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Michael Tilson Thomas' New World Symphony

Members of the New World Symphony rehearse.
Members of the New World Symphony rehearse.

Nestled among the beach bunnies and muscle men of Miami's trendy South Beach neighborhood is a group of 82 young classical musicians. They hail from all across the country, representing America's most promising new artists, and they come each year to participate in a unique training orchestra called the New World Symphony.

An intensive, three-year fellowship program, the New World Symphony offers performance and training opportunities with seasoned coaches, conductors and soloists. In the first of a three-part series following a year in the New World Symphony, NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with the orchestra's famous artistic director, Michael Tilson Thomas.

Thomas established the New World Symphony in 1987. He is also the director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, but spends 10 weeks a year in Miami coaching the young resident artists. Having studied with the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein as a young musician, Thomas sees the New World Symphony as his own way of passing that training down to the next generation of great musicians.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.