Orchestra Miami to Perform Carnival of the Animals at Zoo Miami
Sunday, 02/25/2024-, 11:00 am-02:00 pm
Zoo Miami
12400 SW 152 Street,
Miami, Florida, 33177
Website
Cost: Free with zoo admission

A celebration that’s 40+ years in the making takes flight at Zoo Miami on Sunday, February 25 with Orchestra Miami’s performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’s 1886 suite, Le Carnaval des Animaux (Carnival of Animals). For Elaine Rinaldi, Orchestra Miami’s artistic director, this performance is deeply personal.

In 1982, at the age of 14, Elaine Rinaldi made her soloist debut as a pianist with the Ft. Lauderdale Chamber Orchestra performing Carnival of Animals at what was then the newly opened Miami Metro Zoo. Even at that young age, Elaine knew that she wanted to recreate that event and allow other promising young artists to perform locally with a professional orchestra. Forty-two years later, her dream becomes a reality. “This concert is a full circle moment for me, and it’s perfect for Orchestra Miami’s ‘Discover Miami Through Music’ series, which I started in 2014. You can’t perform this suite without duo pianists, so I’m especially pleased to be giving two young piano soloists the rare opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra,” said Rinaldi.

Orchestra Miami will offer two performances of the humorous musical suite of fourteen movements, each representing an animal. They are honored to have Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava narrating the 11 AM performance while Conservationist, Ron Magill, will narrate the 1 PM performance. Maestro Rinaldi will be conducting the performances, and the piano soloists are Elisabeth Thomashoff originally from Vienna, Austria, and Aneliya Novikova originally from Voronezh, Russia; both 21 or younger and still students at the Lynn Conservatory of Music. Running approximately 45 minutes each, both shows are free to the public with the purchase of a Zoo Miami ticket. Before this performance, a special free “preview” performance will take place at the Coral Gables Museum on Family Day on Aragon, Saturday, February 10 at 1 PM.

“I’m excited to be a part of Orchestra Miami’s Carnival of Animals. It is certainly one of Camille Saint Sans’ most beautiful works. From the first note to the last, it’s got everything — excitement, eccentric ideas, and instrumentation that competes with playfulness, elegance, and science. This musical suite and Zoo Miami is the perfect marriage,” said Ron Magill. The animals depicted in Carnival of the Animals are lions, hens/roosters, tortoises, elephants, and kangaroos, to name a few. It will also feature The Swan, one of the most famous and recognizable pieces in all of music history. This performance will also include Ottorino Respighi’s The Birds, which is based on music from the 17th and 18th centuries and represents an attempt to transcribe birdsong into musical notation, illustrating bird actions, such as fluttering wings, or scratching feet.

“Saint-Saëns wrote this suite for fun in February 1886 and then prohibited anyone from listening to it until 1922. 102 years later, this is still one of his most enduring and fun compositions. What better way to enjoy this whimsical piece about animals than among the animals,” said Rinaldi.

WHERE:
Zoo Miami, 12400 SW 152 Street, Miami, FL 33177

WHEN:
Sunday, February 25, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively

TICKETS:
Free with paid zoo admission. Adult Admission- $22.95 / Child’s Admission- $18.95