Daisy Ridley Will Narrate New World Symphony's Performance of FROM THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

The New World Symphony (NWS), America’s Orchestral Academy, announced that actress Daisy Ridley will narrate the season-opening performance of From the Diary of Anne Frank, composed by NWS Co-Founder and Artistic Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, and led by Artistic Director Stéphane Denève at New World Center on October 5 & 6, 2024.

These performances are part of NWS’s season-long series, Resonance of Remembrance: WWII and the Holocaust, which commemorates the 80th anniversary of that moment in history and reflects upon its many lessons—about conflict and peace, totalitarianism, and our shared humanity. Resonance of Remembrance is curated in collaboration with the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach and the National World War II Museum based in New Orleans.

Daisy Ridley continues to make her mark on Hollywood as one of the most dynamic actresses of our time. She is best known for her breakthrough role as Rey in the 2015 film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens directed by J.J. Abrams. She reprised her role as Rey in Star Wars Episode VII: The Last Jedi directed by Rian Johnson in 2017 and in the final film of the Skywalker Saga, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker directed by J.J. Abrams in 2019.

She is set to return to the Star Wars franchise as Rey in one of the Star Wars: New Jedi Order films with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directing and Steven Knight writing.

In October 2024, Daisy Ridley stars in the noir thriller Magpie, a story she developed, directed by Sam Yates and written by Tom Bateman. The film, also starring Shazad Latif and Matilda Lutz, follows a couple (Ridley and Latif) whose lives unravel when their daughter is cast opposite a controversial star (Lutz). Ridley recently starred in Joachim Rønning’s Young Woman and the Sea based on Glenn Stout’s novel about Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, released by Disney.

Earlier this year, Ridley starred in and produced the indie drama Sometimes I Think About Dying, which premiered at Sundance and was released in the U.S. by Oscilloscope.

Ridley recently completed filming two projects: Zak Hilditch’s survival thriller We Bury The Dead, where she plays Ava, a woman searching for her missing husband after a catastrophic military experiment, and Cleaner, an action-thriller set in London, where she stars as Joey Locke, an ex-soldier who must save hostages after activists ambush an energy company’s annual meeting at the Shard, a pyramid-shaped 72-story skyscraper in London.

Please click here to read Daisy Ridley’s full bio.

“Both the NWS Fellows and I are very grateful to welcome Daisy Ridley as the narrator for From the Diary of Anne Frank,” said NWS Artistic Director Stéphane Denève. "It's a profound honor to conduct MTT's remarkable work, which resonates deeply with the themes Daisy has personified in her films: courage, hope, and humanity. Having shared the stage with her at John Williams's 90th Birthday Gala, I deeply admire her rare artistry, which is perfect for bringing Anne Frank’s poignant words to life. As we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, this performance stands as a reminder of the power of music to keep history alive and relevant for future generations.”

NWS gave the world premiere of From the Diary of Anne Frank in 1990, led by MTT with Audrey Hepburn as the narrator. The October 2024 performance marks 30 years since it was last performed in Miami Beach. In his program notes, MTT shares, “The work is a melodrama in the form of symphonic variations. It was written for Audrey Hepburn… as a vehicle for Audrey in her role as an ambassador for UNICEF. It takes its shape primarily from the diary passages that Audrey and I selected and read together. While some of the words concern tragic events, so many of them reflect the youthful, optimistic, inquisitive, and compassionate spirit of their author.” MTT conducted From the Diary of Anne Frankand Meditations on Rilke as part of his final works during his tenure as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. The performance was recorded live and the album, released in June 2020, won a 2021 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium.

The New World Symphony’s October 5 and 6 performances are supported in part by Ira M. Birns and Arlenis Birns, and World Kinect Corporation. NWS is extremely grateful to the following donors who have made philanthropic commitments to the Resonance of Remembrance series, including Anonymous; Karen Bechtel and Will Osborne; Adam and Chanin Carlin; John and Mary Lou Dasburg; Matthew Budd and Rosalind E. Gorin; Kleh Family Foundation, William and Patricia Kleh; Frayda Lindemann; Robert Rosenberg and Mary Wolfson; Dr. Michael Zinner, MD; Bank of America; Alan Bernstein; and Leonard and Fleur Harlan.

The NWS Fellowship Experience

The New World Symphony is a global leader in orchestral and artistic training. Talented musicians, aged typically between 22-30, are awarded three-year fellowships that consist of a robust curriculum of musical, entrepreneurial and community engagement training. Each season, Fellows are mentored by over 250 visiting faculty members and guest artists, and design and execute their own entrepreneurial projects. Fellows in various stages of their three-year fellowship make up the orchestra each season. NWS has nearly 1,300 alumni transforming communities in over 30 countries.

Eighty-seven Fellows comprise the 2024-25 class at New World Symphony across 17 instruments and three non-instrumental positions. The Fellows are selected for this highly competitive opportunity based on their musical achievement and promise, as well as their passion for the future of classical music.

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