Etienne Charles world premiere of ‘Carnival – The Sound of a People’

Entitled Carnival - The Sound of A People, the opus continues Charles’ penchant for the rituals of his homeland, composed after four months of travel and deep research across Trinidad and Tobago to unearth the arts of Carnival that highlight the vivid and vast elements of our culture and history.

What he discovers is that Carnival traditions alive and thriving in areas with strong communities and families. Art forms such as the Tamboo Bamboo, Stick Fighting, Tambrin, Jab Jab, Blue Devils, Black Indian, Moko Jumbie, Fancy Sailor, Dame Lorraine, Steel and Iron Bands continue to grow and evolve after being passed from generation to generation through the oral tradition.

“The culture is dying only to those who don’t support it or know its history or its value or its vibrancy.

I was moved numerous times, by how these men, women and children go from ordinary to extraordinary with the smack of a drum or the crack of a whip or the sound of the pan and how it’s the direct link to our ancestors through oral traditions, where you learn by listening and watching.

Studying these folks was a dream come true,” says Charles of his research.

“CARNIVAL”, Charles’ fifth large compositional work was made possible with a Creative Arts Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The world premiere follows the Caribbean premiere of his sixth composition the San Jose Suite before a sold out audience at Queen’s Hall in November.

Charles, a 2015 Guggenheim fellow was recently awarded the Reubin O’D Askew award, the highest award bestowed upon an Alumnus of Florida State University under the age of 35 and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award, has spent much of 2016 performing at prestigious venues including the White House, Newport Jazz Festival, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Lincoln Center and, most recently, the Jazz Standard in New York and SF Jazz Center in San Francisco.