In Sunday’s (1/15) Miami Herald, Jordan Levin writes, “The acoustically pristine concert hall of the New World Symphony’s New World Center will resound with the vibrant playing of its young classical musicians Friday night—and will also throb with the kind of electronic dance music that fills South Beach nightclubs. … The event—called Pulse: Late Night at the New World Symphony—is part of a slate of innovative concert formats at New World aimed at drawing new and younger audiences to classical music. … Thus far, Pulse seems to be succeeding. The first outing, held soon after the New World Center’s opening last January, drew 900 people, while the second, in April, sold out its 1,500 tickets a week in advance. … New World is at the forefront of experimental efforts to find new audiences, says [League of American Orchestras President and CEO] Jesse Rosen, but it’s not alone. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has staged late-night raves, the Memphis Symphony has performed in blues clubs and incorporated rappers and dancers, and the Indianapolis Symphony has a happy-hour program. ‘Part of what keeps an art form alive is it has to keep evolving and changing,’ Rosen says. The Pulse effort ‘strikes me as a very natural evolution of the art form, which is what it needs to do to stay connected to the public.’ ”
Posted January 17, 2012
