worldwide. A laboratory for the way music is taught, presented and experienced, the New World Symphony consists of 87 young musicians who are granted fellowships lasting up to three years. The fellowship program offers in-depth exposure to traditional and modern repertoire, professional development training, and personalized experiences working with leading guest conductors, soloists, and visiting faculty. Relationships with these artists are extended through NWS’s distance learning via the internet. NWS Fellows take advantage of the innovative performance facilities and state-of-the-art practice and ensemble rooms of the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center, the campus of the New World Symphony. For more information about the New World Symphony, visit nws.edu.

For more information about the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, visit www.NWS.edu.