Ravel’s Boléro

Stéphane Denève opens New World Symphony’s 2026-27 season with a program that moves from contemporary Mexican orchestral writing to French impressions of Spain and Ravel’s hypnotic Boléro. Performances take place Saturday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 4 at 2 p.m. at the New World Center in Miami Beach. The program features violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in Arturo Márquez’s Fandango for Violin and Orchestra, with NWS Conducting Fellow Ziwei Ma leading Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari.

The concert begins with Ortiz’s short orchestral work Kauyumari, inspired by the blue deer spiritual guide of the Wixárika people of Mexico. Meyers then performs Márquez’s mariachi-influenced Fandango, a concerto she has championed since its 2021 premiere and recorded with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The second half turns to French orchestral color with Debussy’s Ibéria from Images for Orchestra, followed by Ravel’s Boléro, a study in repetition, orchestration and gradual intensity.

Denève, New World Symphony’s Artistic Director, also serves as Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Meyers is a Grammy Award-winning violinist known for commissioning and performing contemporary works, including music by Márquez, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt and Eric Whitacre. Ma, the New World Symphony’s Conducting Fellow, has been named a 2026-28 recipient of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship.