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The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County and the Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation will present “Piano Slam 2023,” now celebrating its 15th anniversary of performances in the center’s Knight Concert Hall.
Taking place on Apr. 19, audiences will be treated to a free poetry slam of Miami’s top teen poets who will share their original spoken word mash-ups paired with classical and hip-hop music around the theme — Hot Music, HOT Miami.
Piano Slam finalists, selected as part of a countywide, music-based poetry competition, will perform with international and local classical musicians, Piano Duo Spektra, Miami’s hottest dance band Afrobeta, and professional poet Arsimmer McCoy.
Admission to Piano Slam 2023 is free. First-Access Passes, which give guests early access to general admission seating, can be reserved for the performance now. Reserve passes online at arshtcenter.org or by calling the Adrienne Arsht Center box office at 305-949-6722.
Piano Slam 2023’s music and poetry theme is Hot Music, HOT Miami. Students from grades 6-12 in Miami-Dade County Public Schools were asked to showcase their writing skills, penning poems about the music that makes them cool in their hot hometown. Miami’s extreme heat has inspired the writing and creativity of these young artists. Students entering Piano Slam’s STEAM track will be writing about Miami’s extreme heat during afterschool education provided by Piano Slam’s partnership with Miami-Dade County Office of Resilience and Chief Heat Officer, Jane Gilbert.
Piano Slam is a creative writing project in Miami-Dade Public Schools that presents live concerts, poets, scientists and hip-hop spoken word to teens in Miami’s middle and high school classrooms culminating in a countywide poetry competition based on the role of music in their lives. Out of thousands of creative submissions, 16 semifinalists are chosen to perform in the Grand Finals concert and competition on the Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall stage. Prizes of $1,000 are awarded to the top student poets.
“This is an extra special year as we celebrate Piano Slam’s 15th anniversary and showcase the incredible talent of Miami’s youth. The hot music theme captures the essence of Miami and the diverse sounds that make this city so unique,” said Carlene Sawyer, Piano Slam creator and producer.
For over a decade, the Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation’s Piano Slam has been bridging the creative divide between teenage music enthusiasts and professional performance artists across Miami-Dade County. The event is co-presented with the Adrienne Arsht Center and sponsored by some of Miami’s most respected institutions, including Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Books & Books, The Children’s Trust, and the Miami Heat.
Piano Slam is directed by Tanisha Cidel with music direction by Martin Bejerano. Piano Slam’s wildly popular countywide music-based poetry competition has worked with more than 105,000 Miami-Dade Public middle and high school students making classical music fun and an inspiration for their own creative writing.
In the very first year of the Piano Slam program, five middle schools located in Overtown, Liberty City, Brownsville, and Little Haiti participated. Today, more than 100 middle and high schools in Miami Dade Public Schools enjoyed in-school professional artist programs and performances and submitted student poetry to the music-based competition.
Over the 15 years in partnership with the Arsht Center’s community engagement and education initiatives, Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation has brought artists, musicians, scientists and educators into over 100 middle and high schools and every school and community district in the county. The ArshtCenter has partnered in teacher professional development, training educators in all core subjects to use music and arts-integrated curriculum in their classrooms.
For more information on Dranoff 2 Piano, visit www.Dranoff2Piano.org.
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