Frost Symphony, Jorge Mejia premiere concerto inspired by a Miami Beach apartment

A 1920s-era apartment building at 221 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, inspired Jorge Mejia’s piano concerto “If These Walls Could Talk,” which will get its U.S. premiere at the Adrienne Arsht Center and will feature the composer and the Frost Symphony Orchestra. (Photo by Sergi Alexander, courtesy of the Arsht Center)

Built in 1922, the Miami Beach apartment building at 221 Collins Ave. had already seen many tenants come and go by the time Jorge Mejia moved in during the early 2000s.

“I would sit there in my apartment, and I would think about the stories of the people who lived here,” he said.

That curiosity became “If These Walls Could Talk,” a piano concerto inspired by the imagined residents of the building.

Joined by the Frost Symphony Orchestra of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, the U.S. premiere of “If These Walls Could Talk,” with Mejia at the piano, is Sunday, April 26 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts as part of “An Evening of Masterpieces and a Piano Concerto.”

Jorge Mejia’s “If These Walls Could Talk” toured Europe and South
America in 2025. It makes its U.S. premiere in Miami with the Frost Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, April 26 (Photo by Artist Management, courtesy of the Arsht Center)

The program, conducted by Gerard Schwarz, music director of the Frost Symphony Orchestra and distinguished professor of music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, also features Maurice Ravel’s “Alborada del gracioso” and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10.

Mejia’s concerto unfolds across three movements, “First Floor,” “Second Floor” and “Rooftop,” each inspired by an imagined resident of the building. The residents, a 1920s developer, a World War II nurse and a current tenant facing eviction due to redevelopment, are each introduced during the performance through a brief spoken narration and images.

“I hope audiences connect emotionally to both the story and the music,” Mejia said of the concerto that has already been performed in Europe and South America.

Schwarz said that Mejia’s contemporary concerto pairs well with Ravel’s piece, which opens the program.

“The Ravel and Mejia pieces fit wonderfully together, similar sounds, similar harmonic language,” Schwarz said.

Following Mejia’s piece, the program moves to Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, first performed after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Schwarz said that the symphony is a “kaleidoscope of emotions from the darkest to the most jubilant.”

For Mejia, having the United States premiere in Miami holds special meaning.

“This is home—very much with a capital H for me,” said Mejia, who has lived in Miami for more than 40 years.

Mejia credits Miami’s cultural diversity with shaping both his music and his career.

Jorge Mejia, composer and pianist who has lived in Miami for more than
40 years, will perform his concerto “If These Walls Could Talk” with the Frost Symphony Orchestra at the Adrienne Arsht Center. (Photo by Laura Coppelman, courtesy of the Arsht Center)

“His music reflects that combination of backgrounds we have here in South Florida,” Schwarz said of Mejia, who also serves as president and CEO of Sony Music Publishing Latin America and U.S. Latin.

Mejia, who studied piano performance at the Frost School of Music in the ‘90s, calls it a full circle moment to perform his concerto in Miami with the orchestra, which is composed of students in the Frost School.

“It’s going to be fun for me to play with them,” he said. “I can’t wait.”

The performance also comes as Shelly Berg, the dean of the Frost School of Music, prepares to retire in May.

“I think Shelly has been transformational for the school,” Mejia said.

Schwarz said that Berg prioritized giving students opportunities in many different facets of the world of music.

“Shelly is a remarkable leader and a remarkable musician,” he said. “He’s a musician with ideas and a man of great taste, which is very important in our world.”

Gerard Schwarz conducts the Frost Symphony Orchestra, a 100-
member ensemble of University of Miami students (Photo by Steven J. Sherman
courtesy of the Arsht Center)

The Arsht performance, planned under Berg’s leadership, will follow the release of Mejia’s new album, also titled “If These Walls Could Talk” on Friday, April 24. The recording, made with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, debuts on Apple Music Classical before a wider streaming release on Friday, May 8.

Both the album and the concerto remain rooted in the apartment building that sparked his imagination.

“The building still exists. You can visit it at 221 Collins Ave.,” Mejia said.

WHAT: An Evening of Masterpieces and a Piano Concerto

 WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday, April 26

 WHERE: Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

 COST: $29.25, $40.95, $58.50, including fees

 INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or https://www.arshtcenter.org

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