New World Symphony

America's Orchestral Academy

Co-founder and Artistic Director Laureate

The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, prepares young musicians for leadership roles in orchestras and ensembles worldwide.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts 'The Seasons' in the New World Symphony's John Cage festival - photo by Rui Dias-Aidos

The program offers in-depth exposure to traditional and modern repertoire, with the active involvement of leading guest conductors, soloists and coaches. The relationships with these artists are extended through NWS' pioneering experimentation with distance learning via Internet2.

In the 29 years since its cofounding by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, NWS has helped launch the careers of more than 1,000 alumni worldwide.

Innovative performance formats cultivate new audiences and complement the skills and qualifications required of 21st-Century musicians.

NEW WORK events introduce audiences to creations and collaborations that span music, literature, drama and visual art.

WALLCAST™ concerts allow listeners throughout the season to enjoy performances on the center’s 7,000-square-foot projection wall.

The New World Symphony has performed in leading venues around the world, ranging from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Argentina’s Teatro Colón; London’s Barbican Centre to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

In 1990, MTT and the NWS were presented in a series of benefit concerts for UNICEF in the U.S. featuring Audrey Hepburn as narrator of From the Diary of Anne Frank, composed by MTT and commissioned by UNICEF.

MTT and Ted Arison founded the New World Symphony in 1987. They renovated and moved into the Lincoln Theatre in 1989, leading the rejuvenation of the Lincoln Road Mall on South Beach.

In 2011, after operating 23 years at Miami Beach’s Lincoln Theatre and in spaces across the city, the New World Symphony moved into the New World Center, a state-of the art facility for education and performance designed by Gehry Partners.

For more information about the New World Symphony, please visit www.nws.edu

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