Canals don’t run by Lincoln Center, and you would be hard-pressed to find a beach near Broadway, but the New York Philharmonic has notions to do for classical music what the Venice Biennale and Art Basel Miami Beach have done for art.

The orchestra is calling it the NY Phil Biennial.

Disclosed on Wednesday as part of the orchestra’s announcement of its 2013-14 programming, the biennial will be a 10-day festival (every two years, as the name implies) that Philharmonic officials describe as a “veritable playground of new and recent music from around the world.”

The project extends efforts by the orchestra, which has sought in recent years to fend off critical perceptions that it is stodgy, to program more contemporary music and seize some sort of initiative in the search for more relevance and newer audiences. Under its music director, Alan Gilbert, the Philharmonic has already established a modest new-music series in smaller concert halls and has installed composers and artists in residence.

The 2014 festival will run from May 29 to June 7 and include two programs by the orchestra, several programs of chamber music by Philharmonic musicians and performances by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Juilliard School musicians. The organizers hope to add symposiums and other public events.