Miami Beach Youth Music Festival Back For Its Ninth Year

The Miami Beach Youth Music Festival is at the Miami Beach Bandshell on Saturday, March 8. Pictured is The Miami Beach Senior High School’s Miami Beach Rock Ensemble at last year’s Miami Beach Youth Music Festival. (Photo courtesy of OS Photography Studio)

More than 30 individual artists and groups will be spread across three stages for the Miami Beach Youth Musical Festival.

They were chosen from a pool of 50 applicants by a six-member review panel from the Rhythm Foundation and City of Miami Beach who met in mid-December. Laura Quinlan, program director for the Rhythm Foundation which was founded in 1988, says they are a “returning cast of characters involved with the application process so we have watched these kids grow up” since many have been chosen several times in the past.

Stella Rodriguez, vocalist for the Miami Beach Rock Ensemble, a senior at Miami Beach Senior High School belts one out during last year’s Miami Beach Youth Music Festival. (Photo courtesy of OS Photography Studio)

Quinlan says the Youth Musical is expected to attract between 2,000 to 3,000 to the Miami Beach Bandshell on Saturday, March 8.

“We do ask for donations, although it is free. Whatever profits we make that day are split between music programs at Miami Beach public schools,” said Quinlan. “It is wonderful to be able to support them this way.”

All the performers, many of whom are music schools and youth music organizations around Miami-Dade, perform short sets and have their moment in the spotlight, since performances are ongoing but not simultaneous.

Two of this year’s returning performers are 14-year-old Isabella Velazquez and 17-year-old Stella Rodriguez.

Quinlan remembers Velazquez fondly saying “she had this giant voice when she performed at one of our very first festivals when she was six years old. She is an amazing young lady and now as an eighth grader and has truly developed her craft.”

Now a student at iPrep Academy, Velazquez said “the Miami Beach Youth Music Festival was my first public performance and over the years, the festival has helped me develop my stage presence, learning how to interact with and entertain the crowd. It helped me move on to bigger things.”

As a young singer/songwriter, she is excited to debut original material she has been working on together with Young Musicians Unite, a group she had been too young to join until now and they “approached me about joining them. They have been extremely helpful in all aspects of my career.”

Velazquez has received a scholarship from the Phil Collins Little Dream Foundation and performed at Aventura Mall as well as singing the National Anthem at Miami Dolphins and Miami Heat games.

“I’m very excited to be back with the crowd at the festival and I’m hoping to perform my own song, that’s a dream of mine and I’m pretty sure I will this year,” said Velazquez. “The folks at the Miami Beach Bandshell have become like family.”

Vocalist Hanna Linder rocks out at last year’s Miami Beach Youth Music Festival. (Photo courtesy of OS Photography Studio)

Fellow performer Stella Rodriguez is back for her third year and is most excited “about the performance experience itself and interacting with the crowd,” she said.

She is a senior at Miami Beach Senior High School and the lead vocalist and manager of the Miami Beach Rock Ensemble. As such, “I look forward each year to auditioning for the festival and being such a big part of it,” she said.

As an experienced vocalist, guitarist, and bass player, she is thrilled that Miami Beach Rock Ensemble is headlining the festival. “A picture of my performance at last year’s festival with the ensemble ended up on this year’s festival cover poster and promo which was such a nice surprise,” said Rodriguez.

Singing “before I could form words,” Rodriguez said “I’ve known my whole life that I was going to be a musician.” Her father, a producer and deejay, was also a huge inspiration and why she has been surrounded by music her entire life.

Here is what to expect at the festival, said Quinlan – a piano bar featuring torch singers, duos and trios and jazz groups and then the band stage where the big high school bands and ensembles will perform.

“This year some kids will also be performing hip hop and rap which is great because it helps broaden the genres of music, so I am very happy about that,” said Quinlan. “I also always try to bring some of the Rhythm Foundation magic to this festival and add that international element via specialty ensembles that reflect Miami’s diverse cultural make up.”

The Miami Beach Youth Music Festival is a wonderful way for the Rhythm Foundation to tap into their connection with the City of Miami Beach and their Parks Department team who “are committed to bringing fun projects for kids to the city,” she said.

Miami Beach Youth Music Festival veteran Isabella Velazquez, seen here performing at last year’s show, has been part of the annual festival’s lineup since the first year. (Photo courtesy of OS Photography Studio)

She is also appreciative of the longstanding community support the event has received from the City of Miami Beach, especially Miami Beach Commissioner

The festival was the brainchild of John Elizabeth Aleman, a former City of Miami Beach Commissioner who was involved with Young Musicians Unite.

“Ms. Aleman was also a Rhythm Foundation board member at the time she founded the festival. During the first three years, she worked very closely with Cynthia Casanova, assistant director of City of Miami Beach Parks and Recreation until they handed us the entire festival to run,” said Quinlan “with all the city’s support.”

“By next year, we’d like to have more kids on the panel,” Quinlan said. “It is difficult to whittle the selection down to the best of the best but we do want to make it feel like a Coachella for Kids (referencing the famous multi-day music festival) making it feel like the hot concert for kids and their families,” said Quinlan.

WHAT: Miami Beach Youth Music Festival

WHEN: 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 8

WHERE: Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach

COST: Free but RSVP required

INFORMATION: https://miamibeach.rocks

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.