Gershwin, Adams & Connesson

A saxophone concerto inspired by John Coltrane, locomotive-driven orchestral works and Gershwin’s music from Porgy and Bess anchor a wide-ranging program at New World Center in Miami Beach. Performances take place Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2. New World Symphony artistic director Stéphane Denève conducts, with saxophonist Steven Banks and NWS conducting fellow Ziwei Ma featured.

Banks performs Guillaume Connesson’s A Kind of Trane, a three-movement concerto shaped by the musical legacy of Coltrane. The first half also includes Honegger’s Pacific 231, presented alongside Jean Mitry’s short film of the same name, and John Adams’ propulsive Short Ride in a Fast Machine, conducted by Ma.

After intermission, Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances explores traditions including ring shout, waltz, tap and sacred dance. Gershwin’s Catfish Row: Suite from Porgy and Bess closes the program just blocks from the opera’s rumored Miami Beach birthplace, bringing the work’s familiar melodies and dramatic orchestral writing back near its local point of origin.