The Latin GRAMMY Awards took over the Miami music world last week, as the most prestigious awards in Latin music returned to the city where they were created for the show’s 25th edition. The Frost School of Music community was very much present, with students, alumni, and faculty taking part in elite galas, industry showcases, and underground jam sessions leading up to the Nov. 14th telecast at the Kaseya Center in downtown Miami.
Most significantly, eight Frost School students performed at the Person of the Year(POTY) Gala honoring beloved Colombian pop icon Carlos Vives, an 18-time Latin GRAMMY and two-time GRAMMY winner, the night before the awards. The annual VIP event, which took place at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Nov. 13th, brings together top Latin music stars, industry executives, and media in a celebration of Latin music and culture. Major artists such as Miami’s own Gloria and Emilio Estefan (enthusiastic Frost School supporters), Colombian pop-rock star Juanes, Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, salsa godfather Ruben Blades, Dominican superstar Juan Luis Guerra, reggaeton duo Gente de Zona, and many more performed.
It was exalted company for the three euphonium and five clarinet players from the Frost School who joined famed flamenco singer Nina Pastori in a passionate performance of Vives’s “La Cumbia de Todos,” drawing a standing ovation and a tearful, heartfelt thank you from a visibly moved Vives. The Frost School’s participation was noted in performer credits on a big screen, putting the school in front of the most influential people in the Latin music industry (which dominates the music business in Miami), and noted in entertainment industry bible Variety, and LATF USA.
The students were there thanks to the POTY Gala’s music supervisor, Frost School alumnus Daniel Flores, who reached out to his former professor Reynaldo Sanchez for students from his alma mater as a way of further celebrating his hometown and the Latin GRAMMY's return to Miami.
“I know the power of thinking big and being as creative as possible,” Flores said. “It’s why I sought to study at the highly acclaimed Frost School of Music, where each student is encouraged to excel across multiple music genres and disciplines. And it’s why I wanted to collaborate with the Frost School on Carlos Vives’s “La Cumbia de Todos,” where the sounds of the euphonium, clarinet, and drums meld together with the flamenco guitar to show the true range, power, and appeal of Latin music.”
Sanchez was proud of how the Frost School gave this opportunity to students. “Part of the promise of an education at the Frost School of Music is that students gain real-world experience right from the start thanks to our esteemed faculty, alumni, and industry network,” he said. “From touring with chart-topping musical artists to performing for global audiences on stages like the one at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Frost School students gain invaluable opportunities that will ultimately enable them to quickly excel in their music careers while having experiences they’ll never forget. For us, it’s just perfect that this most recent performance took place in our hometown of Miami, which just so happens to be the hub of Latin music here in the U.S.”
But the POTY Gala was far from the only place where the Frost School made itself known.
Triple alumnus Carlos Lopez, who made history this spring leading a classical orchestra full of Frost School students and alumni on reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny’s national tour, was the music director for the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation Donor Reception on Nov. 12th at the Gary Nader Art Centre in Wynwood. Lopez, a top Latin music producer, directed Foundation scholarship recipients in sparkling salsa and pop performances for an audience of music VIP’s. Lopez, who also directed a Latin GRAMMY Music in the Schools event to kick off the week’s festivities, was repeating his role as music director for the Foundation’s tenth anniversary celebration at the Frost School in August.
That’s not all. Los Producers, started by Miami-based producers and songwriters, was a beloved, casual, music insider event featuring an eclectic mix of artists and behind-the-scenes talent performing their favorite pop songs. This year, it became a much more high-profile event, an invitation-only after-party for the POTY Gala, raising over $210,00 for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Joining multiple Latin GRAMMY winners and celebrated musicians onstage at Los Producers were Carlos Rivera, a multiple Emmy winner and chair of the Frost School’s Media Production and Scoring Program; and alumni Lee Levin, one of the music industry’s most in-demand drummers; and Jorge Mejia, a pianist and president & CEO of Sony Music Publishing’s Latin and U.S. Latin Divisions; both recipients of the first Frost Centennial Medals.
Finally, Frost School professor Etienne Charles, an increasingly prominent jazz composer, bandleader, and trumpeter, joined an epic jam session hosted by Cimafunk, the hot Cuban-born artist who was nominated for a Latin GRAMMY for Song of the Year. Held at hipster venue Ace Props in Little Haiti, Cimafunk’s jam also drew two Cuban jazz greats, South Florida-based pianist Chucho Valdes and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, and a cohort of stellar Latin musicians.
