Everglades Songbook Suite by Jose Elias
Celebrate Earth Day with Live Music in the Everglades!
Join Live Arts Miami and Community Arts & Culture (CAC) for Jose Elias’ Everglades Songbook Suite, a dynamic live concert event featuring new musical compositions and magical soundscapes that celebrate the sights and sounds of the Florida Everglades! In honor of Earth Day and the National Park’s 75th anniversary, this free concert will take place at the Long Pine Key Amphitheater within the Everglades National Park as part of LAM’s EcoCultura series of performances for the planet, and as the culmination of CAC’s annual Afro-Roots Fest. Experience our precious ecosystem in new and unique ways – don’t miss the opportunity to reflect on the links between culture, climate, art, and activism with Elias’s new work.
The vastly resplendent Everglades is a one-of-a-kind jewel in North America and has inspired countless works of literature and art, including music and sound art created by Grammy-nominated musician, composer, and producer Jose Elias. A 2016 Artist in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) fellow, Elias is one of the leading Miami-based voices in contemporary music and wrote the compositions for ESS after spending considerable time in the Everglades National Park. The project, which was originally set to launch in 2020, first came to fruition on June 21, 2021, as a short film shot in the Everglades, which was co-produced with Live Arts Miami and AIRIE for International World Music Day. Now it returns with its first-ever live performance in Everglades National Park itself.
The project features a rotating cast of musicians playing a variety of global instruments, including the Cuban tres, Venezuelan cuatro, percussion and woodwinds, indigenous flutes, and the African Kora. Featured musicians alongside Elias (Cuba) will include: Morikeba Kouyate (Senegal), Aboubacar Camara (Guinea), Carlos Ochoa (Peru), Damian J. Sanchez (Cuba), Gino Coca Mir (Puerto Rico), Kenneth Metzger (Puerto Rico), Samuel Tommie (Seminole Tribe), Aboubacar Soumah (Guinea), and Rajesh Bhandari (India).
COVID-19 Considerations and Precautions:
Live Arts Miami is fully committed to the health and well-being of every visitor, artist and staff member. It continues to closely monitor local COVID-19 conditions and follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure the health and safety of all involved. LAM will continue to follow recommended protocols as COVID-19 circumstances continue to evolve and change. Facial masks are not currently required at events due to the current low rate of infection. However, individuals will not be granted entry if they have a confirmed case of COVID-19 or have had trace-contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19.