Miami's community orchestra is turning its Hispanic Heritage Month program into a fundraiser for Venezuela, staging two concerts at Florida International University on Saturday, September 26, with the evening performance directing donations toward earthquake relief. The Alhambra Orchestra will present a 3 p.m. matinee called Latin Beats followed by a 7:30 p.m. evening show, Latin Beats – An Evening in Support of Venezuela, both at FIU's Wertheim Performing Arts Center.
The evening concert's admission includes a donation for Venezuelan earthquake relief through All for Venezuela, according to IslanderNews.com. Tickets for the evening benefit run from $35 to $65, with proceeds designated for the nonprofit to deliver emergency medical supplies and disaster relief, per the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. The afternoon Latin Beats matinee, by contrast, is a low-cost community event, with admission set at $5 for seniors and students and $10 for adults.
A Local Response to a Deadly Disaster
The benefit concert follows two powerful earthquakes, magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, that struck Venezuela on June 24, killing more than 180 people and prompting emergency relief efforts across South Florida, according to Axios. The two quakes struck the same region within hours of each other and displaced tens of thousands of residents, the outlet reported. Miami-Dade County responded by deploying its Florida Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue team to Venezuela and setting up official donation channels alongside nonprofit groups including All for Venezuela and Global Empowerment Mission.
South Florida's deep ties to Venezuela help explain why so many local institutions have mobilized. An analysis of U.S. Census Bureau 2024 data found roughly 474,000 Venezuelans living in Florida, with about 254,000 in the Miami metro area, making it home to the largest Venezuelan diaspora in the country, per Albizu University's analysis of Pew Research Center figures. The Alhambra Orchestra's fundraiser follows other major regional efforts, including the Unidos Por Venezuela telethon at Miami's Kaseya Center in August, which Hoodline reported featured Latin stars rallying for quake-hit Venezuela like Marc Anthony and Feid.
El Sistema Roots Anchor the Program
Guest conductor Tarcisio Barreto Ceballos will lead the 3 p.m. Latin Beats concert. Barreto Ceballos is a founding member of Venezuela's El Sistema youth orchestra network and spent more than three decades as General Director of its Lara State chapter before relocating to Miami, where he now plays with the Miami Symphony Orchestra, according to his biography. El Sistema is the training pipeline that produced globally recognized artists including conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Also appearing at both the matinee and evening shows is Ensamble 7/4, a septet of Venezuelan musicians trained in El Sistema who perform classical and folk repertoire on an unusual lineup of four trumpets, double bass, drums and the traditional Venezuelan cuatro. The group has previously toured South America and the United States alongside Dudamel, according to its own biography. Also joining the roster is Músicos Por Venezuela, who will perform alongside the Alhambra Orchestra as part of the program.
Local Leadership on the Podium
Daniel Andai, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Alhambra Orchestra, will perform as violin soloist at the 3 p.m. Latin Beats concert and as a violinist at the evening performance. Andai also serves as Dean of the Music Division at Miami's New World School of the Arts and as concertmaster of the Miami Symphony Orchestra, holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Miami, and has performed in 50 countries, according to the school's biography of him. Vocalists Jonathan Acosta and Ina Peralta will sing at both the afternoon and evening concerts.
The Alhambra Orchestra was founded in 1990 by Dr. Leo Walz to fill what organizers described as an absence of a community orchestra in Miami-Dade County, and it began performing in churches, schools and libraries before growing into its current form, per IslanderNews.com. Now in its 37th season, the orchestra gives 10 to 12 performances a year and is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with the Latin Beats program.
A Program Rooted in Venezuelan and Latin Classical Music
The Latin Beats repertoire draws heavily on Venezuelan and Latin American classical traditions. It includes Teresa Carreño's 1954 symphonic work Margariteña, music from Aires de Venezuela, Manuel de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, Arturo Márquez's Danzón No. 2, and selections from Bizet's Carmen, blending traditional Venezuelan folk themes with classical Latin American works, according to the same report.
The Wertheim Performing Arts Center, which opened in 1996 on FIU's Modesto A. Maidique Campus, houses a 499-seat main Concert Hall equipped with a 4,226-pipe Schantz concert organ, serving as the university's cultural gateway. Sponsor packages are also available for the charity event, and questions can be directed to 305-668-9260. The Alhambra Orchestra will close out its season with its finale, World of Music, on April 26, featuring works by Mozart and Beethoven.
