Orchestra Miami is Miami's new professional orchestra, committed to bringing symphonic music to all people in the Metro-Miami area and beyond. Founded in 2006 by Music Director Elaine Rinaldi, Orchestra Miami exists to fulfill the unique cultural needs of our growing community. In our very brief history, we have already begun to fulfill our mission of bringing affordable concerts of quality symphonic music to a variety of venues in Miami-Dade County. Funded by private donors as well as a Community Grant from the Miami-Dade County Office of Cultural Affairs, Orchestra Miami presented its highly successful inaugural concerts in September of 2006. Following the success of these concerts, Orchestra Miami was invited to provide the orchestra for Andrea Bocelli in his only sold-out South Florida appearance. In addition to Orchestra Miami’s own quality programming, we are able to provide a superior quality orchestra for many of Miami’s visiting guest artists. In 2007, Orchestra Miami will provide the orchestra for Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez at the Carnival Center’s First Annual Gala, and will perform again with top-selling Classical artist Andrea Bocelli, as well as Metropolitan Opera tenor Richard Leach in his tribute to Mario Lanza.
Our Mission
Orchestra Miami exists to bring high quality symphonic music to all people in South Florida. We seek to make concert going convenient and affordable, and to provide our audience with performances that contain innovative programming, educational excellence and have a clear focus on celebrating Miami’s diverse cultural heritage.
Music Director Elaine Rinaldi has returned to her native Miami to help musicians from the former Florida Philharmonic Orchestra establish a major, professional orchestra in South Florida. Elaine began her musical studies at an early age with renowned pedagogue Dr. Rosalina Sackstein in Miami, FL. A winner of numerous scholarships and awards, Elaine made her professional debut at the age of 16 as a piano soloist with the Ft. Lauderdale Chamber Orchestra. Elaine continued her studies at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, where she received the full-tuition M.B. Byrd Scholarship. After graduation, Elaine received a scholarship to the prestigious Mannes School of Music in New York, where she studied piano with Nina Svetlanova, Chamber Music with Julius Levine and Vocal Coaching with Benton Hess and Joan Dornemann.
Shortly after her graduation from Mannes, Elaine made her professional solo recital debut at the University of Miami's Gusman Concert Hall, sponsored by Miami Civic Music and the Miami Music Teacher's Association. Elaine began her professional career in the theater at age 21, when she assisted legendary American Conductor Anton Coppola in a Massimo Vignelli-designed production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Since then, she assisted Maestro Coppola on numerous occasions, and went on to act as an Assistant and/or Cover Conductor in many of this country's leading regional opera theaters. From 1997-2000, she held the positions of Resident Associate Conductor and Chorus Master at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami. Critics called her work with the chorus “exquisite”, and Tim Smith of the Ft, Lauderdale Sun Sentinel said “the chorus, under Elaine Rinaldi's direction, gets better and better.” (3/13/99, La Boheme).
Currently, Elaine is in much demand as an opera conductor and vocal coach. For four consecutive seasons, she was the principal guest conductor at the Dicapo Opera Theater in Manhattan; she has led several tours for the National Lyric Opera, twice appeared as a guest conductor with the Albany Symphony for the Shaker Mountain Performing Arts Festival, and led members of the Florida Philharmonic in performances of La Traviata for the Island Lyric Opera. In addition to her work as a conductor, Elaine frequently appears as a recitalist, accompanying many renowned singers in concert around the country.
Orchestra Miami Board of Directors
Elaine Rinaldi, Chair
Rebecca Stanier-Shulman, Vice-Chair & Secretary
Harry Goldszmidt, Treasurer
Jose Vilanova
Dr. Camillo Ricordi
Shaloma Shawmut Lessner
Gina Melin-Stortz
Music Director and Conductor