Music

Poet Kevin Young (Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and Poetry Editor for The New Yorker) and Dr. Tammy Kernodle (Distinguished Professor of Musicology at Miami University of Ohio) explore topics and themes of the Harlem Renaissance through music and poetry, including Young's own. The Ambassador Chorale of Florida Memorial University, a South Florida HBCU, will join the NWS to perform choral settings of works by William Dawson and Moses Hogan as well as traditional gospel songs. Soprano Michelle Bradley will perform art songs by composers, including William Grant Still, Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. The performances will be preceded by a 60-minute poetry reading by notable Miami-based poets and students, curated by P. Scott Cunningham, Founder of the O, Miami Poetry Festival.

Poet Kevin Young (Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and Poetry Editor for The New Yorker) and Dr. Tammy Kernodle (Distinguished Professor of Musicology at Miami University of Ohio) explore topics and themes of the Harlem Renaissance through music and poetry, including Young's own. The Ambassador Chorale of Florida Memorial University, a South Florida HBCU, will join the NWS to perform choral settings of works by William Dawson and Moses Hogan as well as traditional gospel songs. Soprano Michelle Bradley will perform art songs by composers, including William Grant Still, Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. The performances will be preceded by a 60-minute poetry reading by notable Miami-based poets and students, curated by P. Scott Cunningham, Founder of the O, Miami Poetry Festival.

Chopin for All Free Concert featuring pianist Benjamin Dominguez on February 13, 2022, at Granada Church. With a passion for communicating the art and vibrancy of classical music, pianist Benjamin Dominguez is a dedicated musician, performing artist, and pedagogue. Benjamin has won many significant piano competitions and awards, culminating as grand prize winner of both the 2020 MTNA National Young Artists Piano Competition and the 2017 national Naftzger Young ArtistAuditions. At the end of his undergraduate studies, he received the Presser Scholar Award and Scholarship for academic and musical excellence. Benjamin’s past musical engagements include concerts with Michael Stern and the KC Symphony Orchestra as well as with Jung-Ho Pak and the KU Symphony Orchestra. In his most recent live concert, Benjamin performed alongside Emanuel Ax as part of Lincoln Center’s 2021 Restart Stages, a performance initiative to revivify the live performing arts in NYC since the start of the pandemic. He is currently pursuing his Master's Degree at the Juilliard School of Music studying under Prof. Julian Martin.

Three-time Latin GRAMMY® Nominee Maestro Jose Negroni debuts ?A Life of Music? the Michel Legrand Story. This original concert chronicles the incredible life and music of the prolific jazz pianist and composer. The program dives deeply into the works of the prolific composer and jazz pianist. Legrand scored over 200 songs for television and movies which earned him countless award nominations, three Oscars, five GRAMMYs, and a Golden Globe Award win among other global accolades. Among the jazz pianist and composers? best-known compositions are ?Windmills Of Your Mind,? ?The Summer Knows,? ?You Must Believe In Spring,? ?What Are You Doing For the Rest of Your Life,? and ?How Do You Keep The Music Playing?? The production includes Negroni on piano accompanied by Rafael Valencia, bass, Nomar Negroni, percussion, Marinel Cruz, soprano, Nicole Samara, mezzo, and features Federico Britos, violin, and Elli Clarke, alto.

As the world reopens to live performances, Postmodern Jukebox is here to provide the ideal soundtrack: jazzing up hits from the rock and pop era into swinging 1920s numbers. This collective of musicians draws from a pool of over 100 singers and musicians, pairing the ideal voice and skillset to each creative cover. Their performances reverberate with raw energy and feature sultry, soaring vocals and deft, unadulterated musicianship. Says band founder Scott Bradlee: “Get ready for the most sensational ’20s party this side of The Great Gatsby.”

The closest you’ll get to one of the most irresistible pop groups of all time, ABBA The Concert is the top tribute group for the timeless Swedish disco quartet who inspired the hit musical Mamma Mia. ABBA The Concert has toured throughout North America for over a decade, sweeping audiences away with their performances of unforgettable hits like S.O.S, Waterloo, and Dancing Queen.

The Queen of Soul: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin featuring Damien Sneed With special guest Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson An homage to one of the most beloved singers of all time, created by accomplished musician and composer Damien Sneed, who toured with and was mentored by Franklin herself. Sneed gathers a superb group of jazz, gospel and soul musicians to accompany six-time Grammy Nominee Valerie Simpson in soaring performances of Franklin’s timeless hits, including Respect, Think, Freeway, and Natural Woman. Valerie Simpson is half of the songwriting-performing-producing entity known as Ashford & Simpson. Their award-winning collaborations began in the late ‘60s, and she along with her late husband Nick Ashford have penned classic hits such as, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand,” “I’m Every Woman,” and many others that were made famous by Aretha Franklin.

Choir of Man THE RUNAWAY INTERNATIONAL HIT IS COMING TO MIAMI! Known across the globe as “the ultimate-feel good show,” THE CHOIR OF MAN offers up one hour of indisputable joy for all ages! It’s a party.

The concert will feature the TLH Ensemble performing a unique program of art music written in the last one hundred years. TLH Ensemble reflects Miami’s diverse populous and their experiences by sourcing multicultural local and global art music and talent. For this occasion, Juan Trigos, the ensemble’s artistic director and conductor has carefully selected the repertoire. Serenata invano by Carl Nielsen and Hommage T.S. Eliot by Sofia Gubaidulina, in celebration of her 90th birthday. We invite audiences everywhere to contemplate the evolution of art music and broaden their understanding of its traditions and its potential trajectories. PROGRAM Carl Nielsen, Serenata in vano, for clarinet, bassoon, horn and strings Sofia Gubaidulina, Hommage à T.S. Eliot, for soprano and eight instruments. Presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners Performers: Juan Trigos, conductor Daniela D’Ingiullo, soprano Kelsey Gallagher, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon Raul Rodriguez, horn Misha Vitenson, violin I Avi Nagin, violin II Luis Gomez, double bass Alexandra D'Amico, viola Jason Calloway, violoncello Luis Gomez, double bass With the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners #MiamiDadeArts

Little Havana Social Club channels the spirit of a fiesta de barrio (neighborhood party), informed by the many sounds and flavors of Latin American and Caribbean traditions but with a twist of contemporary Miami. This edition of LHSC is a journey through Latin American and African cultures as seen through percussion, and more specifically the influence of the African drum on the variety of rhythms found in the American continent. A musical journey through Uruguay with its Candombe, Cuba with its Bata, Haiti with its Rara, Venezuela with its Las Minas and Africa with its Doum Doum and Djembe.