Photo credit: Lauren Desberg

Etienne Charles

Etienne Charles of Trinidad and Tobago is a jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and Professor of Studio Music & Jazz at University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. His work combining jazz with the rhythms of the Caribbean demonstrates his mastery of the amalgamation of genres. Since receiving a full scholarship to pursue his postgraduate degree at the Juilliard School of Music in 2006, Etienne has excelled at telling stories with sound, highlighting resonances between cultures.

In his own words, he strives to give voice to unheard traditions by documenting parts of their rituals and disseminating them through performance. He has recently focused on multimedia performance, incorporating film into live performances. Since 2006, he has released ten albums. His works, including “Creole Soul” and most recently “Creole Orchestra” have dominated Jazz Week charts.

His latest album, “Creole Orchestra” received a NAACP Image Award nomination in the Outstanding Jazz Album category. In 2022, he was commissioned by the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York to produce a multimedia work with the New York Philharmonic that explored the removal of an African-American community to build the Lincoln Center in the 1950s and 1960s. Ultimately, he and the orchestra produced a memorial and critique titled “San Juan Hill: A New York Story”.

His professional accomplishments range from a first-place finish at the 2006 National Trumpet Competition in the United States to graduating from the Juilliard School in 2008 as the esteemed recipient of the William Schuman Prize. In 2012, he received a United States Congressional Record Citation for his musical contributions to Trinidad and Tobago and the world. In 2015, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition. In 2021 he received a Creative Capital Award In 2024 he received the title “Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts” (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) from the French Ministry of Culture.

Photo credit: Lauren Desberg
Photo credit: Luigi Creese

He has played as sideman on several Grammy-nominated albums for musicians such as jazz vocalist René Marie and bass guitarist Marcus Miller. He has also played with the world’s best jazz musicians – from Wynton Marsalis to the Count Basie Orchestra – yet remains connected to Caribbean culture and festivals.

He is involved in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival through his annual mas’ band, and Carnival season performances that frequently incorporate ‘non-traditional’ music, dance and visual arts. Since 2016, he has organised masterclasses and outreach concerts at children’s homes, educational
and correctional institutions across Trinidad, demonstrating his commitment to using music to inspire, unite and educate.

For an exceptional track record of musical creativity rooted in Caribbean musical tradition, Etienne Charles is our Arts & Letters Laureate for 2025.

Photo credit: Luigi Creese