Earth Tones
Earth Tones
Etienne Charles
Etienne Charles
Earth Tones is a multimedia jazz performance featuring original compositions that document and feature peoples and regions that are, and will be, severely affected by climate change. The music highlights nature-based climate change solutions such as mangrove swamps, coral reefs, oyster beds, seagrass, sand dunes, mud volcanoes, watersheds, and forests that can protect against severe climate disaster. Featuring sounds, stories, images, short films, and musicians of at-risk coastal communities, the performance asks audiences to make necessary changes in their daily lives to help lessen the severity of climate change’s effects in the future.
Jazz, Multimedia Performance, Performing Arts
2022
About Etienne Charles
Miami, FL
Etienne Charles received the Creative Capital Award in 2022 for the creation of Earth Tones, a multimedia jazz performance featuring original compositions that document and feature peoples and regions that are, and will be, severely affected by climate change. Trinidad born Etienne Charles is a performer, composer and storyteller, who is continuously searching for untold stories and sounds with which to tell them. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow and 2022 Creative Capital Awardee, he researches his compositions by traveling to the regions on which he is focused, meeting with musicians and cultural leaders, then observing and participating in rituals to be fully immersed into the cultures that he is studying. His concerts engage, enlighten, educate and enrich audiences with energized multidisciplinary performance utilizing original composition, thematic improvisation, dance, short films and spoken word to create a holistic experience. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami, Patricia L. Frost School of Music. Most recently, he has been commissioned to create San Juan Hill: A New York Story, to open at Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center.
Etienne Charles received the Creative Capital Award in 2022 for the creation of Earth Tones, a multimedia jazz performance featuring original compositions that document and feature peoples and regions that are, and will be, severely affected by climate change. Trinidad born Etienne Charles is a performer, composer and storyteller, who is continuously searching for untold stories and sounds with which to tell them. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow and 2022 Creative Capital Awardee, he researches his compositions by traveling to the regions on which he is focused, meeting with musicians and cultural leaders, then observing and participating in rituals to be fully immersed into the cultures that he is studying. His concerts engage, enlighten, educate and enrich audiences with energized multidisciplinary performance utilizing original composition, thematic improvisation, dance, short films and spoken word to create a holistic experience. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami, Patricia L. Frost School of Music. Most recently, he has been commissioned to create San Juan Hill: A New York Story, to open at Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center.