NWS Media
Modern Masterworks
New World Symphony expands its digital storytelling with the launch of Modern Masterworks, a YouTube digital series exploring some of today’s most compelling voices in contemporary music.
Through performances and conversations featuring NWS Artistic Director Stéphane Denève, the New World Symphony Fellows and the composers themselves, Modern Masterworks offers an inside look at the creative process behind select contemporary orchestral works that have already become part of the modern repertoire and continue to shape the future of the classical canon. Modern Masterworks reflects NWS’s ongoing commitment to championing living composers and preparing the next generation of artists to engage with the evolving orchestral repertoire of today and tomorrow.
“Symphonic music of our time speaks to and about us, reflects in sound the world we share,” said Stéphane Denève. “These are the works we believe will stand the test of time and become the classics of tomorrow. It is essential to champion the masterworks of today in order to keep our art form alive, relevant and continually enriched. At New World Symphony, we dedicate significant time each season exploring contemporary music to prepare our Fellows for meaningful careers in a vibrant and evolving field, a quest that will continue to inspire us and future generations.”
The first episode of Modern Masterworks spotlights Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, performed by Denève and the NWS Fellows in May 2024 during Denève’s first full season as Artistic Director and in celebration of the work’s 25th anniversary.
Upcoming episodes of Modern Masterworks will feature Anna Clyne’s PALETTE, co-commissioned and performed by NWS in March 2025; John Adams’ The Chairman Dances and Dr. Atomic Symphony, performed by NWS, Denève and Adams in January 2026; and Kevin Puts’ Contact featuring acclaimed Time for Three, which will be performed by NWS later this year, in December 2026.