In Miami, the Fête de la Musique will be virtual and participative

This is a first for this French tradition which has endured since 1982. Due to the health crisis, the Fête de la Musique, organized in particular by the cultural services of the Embassy of France in Miami, offers digital music events during the summer solstice on Sunday, June 21.

On the occasion of this great musical mass, the French pianist and composer Dominique Fillon as well as the artists DJ Le Spam, Emile Milgrim and Inez Barlatier invite budding or seasoned musicians to try their hand at the "Contagious Beats", a challenge participatory musical. The principle is simple: everyone must record a musical sequence inspired by one of the musical accompaniments already created by the four artists. The best songs will be mixed and released on Sunday June 21.

To celebrate the start of summer, the artistic agency The Rhythm Foundation is organizing a closed-door concert at the North Beach Bandshell broadcast live on the Internet from 8pm to 9pm with the Haitian artist Papaloko and the members of The French Horn Collective, an international group led by French singer and multi-instrumentalist Vincent Raffard.

Other French celebrities such as Louis Bertignac, Michaël Canitrot, Tété, Aude Henneville, Tryo or even Henry Padovani, one of the founding members of the group The Police, are also featured in this virtual celebration.

Several local artists and groups also organize free virtual workshops for instrumental practice. JUke group leader Eric Garcia, better known by his stage name Uncle Scotchy, will lead a harmonica learning workshop. Arno Tri Pramudia, trombonist of the New World Symphony, will offer a workshop on wind instruments such as brass. The mouth, dynamics, pitch and length of notes will no longer hold any secrets for you. And Brandon Cruz, the executive director of the South Florida Center for Percussive Arts, will lead a workshop to learn about the rhythms of the drums.

Finally, the sounds will also resonate almost everywhere in the city thanks to a musical bus which will crisscross the different districts of Miami thus allowing everyone to vibrate, dance or even push the song from their balcony.