Contemporary Latin music and classical compositions by Vivaldi, Bach and Brahms are on the bill for Symphony of the Americas' Summerfest 2009 concerts this week in Miramar and Fort Lauderdale.

The concerts will be led by James Brooks-Bruzzese, artistic director, and performed in collaboration with the Reményi Ede Chamber Orchestra from Hungary.

Concert dates are Wednesday at Miramar Cultural Center/ArtsPark, 2400 Civic Center Pl., Miramar, and Friday at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

Featured performers include violinist Lazlo Pap, former concertmaster for the Palm Beach Opera and the Palm Beach Pops and former first violin with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and cellist Endré Balog, principal cellist with the Hungarian Virtuosi, Sonora Hungarica Chamber Orchestra and the Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets for the Wednesday concert cost $15 to $35 and are available at 954-602-4500 or miramarculturalcenter.org. Tickets for the July 17 concert cost $15 to $55 and are available at 954-462-0222 or browardcenter.org.

More info: symphonyoftheamericas.org.

-- DANIEL CHANG

ACADEMY FELLOW

Edward Villella, founding artistic director and chief executive of Miami City Ballet, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an honorary society of leaders in the humanities, sciences, business, public affairs and nonprofit sector.

Villella is among a class of 212 new fellows joining the academy this year. He was honored for his achievements as star principal dancer at New York City Ballet under George Balanchine in the late 1950s through the early '70s and for his work founding Miami City Ballet and promoting the arts in South Florida since 1986.

He will be inducted at a ceremony on Oct. 10 at the Academy's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. A 1997 winner of the National Medal of Arts and a Kennedy Center Honoree, Villella was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame that same year.

-- DANIEL CHANG

Partial scholarships to the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood's Summer Arts Camp are available for children 6 to 19 from low-income families, thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Broward.

A limited number of partial scholarships are available for theater and arts-camp sessions that run through Aug. 21. Awards are given on a first-come, first-served basis and may not be available for all camp sessions. Info and applications: artandculturecenter.org call 954-921-3274, ext. 232.

-- DANIEL CHANG

HONORED IN SEATTLE

Mary Becht, director of Broward County's Cultural Division, received the Ray Hanley Innovation Award from the arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts in June during its national convention in Seattle.

The selection committee recognized Becht's work in public art, cultural facility development, and innovations such as the artists entrepreneur program.

NEW WORLD ALUMS

TAKE THE STAGE

As New Theatre looks ahead to its season-opening production of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew Aug. 27-Sept. 27, the company is making its Coral Gables space available to young theater artists. Recently, Foryoucansee Theater rocked the house with Toners in Time.

This weekend and next, New World School of the Arts alumni take the stage in two programs, each featuring a budget-friendly $10 ticket price.

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