American city in Florida. A diffused urban area made up of a string of population centres, it is the musical centre of the state, both in number and variety of performing groups. Although Florida is a southern state, it is culturally closer to the north-eastern USA and to the Caribbean area than to the Deep South. It has an active art music life; its popular and folk music is heavily Latin American. Until the late 19th century it was a small town, isolated except by water travel. During the first decade of the 20th century, Flagler's coastal railroad connected Miami with the rest of the East Coast, and the town began to grow. Within 20 years Miami was famous as a beach resort and as a refuge from winter cold.
There is a wealth of professional, semi-professional and amateur music-making in Miami, and a great emphasis on community involvement and performance. There are six main academic institutions that have performing ensembles and departments of music: Barry University (founded 1940), Florida International University (1972), Florida Memorial College (1879, moving to Miami in 1968), Miami-Dade Community College (1960), New World School of the Arts (1987) and the University of Miami (1925).
The city's regional professional orchestra, the Florida PO, originally founded in 1965 as the Greater Miami SO, is now the largest cultural institution in the state, serving the five-county south Florida area. The New World SO (1986) is directed by Michael Tilson Thomas and a variety of guest conductors as ‘America's Orchestral Academy’, preparing graduates of leading music schools for professional careers around the world. Other orchestras include the Miami Chamber Symphony (1981), the Miami SO (1989), the Hallandale SO and the North Miami Beach SO (1953). There are two community concert bands, Greater Miami Symphonic Band (1979) and the North Miami Concert Band (1976).
The Concert Association of Florida and Festival Miami, produced by the University of Miami, are the major presenting organizations in the area. Other groups, churches and temples also have concert series. Major organizations primarily devoted to the works of particular composers are the Miami Bach Society (1984), the Chopin Foundation (1977) and the Mozart Festival, based in Coral Gables. The Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition (1987) is an important event in the community arts calendar. The Florida Grand Opera (formerly the Opera Guild of Greater Miami, founded 1941) presents five major productions annually. The main community choral groups are the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami, the Florida PO Chorus, the Miami Master Chorale and the Miami Choral Society Children's Chorus. The Miami City Ballet (1986), directed by Edward Villella, leads the city's dance scene. Dance ensembles range in style from classical ballet to jazz ballet and dance theatre. The University of Miami and New World School of the Arts also have dance programmes.
Latin jazz is the most important form of popular music in Miami, with groups from the various islands and regions of the pan-Caribbean and Latin America playing their countries' particular styles, including Cuban dance genres, Haitian compas, Jamaican reggae, Trinidadian calypso, Dominican merengue and Colombian currulao. Black American rap has influenced the Latin music of South Florida. Bands change and exchange membership frequently; this fluidity, as well as the high rate of new composition, contributes to a dynamic, creative environment similar to that of jazz performers in Kansas City and Chicago earlier in the 20th century. There are a number of festivals of traditional and popular music in Miami, including the Calle Ocho Festival (1978), which highlights Cuban music and the culture of Miami's ‘Little Havana’ area, the Hispanic Heritage Month (1973), which focusses on Latin arts of all kinds, and others ranging from jazz, Latin music and reggae to bluegrass. Less evident to the public are the continuing folk traditions of many Latin groups, as well as those of other ethnic groups including Mexican migrant workers, black Americans, the Seminole and Miccosukee Amerindians (whose reservations are close to Miami) and the Jewish community. Afro-Caribbean cult religions such as Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou have adherents in Miami, their rituals involving drum music and songs to summon the ‘saints’. In late July the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida holds an outdoor music festival on its lands along the Tamiami Trail just west of Miami. The sizable community of black Americans in Miami nurtures its traditions of spirituals and gospel music. The large Jewish population continues its musical traditions; the Cuban-Jewish community, mixing both traditions in what is called ‘Juban’ music, is a strong presence in Miami. Leading figures in Miami popular music include Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, the Bee Gees, KC & the Sunshine Band and the jazz artists Arturo Sandoval and Nestor Torres.
Florida: a Guide to the Southernmost State (New York, 1939)
R. Smith: Culture in Florida (Tallahassee, FL, 1963)
Florida Cultural Directory: a Guide to Florida's Cultural, Scientific and Historic Resources (Tallahassee, FL, 1983)
M.L. Braz: A History of the Greater Miami Opera, 1941–1983 (diss., Florida State U., 1984)
DORIS J. DYEN/DONALD OGLESBY