Music

New World Symphony Premieres Miami Composer’s Work ‘Prohibido’ With MCB Dancers

Written By Sean Erwin
January 17, 2025 at 5:29 PM

Composer Orlando Jacinto Garcia premieres his new work for String Orchestra “prohibido” with the New World Symphony and Miami City Ballet on Sunday, Jan. 26.  (Photo courtesy of Jacek Kolasinski)

In Terezín, art was defiance. During World War II, the Nazis transformed the Czech fortress town into a Jewish ghetto and concentration camp, a transit point for over 150,000 Jews sent to their deaths. Among them were 15,000 children—fewer than 100 survived. Their poems and drawings were collected after the war in a volume titled “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”.

On Sunday, Jan. 26, the New World Symphony presents “The Chamber Cello” at the New World Center, a program that honors Terezín’s legacy, conducted by Aram Demirjian, music director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and winner of the 2020 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

At the heart of the evening is the premiere of “prohibido” (“prohibited”), an impactful new work by Cuban-American composer Orlando Jacinto García. The performance integrates projected artworks produced by the Terezín children and original choreography by Miami City Ballet soloist Ariel Rose, featuring MCB dancers Lucy Nevin and Alexander Kaden.

Miami City Ballet dancers Alexander Kaden and Lucy Nevin rehearse choreography for “prohibido” (“prohibited”), an impactful new work by Cuban-American composer Orlando Jacinto. (Photo courtesy of Ariel Rose)

García, an FIU Distinguished Professor of Composition, first encountered “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in the 1990s.  The volume inspired his 2018 “Third String Quartet”.

Recorded by the Amernet String Quartet, the piece won the prestigious Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2022. This past summer, García expanded the quartet for a full chamber orchestra and renamed it “prohibido.”

The new composition broadens its focus to encompass all forms of repression—racial, religious, political, and cultural. “I could easily be talking about Cuba,” says García, “but it could also be about George Floyd or Native Americans—any people who’ve been silenced.” Garcia’s work also explores the perception of time. “One of the most important things that art can do is change your perception,” he says. “My hope is that when the piece ends, you won’t be sure if it lasted five minutes or 30.”

For choreographer Ariel Rose, the time-dilating nature of García’s music presented a unique challenge. “The music is very bare at times,” Rose explains. “There are no counts—it’s really not countable. The dancers are listening for sounds and cues and practicing over and over to internalize it.”

Miami City Ballet soloist Ariel Rose choreographed an original dance piece to accompany the performance of Cuban-American composer Orlando Jacinto Garcia’s new work. (Photo courtesy of Sean Pozin)

The emotional depth of the music also shaped Rose’s creative process. “Listening to the music, I got in touch with this feeling beyond grief—of numbness,” Rose says. “That’s what I tried to convey with the two dancers. They have this almost blank stare, this absent vitality. The music embodies grief beyond grief.”

Rose designed the choreography to complement, not overshadow, the orchestra and projections. The dancers perform their duet on an elevated half-moon platform that frames the musicians. “With this subject matter, I wanted the audience to walk away feeling at least 5% of what those in Terezín experienced,” says Rose.

Michael Linville, New World Symphony’s Dean of Instrumental Performance, curated the program with the intention of balancing García’s somber meditation. “This piece (“prohibido”) addresses the idea of any kind of prohibition that impinges on individual freedoms,” explains Linville. “It uses the Holocaust as a lens to discuss things that were prohibited and compares it to things people want to prohibit today.”

To offer contrast, Linville selected Chinese-American composer Chen Yi’s “Suite for Cello and Chamber Winds” (2004), an atmospheric work inspired by Chinese folk tunes and traditional instruments. “Chen Yi’s piece is very simple and direct,” says Linville. “There are four movements, each with a different focus. Some tell old Chinese myths and legends, while others are songs—one movement, for example, is lovers singing to each other.”

Michael Linville is New World Symphony’s, Dean of Instrumental Performance. (Photo courtesy of Julisa Fusté)

Linville also included Paul Desenne’s playful “Pizziquitiplas” (1989), which he described as a dynamic showcase for the cello.  “Pizziquitiplas” is a trio for cellos where two cellos emulate the Afro-Venezuelan “quitiplás”, traditional bamboo percussion instruments played in interlocking patterns. A third cello simulates the distinctive sound of a sea conch, commonly associated with ritual dances.

“Paul Desenne’s work is essentially a showpiece for cello,” explains Linville. “It’s kind of folksy, but it also has a strong drive, and it’s just fun. It’s not very long, and the cellists really get to show off and have fun with each other.”

Leading the cello section is guest artist Oliver Herbert, a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, who will perform alongside New World Symphony Fellows during the program. Herbert’s presence underscores the NWS’s commitment to supporting young artists.

(WATCH: Art Speak’s Interview With Orlando Jacinto Garcia)

The inclusion of Desenne and Chen Yi’s works offers audiences a chance to explore different cultural approaches to classical music. Linville explains that each piece brings its own emotional and narrative framework.

The program concludes with Johannes Brahms’ “Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major”. First composed when Brahms was 20 and later revised when he was 56, the trio is a lush, romantic work. “That piece is such a warm bath of beautiful, long phrases,” says Linville. “Considering how early it was written, it’s one of his best.”

By blending García’s contemporary reflections on repression with the cultural diversity of Chen Yi and Desenne and the timeless romanticism of Brahms, “The Chamber Cello” offers a nuanced exploration of history, humanity, and art’s enduring power to transcend trauma.

Amar Demirjian, music director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and winner of the 2020 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, leads the New World Symphony’s presentation of “The Chamber Cello” at the New World Center. (Photo courtesy of Lisa-Marie Mazzucco)

The evening’s themes resonate with the broader “Resonance of Remembrance” series, part of New World Symphony’s 2024-2025 season marking 80 years since the end of World War II and the Holocaust. By revisiting the pivotal period in history, the symphony’s initiative creates a bridge between past traumas and present realities. Linville emphasizes that while the music carries somber tones, it also reminds us of resilience. “It’s about giving voice to stories that still need to be heard,” he says.

WHAT: New World Symphony Presents “Chamber Music: The Chamber Cello”

WHERE: The New World Center, 500 17th St., Miami Beach

WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26

COST: $20, $25, $30, $35, $40

INFORMATION: 305-673-3330 and www.nws.edu/events-tickets/

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