Beach gets fab new symphony center

Had a dental appointment at the end of the day and got home in time (i.e., before 7:00) to have a tall cup of Pike at Starbucks, across the street. As a rule, I don't drink coffee after 7:00 -- especially the strong stuff -- lest it keep me up past my bedtime.  (This doesn't apply on the weekends.) 

Pleasant weather. Sat outside reading an article in The New Yorker on the new Frank Gehry-designed New World Center on (off?) Lincoln Road on South Beach, new home to the New World Symphony ("Schubert on the Beach: The New World Symphony’s radical new home"). A glowing review. Makes a native proud.

At one point, I walked around the edge of the park, which is called the SoundScape, watching passersby as they registered this musical mirage in the Miami night. Three teen-agers stopped on the sidewalk. “This is so gay,” one of them said, unenthusiastically. But they stood there for a good minute before checking their phones and moving on. . . .

Even more important, the hall is explicitly designed as much for the projection of images as for the projection of sound. The fusion of film and live music is so mesmerizingly seamless that I felt I was witnessing not just a technological forward leap but the emergence of a new genre.

I also recommend this slide show from The New Yorker.  "A spectacular new performance complex." Photos by Iwan Baan.