A new $200M Home for New World Symphony in Miami Beach is Now Underway! Anticipated work is set to begin in Miami Beach on the New World Symphony’s $200 million addition. The ground has finally been broken on a sprawling new Miami Beach-based New World Symphony campus. It’s also fondly known as America’s Orchestral Academy.
The new complex, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, will join the growing array of new arts facilities in South Florida. The Frank Gehry-designed campus will be located at 1672 Drexel Avenue in the heart of Miami Beach’s City Center district.
Miami Beach Rebirth
Miami Beach is presently undergoing a rebirth centering on the City Center Redevelopment Project, of which the new symphony facility will be the centerpiece. The New World Symphony will be completed in 2010; the complex will include a performing and recording segment with a capacity to seat as many as 700. There is a rooftop digital music library, a conductor’s studio with 360-degree projection capability, 26 individual rehearsal rooms, artist suites, changing rooms, and administrative offices, among other things. Expanded Internet2 technology will allow greater international partnership and interaction with musicians, composers, and learning institutions worldwide.
Of the $200 million cost, $150 million will pay for construction. The rest will go to the orchestra’s endowment. Locals also eagerly anticipate the adjacent park in which Gehry will design a two-acre park and public parking garage adjacent to the New World Campus. Miami Beach has set aside an additional $20 million for the park. There is $15 million for the garage, which will have a second-floor walkway into the New World facility.
Frank Gehry-commissioned Project
The 107,000-square-foot ”campus” is recognized as the first Frank Gehry-commissioned project in Florida. It could profoundly change how classical music is presented and performed. One of the most prominent architectural features of the campus will showcase a glass curtain wall. This unique wall will allow a glimpse of the inside architecture and a projection screen that may be viewed from the new park. “There will be evenings where we will create musical performances throughout the building,” artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas said. Audience members can have a progressive concert experience through different rooms, repertoires, and musical experiences. One of my great dreams is that there would be a voice again, saying… `Live from Miami Beach, And away we go!‘
New World Symphony Relocation
Once the new facility is complete, NWS will relocate from its smaller digs at the Lincoln Theatre. Since its inaugural concert on February 4, 1988, the New World Symphony has been heard in such prestigious venues. Venues include New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, Paris’ Bastille Opera, London’s Barbican Centre, and Argentina’s Teatro Colon.
New World Symphony tours have included performances in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Monaco, France, Great Britain, Japan, Israel, and throughout the United States. Under the direction of Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, the Symphony has worked with recognized conductors like Leonard Bernstein, Sir George Solti, Marek Janowski, Christoph Eschenbach, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.
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