On March 20, the sights and sounds of Evelyn Greer Park will consist of sweet voices singing, drums booming and violins plucking from Miami-Dade County students, all thanks to Pinecrest City Music Project’s Youthstage.
Pinecrest City Music Project Youthstage began last year to provide high school students with a venue to gain real performance experience in front of a crowd. Being a student musician and finding opportunities to perform at organized events can be tedious, which Youthstage hopes to resolve.
Miami Palmetto Senior High junior and assistant artistic director Brooke Solomon knows how impactful this initiative is for musicians who would not otherwise have the chance to experience this.
“To be able to give other people the opportunity to play for a crowd and not have to pay is really cool,” Solomon said.
In preparation for such a large event, PCMP looks to the community and student volunteers for support, which makes a massive difference in setting the stage, announcing the event to the public and organizing all the performances.
To help with this, Coral Reef Senior High senior and PCMP artistic director Daniella Barral aids Youthstage by recruiting people to help with the event’s organization.
“I mainly just work with getting community sponsors and getting the groups together to perform,” Barral said.
Both Solomon and Barral are musicians themselves, which gives them a deeper understanding of how powerful this initiative is and the importance of getting real, quality performance experience. To reach larger professional stages, musicians need to build a portfolio and have gigs under their belt in order to practice the ins and outs of performing live.
Solomon, who has played the violin for many years, believes her role in planning these events is instrumental for some aspiring professionals.
“[I think my own musical experience] makes it more personal. Getting to see all the mentors make a real difference, and like seeing the real difference happening. From my end, knowing how hard it is to get performance experiences and stuff, it’s really cool to see,” Solomon said.
To prepare for Youthstage, the MPSH community can play an active role. Students can get involved by volunteering on the day of the event or by attending and showing their support in the audience.
From the volunteering standpoint, students and community members can provide support on performance days to ensure nothing skips a beat.
“Every time we have a Youthstage event, we send out a Google Form to volunteers to get community service hours, and they’ll basically help bring all the equipment in, and if we are selling food, they will help with that,” Solomon said.
Active community members and Youthstage volunteers have the opportunity to make their voices heard through the local community events.
“Sooner or later, we want to have more themed events. We want to see what genre of music or what genre of arts and performing arts is the most desired in the community and put out a poll or a survey to see how we can cater to that,” Barral said.
To prepare for the upcoming Youthstage event, volunteers like Barral need to make sure every last detail is accounted for. For concertgoers simply there to enjoy the performances, little aspects like making sure all the microphones work rarely cross their mind.
“There are so many rental companies [for stages], so many quotes and so many very intricate details that go into [planning a Youthstage event],” Barral said.
Putting on a concert in what many consider MPSH’s backyard provides an exciting opportunity for students and families to listen to live music and immerse themselves in the community. PCMP’s Youthstage works tirelessly to create the optimal environment for aspiring performers and supply the area with fresh, exciting talent to share with friends and family.
