30256: Minsky:(news) First Haitian Jazz Festival (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tequila Minsky <tminsky@ix.netcom.com>


Haiti’s First International Jazz Festival of Port-au-Prince: a huge
success, 16 Bands in 8 Days

The first and highly successful International Jazz Festival of
Port-au-Prince took place March 4th through March 11th in three
locations in Haiti’s capital.
For 8 days in March, six bands from other countries joined with ten
Haitian and Haitian-American bands to bring jazz to the people of
Port-au-Prince.

Hundreds of music enthusiasts listened for free during the week in the
intimate courtyard of the French Institute in the Bois Verna section of
Port-au-Prince.  The Friday night program at the Champs de Mars
downtown park was also free, open to the public.

Three weekend programs at the Parc Historique de la Canne-a-Sucre on
the Tabarre Road,  the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, were paid
admission.

It was the realization of a dream for Joel Widmaier,  jazz drummer and
Radio Metropole audio engineer. He had always wanted a jazz festival in
Haiti.  With a slew of cooperating partners including the Haitian
Ministry of Culture, the Embassies of Brazil, Canada, the U.S., Spain,
and Mexico, the Foundation Francoise Canez Auguste, Radio Metropole and
many supporters, the event attracted thousands to the 12 concerts.
Everything went off without a hitch except for some brief rain
sprinklings and  one evening event at Parc Historique that was rained
out.

Pascale Monier, French bass player and Port-au-Prince resident,
assisted Joel Widmaier in organizing and technical management.  After
the Festival she commented,  "I'm so happy with all the people who
could attend; the free concerts helped people who couldn't otherwise
afford to go.  We hope we can keep the same spirit in next year's
edition and we'll try to polish the whole organization. We have more
time to plan."

Daniel Elie, Minister of Culture, deemed the event a great success and
intends to include it in the Ministry's annual budget. Paul Levy,
French Institute Director, saw the high  level of partnering as a new
way of working in Haiti.

the story with photos
http://www.heritagekonpa.com/
Haiti%20first%20international%20jazz%20festival%20.htm