Frost Music Live has announced its 2026-27 season, with a vibrant slate of more than 100 performances that highlight the Frost School of Music's rich legacy and outstanding artistry. The series features internationally acclaimed artists, major commissions and premieres, stellar alumni and innovative collaborations across classical, jazz, opera and contemporary music with the Frost School’s award-winning student ensembles and faculty artists.
This season of Frost Music Live commemorates 100 years of live music at the Frost School of Music, which—as the Conservatory of Music—opened its doors to students and staged its first concert in the fall of 1926 as one of the three original schools at the University of Miami.
“The new Frost Music Live season is an especially significant one for us as we commemorate 100 years of live performances at the Frost School of Music and showcase our unique ability to connect world-class artists with the South Florida community through accessible, elevated music experiences,” said Serona Elton, interim vice dean. "From symphonic masterworks and jazz evenings to contemporary stars and groundbreaking collaborations, the Frost School’s featured performances continue to make live music a vibrant part of Miami’s cultural life.”
The new season kicks off with America@250, a slate of concerts commemorating the nation’s Semiquincentennial, headlined by the United States Marine Band, along with patriotic concerts by the Frost Wind Ensemble and renowned pianist Mackenzie Melemed.
Jazz legends Branford Marsalis, the famed saxophonist, composer and bandleader; and beloved a cappella group Take 6, with their signature blend of jazz, gospel, R&B and pop harmonies; join the superb, genre-spanning Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra in what promises to be a thrilling expansion of their music.
Soulful vocalists Nicole Henry and Alicia Olatuja perform with the Frost Studio Jazz Band, led by multi-award-winning professor Etienne Charles, for Jazz at Hormel, a new cabaret-style series at the Hormel Innovation Stage. Powerhouse Afro-Cuban singer Dayme Arocena is this season’s guest artist performing with the electrifying Frost Latin Jazz Orchestra, directed by MacArthur “genius” award-winning associate professor Dafnis Prieto, while luminous vocalist Laila Biali joins Frost Jazz vocal ensembles in their popular annual Valentine’s Day concert.
Several celebrated Frost School alumni return this season. Gabe Dixon, a leading pop/Americana singer-songwriter, performs with the student American Music Ensemble. Award-winning Latin pop producer and songwriter Danny Flores brings his CoastCity duo, with partner Jean Rodriguez, to play with student Latin music ensemble Café Con Leche. And acclaimed jazz pianist Emmet Cohen returns with the popular Emmet’s Place Live, which regularly sells out.
The Frost Opera Theater will give the Southeast premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s satirical opera “The Judgment of Paris,” whose witty blend of Greek mythology and a famous blind tasting contest that upended the wine world garnered a rave review and rapturous reception in its recent world premiere.
A six-concert series by the acclaimed Frost Symphony Orchestra, under the artistic direction of the legendary conductor Gerard Schwarz, features masterworks by Mahler, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Brahms; as well as a world premiere by GRAMMY-winning trumpeter, composer and Frost School professor Brian Lynch; and composer Christopher Theofanidis’s recently debuted “Gemini Sun: Concerto for Violin and Percussion,” with internationally renowned violinist Tessa Lark and Frost School percussion professor Svet Stoyanov.
Music and science meet in composer Chad Cannon’s inspiring multimedia work “Music for the Ocean,” a collaboration with the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, which brings the beauty and fragility of coral reef ecosystems to life in a blend of music and visuals.
The 2026-27 Frost Music Live season opens Sept. 6, 2026, and runs through April 2027. For information and tickets, visit FrostMusicLive.com.
