{"id":244746,"date":"2026-04-24T13:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/244746\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:43:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:43:06","slug":"frost-symphony-jorge-mejia-premiere-concerto-inspired-by-a-miami-beach-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/244746\/","title":{"rendered":"Frost Symphony, Jorge Mejia premiere concerto inspired by a Miami Beach apartment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would sit there in my apartment, and I would think about the stories of the people who lived here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That curiosity became \u201cIf These Walls Could Talk,\u201d a piano concerto inspired by the imagined residents of the building.<\/p>\n

Joined by the Frost Symphony Orchestra of the University of Miami\u2019s Frost School of Music, the U.S. premiere of \u201cIf These Walls Could Talk,\u201d with Mejia at the piano, is Sunday, April 26 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts as part of \u201cAn Evening of Masterpieces and a Piano Concerto.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jorge Jorge Mejia\u2019s \u201cIf These Walls Could Talk\u201d 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) <\/p>\n

The program, conducted by Gerard Schwarz, music director of the Frost Symphony Orchestra and distinguished professor of music at the University of Miami\u2019s Frost School of Music, also features Maurice Ravel\u2019s \u201cAlborada del gracioso\u201d and Dmitri Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No. 10.<\/p>\n

Mejia\u2019s concerto unfolds across three movements, \u201cFirst Floor,\u201d \u201cSecond Floor\u201d and \u201cRooftop,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope audiences connect emotionally to both the story and the music,\u201d Mejia said of the concerto that has already been performed in Europe and South America.<\/p>\n

Schwarz said that Mejia\u2019s contemporary concerto pairs well with Ravel\u2019s piece, which opens the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ravel and Mejia pieces fit wonderfully together, similar sounds, similar harmonic language,\u201d Schwarz said.<\/p>\n

Following Mejia\u2019s piece, the program moves to Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No. 10, first performed after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.<\/p>\n

Schwarz said that the symphony is a \u201ckaleidoscope of emotions from the darkest to the most jubilant.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Mejia, having the United States premiere in Miami holds special meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is home\u2014very much with a capital H for me,\u201d said Mejia, who has lived in Miami for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n

Mejia credits Miami\u2019s cultural diversity with shaping both his music and his career.<\/p>\n

\"Jorge Jorge Mejia, composer and pianist who has lived in Miami for more than 40 years, will perform his concerto \u201cIf These Walls Could Talk\u201d with the Frost Symphony Orchestra at the Adrienne Arsht Center. (Photo by Laura Coppelman, courtesy of the Arsht Center) <\/p>\n

\u201cHis music reflects that combination of backgrounds we have here in South Florida,\u201d Schwarz said of Mejia, who also serves as president and CEO of Sony Music Publishing Latin America and U.S. Latin.<\/p>\n

Mejia, who studied piano performance at the Frost School of Music in the \u201890s, calls it a full circle moment to perform his concerto in Miami with the orchestra, which is composed of students in the Frost School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be fun for me to play with them,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

The performance also comes as Shelly Berg, the dean of the Frost School of Music, prepares to retire in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Shelly has been transformational for the school,\u201d Mejia said.<\/p>\n

Schwarz said that Berg prioritized giving students opportunities in many different facets of the world of music.<\/p>\n

\u201cShelly is a remarkable leader and a remarkable musician,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s a musician with ideas and a man of great taste, which is very important in our world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gerard 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) <\/p>\n

The Arsht performance, planned under Berg\u2019s leadership, will follow the release of Mejia\u2019s new album, also titled \u201cIf These Walls Could Talk\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Both the album and the concerto remain rooted in the apartment building that sparked his imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe building still exists. You can visit it at 221 Collins Ave.,\u201d Mejia said.<\/p>\n

If you go:<\/p>\n

WHAT: An Evening of Masterpieces and a Piano Concerto<\/p>\n

WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday, April 26<\/p>\n

WHERE: Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami<\/p>\n

COST: $29.25, $40.95, $58.50, including fees<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or https:\/\/www.arshtcenter.org<\/p>\n

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Built in 1922, the Miami Beach apartment building at 221 Collins Ave. had already seen many tenants come…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":{"0":"post-244746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-miami","9":"tag-miami-headlines","10":"tag-miami-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}