New World Symphony to Host 2026 I DREAM A WORLD FESTIVAL: LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING
The festival will run February 18–22, 2026, honoring the legacy of Black artist-activists from Langston Hughes to Davóne Tines.
By: A.A. Cristi Nov. 12, 2025
New World Symphony’s fifth annual I Dream a World Festival, titled “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” will take place February 18–22, 2026, highlighting the impact of Black artist-activists through music, poetry, and performance.
Spanning the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and contemporary creators including bass-baritone Davóne Tines and composer Jessie Montgomery, the festival will trace a lineage of artists whose work has shaped social movements and cultural dialogue.
Festival curator Dr. Tammy Kernodle, Miami University of Ohio Distinguished Professor and Park Creative Arts Endowed Professor in the Department of Music, said, “Since the inaugural festival in 2022, I Dream a World has celebrated Black artists who have shaped history. But history is not fixed in time. The connections between past, present, and future form a continuum that continues to resonate. Contemporary artists are discovering their own distinct voices while carrying forward a legacy that sparks new perspectives in our evolving world. To truly celebrate Black artistry is to acknowledge its evolution, honoring those who paved the way, while embracing the powerful voices of today.”
Howard Herring, New World Symphony President and Chief Executive Officer, added, “I Dream a World has become a cornerstone of New World Symphony’s commitment to exploring how the contributions of Black artists shape our collective conscience. This year’s festival showcases the legacy of artists whose work has inspired understanding across generations. By bringing together the past and present – from Langston Hughes to Davóne Tines – we continue a conversation that reminds us of the power of art and music to unite and move us toward a more equitable world.”
I, TOO, SING AMERICA: Langston Hughes & Margaret Bonds
The festival will open on Wednesday, February 18, at New World Center’s Truist Pavilion with “I, Too, Sing America: Langston Hughes & Margaret Bonds,” curated by Davóne Tines and Dr. Kernodle. The salon-style program will feature Tines, soprano Kristin Young, NWS Fellows, and others performing works shaped by the creative partnership between Hughes and Bonds.
The program will explore the artists’ shared dedication to uplifting Black stories and spiritual expression. Bonds set a wide range of Hughes’s poetry to music, including “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Three Dream Portraits,” and Songs of the Seasons, creating a body of work rooted in resilience, identity, and cultural pride.
The program will receive an encore performance on Thursday, February 19, at the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown.
DAVÓNE TINES: ANTHEM
On Saturday, February 21, and Sunday, February 22, Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell will make her NWS debut leading the festival’s orchestral program. Jessie Montgomery’s Banner, conducted by NWS Conducting Fellow Ziwei Ma, will open the concert. Davóne Tines will perform his Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, a work that interrogates the traditional American anthem through the lens of race and social justice.
The Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale will return to the festival to perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” honoring the Johnson brothers’ legacy and the song’s connections to the institution. The program will conclude with Margaret Bonds’s The Montgomery Variations, written as a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and inspired by her 1963 visit to Montgomery, Alabama.
Dr. Kernodle noted, “While titled The Montgomery Variations, the programmatic theme of this work extends beyond that city and the Montgomery movement. Rather, it is a sonic documentation of the sites, sentiment, sounds, and activity that defined the first two chapters of the mid-century Black Civil Rights struggle.”
Tines said, “I’m really looking forward to being back in Miami with the New World Symphony as part of the I Dream a World festival. Curation has long been a developing part of my artistic practice and I’m so excited to partner with such an open-minded and adventurous organization to go on a unique journey connecting to our current times. We begin with music born from the friendship of Langston Hughes and Margaret Bonds, who showed how art can hold both truth and hope. With ANTHEM, I wanted to take something as familiar as the national anthem and ask what it might sound like if it actually told everyone’s story; if it questioned the principles of the past upon which America was built in search of a brighter collective future.”
New World Symphony launched the first I Dream a World festival in 2022 with The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond. Subsequent festivals explored the Harlem Renaissance’s influence in Europe (2023), the legacy of Mary Lou Williams (2024), and the contributions of Black artists during the transitional period linking the Harlem Renaissance, World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement (2025).
2026 FESTIVAL PROGRAM & TICKETS
SALON: I, TOO, SING AMERICA: Langston Hughes & Margaret Bonds
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 7:30 PM – New World Center’s Truist Pavilion
Tickets from $100; VIP tables for four at $500
Davóne Tines, bass-baritone
Kristin Young, soprano
NWS Fellows
Subscriber pre-sale begins Friday, November 14; public on-sale Tuesday, November 18.
I, TOO, SING AMERICA: Langston Hughes & Margaret Bonds
Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 7:30 PM – Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater
Pay-what-you-wish tickets from $10
Davóne Tines, bass-baritone
Kristin Young, soprano
NWS Fellows
DAVÓNE TINES: ANTHEM
Saturday, February 21, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 2:00 PM – New World Center, Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall
Tickets from $25
Kalena Bovell, conductor
Davóne Tines, bass-baritone
Ziwei Ma, NWS Conducting Fellow
Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale
Jessie Montgomery: Banner
Davóne Tines: Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM
Margaret Bonds: The Montgomery Variations
The February 21 performance will also be presented as a WALLCAST concert and livestreamed for free via NWS Inside.
ABOUT NEW WORLD SYMPHONY
New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, prepares graduates of music programs for leadership roles in professional orchestras and ensembles. Co-founded in 1987 by Artistic Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, the organization has supported the careers of more than 1,300 alumni worldwide. Stéphane Denève was named Artistic Director in 2022. The three-year fellowship program offers training in traditional and contemporary repertoire, professional development, and partnerships with leading guest faculty and artists.
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