Denève takes the reins at New World Symphony
New artistic director — only the second in its 35-year history — will make his debut at Saturday concert
It was the second conversation, albeit over Zoom, in recent weeks that New World Symphony’s new artistic director, Stéphane Denève had made himself available one on one to get acquainted.
This time, the maestro was speaking from a hotel room. “Here I am in Vienna, and I can prove it,” he said, turning the computer screen around to show the view from his window, displaying a picture-perfect landscape of the Austrian city. Denève had just begun a tour with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, his fourth season as its 13th music director, in a lightning schedule throughout Europe.
Only nine days after the whirlwind, he steps onto the podium in Miami Beach at the New World Center on April 8, in a program titled “Denève’s Debut.” It will be his first public appearance with the orchestra since being named New World Symphony artistic director — as only the second person to hold the esteemed role in the symphony’s 35-year history.
The first, renowned conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, cofounded the New World Symphony in 1987 along with philanthropists Lin and Ted Arison. Tilson Thomas was also instrumental in the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center, which opened in 2011 and is now a landmark in downtown Miami Beach. However, he revealed in March 2022 that he was stepping down due to his diagnosis of Glioblastoma Multiforme,
a type of aggressive brain cancer.
“Currently the cancer is in check. But the future is uncertain as Glioblastoma is a stealthy adversary. Its recurrence is, unfortunately, the rule rather than the exception,” wrote Tilson Thomas, 78, who assumed the role of artistic director laureate.
After a search for a replacement, the symphony’s board in September 2022 announced they had found the right person to continue and nurture Tilson Thomas’s dream project: a 51-year-old French conductor who had, since 2006, led the New World Symphony as a guest conductor.
Denève remembers meeting Tilson Thomas during his debut that year. “We had lunch together and spoke about Beethoven,
and he got carried away by emotion. I thought, ‘What an artist, what a real artist,’ ” he said.
Denève had always admired the conductor, listening to his CDs as a teenager growing up in Roncq in northern France. He recalls seeing Tilson Thomas live at a performance hall in Paris.
“That concert changed my life and to this day I remember it as a very cathartic experience,” said Denève, who now looks forward to working with Tilson Thomas in his role at New World Symphony. “I am only the second artistic director for a good reason. He’s really the father of this institution, and I respect him so much for that. He will continue to be present in his musical home.”
Saturdays’ debut concert should offer a sense of
where Denève will lead the fellows, introducing new works that he wants to explore together with the musicians and audiences — finding those “new classics.” He said he is fascinated by the idea of how a piece of music “sticks.”
“Even in pop music
... like The Beatles, who composed thousands of songs, yet there are only a few of them that entered the canon. Even Mozart composed almost 700 pieces, but only a few entered the repertoire forever,” he added. “It is fascinating to search and find that rare ‘crème de la crème’ piece that can become the classic of the future.”
“Denève’s Debut” will feature three works that have never been performed at New World Center, including Henri Dutilleux’s
“Métaboles.”
“It is one of the biggest pieces written for an orchestra, and the fellows are extremely excited to play it,” he said.
While each piece is equally exciting, he said he looks forward to a work featuring baritone Davóne Tines.
“He is a real creator in addition to being a great baritone and is engaged in the music of today. He’s created this new format where there is a concerto for voice and orchestra,” Denève said.
Tines will perform a three-song cycle that includes text from James Baldwin, a Langston Hughes poem and a long aria from “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” by Anthony Davis.
“I think what is very important is that sometimes you want people to have a cathartic experience — where people go from listening and hearing into being moved into action, into changing their lives or changing the lives of others,” Denève says.
While he’ll spend much time in Miami Beach, he doesn’t have plans just yet to make a permanent move. He just settled with his wife and 15-year-old daughter in St. Louis last summer after moving them from Brussels, and he will continue as music director of the St. Louis Symphony. This year, he’ll also begin his tenure as principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Music directors many times live in one place and work in another,” he said. “You can travel easily. And who wouldn’t want to come to Miami Beach whenever possible?”
IF YOU GO
What: “Denève’s Debut” with New World Symphony Where: New World Center, Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall, 500 17th St., Miami Beach
When: 8 p.m. April 8
Cost: $35-$100 Information: 305-673-3331; 800-597-3331; nws.edu