TV REVIEW : ‘New World Symphony’ Airs Tonight

Given the willful naivete of most campus music programs about career potential, the need for an orchestra such as the New World Symphony is great. The cumbersomely labeled “Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts Miami’s New World Symphony,” airing tonight in the “Great Performances” series on PBS stations (Channel 28 at 9), reveals the aspirations and the achievements of that band of young musicians.

When the orchestra opened two years ago, 1,000 instrumentalists auditioned for the 93 places. Members of the orchestra are given one-year fellowships--renewable for up to three years--which include dormitory-style lodging, travel grants and $300 per week during the season.

Though clumsy, the title is accurate, in that the emphasis is on Thomas. He dominates not only the performance clips, but the interview portions as well, ruminating on his own career and what the New World Symphony--for which he is artistic adviser--means to him. His enthusiasm for the project is real, and by all accounts vital to its success, but a self-congratulatory note often overwhelms the artistic and social points.

Miami itself is also a strong presence in this documentary. Directed by Ken Howard, the program begins and ends with “Miami Vice” parodies, and the vacation aura of the town is contrasted with the earnestness and determination of the young musicians.

The musicians, all between 21 and 30 years old, do get to speak. Perhaps the most compelling segment shows tuba auditions, with the lonely effort of one who failed juxtaposed with the confident playing of the chosen one.

The musicians also get to play, which they do very well. The manifold qualities of the orchestra--demonstrated locally last summer in a critically well-received, financially disastrous series in Orange County--are heard in generous slices of Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” Overture, Janacek’s Sinfonietta and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, with soloist Joshua Bell.

Orchestral rehearsal sequences return the focus to Thomas, who guides his charges with leisurely whimsy. Chamber music is also stressed, as are one-on-one musical and social encounters between Thomas and his players.

If the New World Symphony leaders seem a bit self-satisfied at times, they have much about which to be satisfied. Would that there were more New World Symphonies.