A free concert this weekend will showcase the talents of the Frost School of Music's Black Musicians Caucus (BMC) and give students in the Master in Live Entertainment Management (MLEM) Program a chance to practice their skills.
The Garden Grooves concert takes place Sunday afternoon at the Banyan Bowl, an acoustically stunning amphitheater in Pinecrest Gardens, a lush, historic tropical botanical garden and cultural venue in South Miami.
MLEM students work on all aspects of the show behind the scenes, taking on stage management, promotion, box office and other roles as they work towards a career in live events. The concert is an event that MLEM presents annually with a different Frost School group, program, or individual each year.
BMC performers on Sunday include Justin Kinchen, an extraordinarily accomplished Henry Mancini Institute Fellow who is a classical violinist, jazz trumpeter and composer, who will lead 19 musicians from the Frost Symphony Orchestra in his composition “Elysia for Orchestra.” Joshua Polion, a jazz trumpet player who’s part of the elite Stamps Jazz Quintet, will lead another quintet in a Roy Hargrove number. Hiphop/R&B artist Travian McNair, a Herbert Business School student who’s produced multiple independent singles and opened for Quavo at last year’s Homecoming celebration, will do several original pieces. Frost School alumni Caleb Cache, who performed the national anthem for Hurricanes games at Hard Rock Stadium, Watsco Center, and at last year’s Final Four basketball competition, and Syenna, now a Miami-based singer-songwriter, will also perform their own songs. Singer/songwriters Sydney Cheyenne and Jaren Wright will also perform.
The BMC, overseen by Frost School faculty, has graduate, undergraduate, and alumni members, about half of whom are from the Frost School and the remainder from throughout the University of Miami.
Amilyah Robinson, the group’s president, says the Garden Grooves concert is the BMC’s first show since they became an official University of Miami student organization this year.
“Our mission is to uplift the voices of POC musicians at the Frost School and the University, and to showcase the rich diversity of talent,” said Robinson, a senior at the Frost School majoring in percussion performance. BMC members are vocalists and instrumentalists in a wide range of genres, from classical to jazz, pop, R&B, and country.
“We’re creating a space for those voices to be represented and heard,” said Robinson. “Black musicians have made significant contributions to so many different genres. Acknowledging them allows people to appreciate the richness of Black musical culture.”
The Garden Grooves performance is at 3 pm on Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Banyan Bowl at Pinecrest Gardens, 11000 Red Road, Pinecrest, Florida 33156.
