Come celebrate National Caribbean Heritage Month at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) with the sights, sounds, and movements of Trinidad and Tobago’s world-famous Carnival celebration! Organized by trumpeter, percussionist, and composer Etienne Charles, this high-energy spectacle brings the street energy of Trinbagonian Carnival to the stage. Mixing multimedia and traditional carnival characters live with band Creole Soul, Charles’ original compositions are brought to life with ritualistic imagery, grooves, and dances.
Schedule:
5–7pm | Happy hour specials at Verde
7pm | PAMM Caribbean Cultural Institute Presents: Carnival: The Sound of a People
8:30–10:30pm | Live set by DJ Pressure Point on the Terrace
Miami Carnival has a long-standing tradition of providing a kaleidoscope of Caribbean cultures under one umbrella. This medley of ingredients includes color, energy, pageantry, music, and excitement rooted in Caribbean culture. The Parade of Bands features the colorful costumes of over 20,000 masqueraders and revelers parading and competing for bragging rights.
About Etienne Charles
Etienne Charles is a performer, composer, and storyteller, who is continuously searching for untold stories and sounds with which to tell them. Highlighting marginalized communities and engaging with them has been his mission, evident with projects such as “Carnival: The Sound of a People Vol. 1,” “San Jose Suite,” “Creole Soul,” and “Folklore.” His concerts engage, enlighten, educate, and enrich audiences with energized multidisciplinary performances utilizing original composition, thematic improvisation, dance, short films, and spoken word to create a holistic experience. A firm believer in music and performance as a tool for provoking thought and dialogue, Charles’ themes speak to the status quo while drawing parallels to history. With his latest commissioned project, “San Juan Hill: A New York Story,” he goes a step further by exploring the storied New York neighborhood to bring the culture of San Juan Hill to the main stage.
His lush trumpet sound, varied compositional textures, and pulsating percussive grooves enable him to invoke a trance, soothing and exciting listeners while referencing touchy and sometimes controversial subjects in his music. To research his compositions, he travels to the regions on which he is focused, meeting with musicians and cultural leaders and then observing and participating in rituals to be fully immersed in the cultures that he is studying. As an Afro-descendant, his work is actively connecting the diaspora and drawing lines to the regions at the roots of migrations.
