More Than Two Decades Ago, A Chance Meeting Helped Launch Orchestra Miami

Orchestra Miami, led by Elaine Rinaldi, opens its 20th anniversary season Sunday, Nov. 8 at Pinecrest Gardens. (Photo by Larry Shane/courtesy of Orchestra Miami)

A chance meeting in Key West helped set Orchestra Miami in motion.

Founder and artistic director Elaine Rinaldi was conducting “La Traviata” when she met former Florida Philharmonic violinist Jerry Miller and Juilliard-trained cellist Steven Sigurdson. They approached her about starting a new orchestra in Miami. Rinaldi recalls that in 2003 the Florida Philharmonic had gone bankrupt, leaving many musicians looking for work.

In 2006, Rinaldi started Orchestra Miami.

“I said, ‘yes,’ and the rest is history,” Rinaldi recalls.

Orchestra Miami opens its 20th anniversary season Sunday, Nov. 8, with a special performance at Pinecrest Gardens. The concert will begin with the same music Rinaldi chose for the orchestra’s first performance: Mozart’s Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro.” She selected it then because she knew it well and hoped it would bring people joy.

For Orchestra Miami’s 10th anniversary, the ensemble performed at Scottish Rite Auditorium in 2016. (Photo by Larry Shane/courtesy of Orchestra Miami)

Two decades later, the choice to start with the same piece was rooted in the same sense of delight. “I thought it would be a beautiful way to bookend 20 years, to start with that joy again.”

In addition to Mozart’s overture to “The Marriage of Figaro,” Orchestra Miami will perform Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto in C Major,” which features three soloists. Rinaldi will play piano, joined by Orchestra Miami concertmaster Mei Mei Luo on violin and principal cellist Aaron Merritt on cello.

Luo, who has been performing with Orchestra Miami since the first concert in 2006, comments on the growth of the organization and its musicians. “We’ve all gained experience since that first performance,” says Luo. “We’ve all grown both musically and technically. It’s incredible to see how much we’ve all grown together.”

A former Florida Philharmonic musician, the violinist remembers those early days 20 years ago. “After the Philharmonic folded and we were all looking for a stable job as a musician, I was so happy to see someone starting a new orchestra.”

Luo calls the Nov. 8 program “special and unique.” Merritt highlights what makes it distinctive for Orchestra Miami: the orchestra often performs contemporary or lesser-known works, while this anniversary concert features familiar Mozart and Beethoven.

“It’ll be a pretty standard meat-and-potatoes orchestra music performance,” Merritt says.

Though the works are familiar, Merritt says Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto” offers plenty of contrast and interplay among its soloists.

Orchestra Miami’s 2025 NYE Celebration concert on Miami Beach has become an annual attraction. (Photo by Kelly Edwards/courtesy of Orchestra Miami)

“Beethoven wrote this piece in the early 1800s, right before his famous Fifth Symphony, and it’s very typical, heroic middle Beethoven,” he says. He describes it as “a really enjoyable piece,” shifting between expansive passages and intimate moments featuring the three soloists.

Rinaldi agrees, saying how the anniversary concert is “probably the most conservative program we’ve ever done, it’s atypical to an Orchestra Miami show.”

She adds how her programming style includes bookending more familiar composers and pieces with “things people don’t know or are not as often played.”

Throughout the last two decades, Orchestra Miami has become known for its free Beethoven on the Beach concert series, and an annual Discover Miami Through Music series. The Discover series places the ensemble inside a historic landmark. They’ve played inside the former Pan Am hangar or the Biltmore Hotel in years past.

Orchestra Miami’s Discover Miami Through Music series takes a season off because of scheduling conflicts, Rinaldi says. She hopes it will return in 2027–28 with a baseball-themed concert inside a stadium, possibly featuring William Schuman’s baseball opera, based on Ernest Thayer’s poem, “Casey at the Bat,” which she says is “such a fun piece.”

Beyond its concert series, Rinaldi says Orchestra Miami stands out for its mission. “Our mission is to create community and educate through music,” says the artistic director. “What really sets us apart is that we do a lot of programming that is accessible to the public and is either free or at a very low cost.”

Rinaldi says that Orchestra Miami remains the only performing ensemble in Miami-Dade that offers a dedicated series for children and families.

A performance of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at the Scottish Rite Temple. (Photo by Laurence Levine, courtesy of Orchestra Miami)

Orchestra Miami’s ensemble size varies by program, Rinaldi says. The Nov. 8 concert will feature 38 orchestra musicians, plus three soloists.

“For New Year’s Eve, we always have a large orchestra,” Rinaldi says.

All the musicians come from South Florida, which is part of the orchestra’s mission to support local artists. “However, it is very difficult for any musician to be full time with one orchestra here, so they do play with other professional orchestras.”

The programming for Orchestra Miami’s milestone season is robust, including a New Year’s Eve performance with Afrobeta, various Beethoven on the Beach concerts, and a Family Fun Series at Pinecrest Gardens. The season concludes in April 2027 with a family-friendly performance of David Chesky’s one-act opera for children, “The Mice War.”

“I think this season reinforces what we stand for, which is community and accessibility,” Rinaldi says. “I’m hoping that in the years to come we can continue to grow and be able to bring some of the family programs to other parts of Miami-Dade, because I know there’s a demand for it.”

WHAT: Orchestra Miami’s 20th Anniversary Season Opening Concert

 WHERE: Pinecrest Gardens, 11000 SW 57 Ave., Pinecrest

 WHEN: 6 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 8

 COST: $50, $40; seniors, $45, $35, under 18, $25 and $20

 INFORMATION: 305-274-2103 or orchestramiami.org.

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