HIGH POINT, N.C., Jan. 17, 2023 – High Point University will host world-renowned and award-winning jazz trumpet player Etienne Charles from Jan. 19 to 20 for a series of masterclasses and sessions with music majors, as well as a lecture for the campus community. His residency at HPU will culminate in a concert for the wider community to attend on Friday evening.

On Jan. 20, the surrounding community is invited to a concert featuring music from his 2013 album “Creole Soul” at 7:30 p.m. in the Hayworth Fine Arts Center. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available and can be reserved here.

“Creole Soul” is an expression of his Afro-Caribbean background, evoking the sounds of the Trinidad Carnival, calypso, folk and traditional American jazz and R&B styles. This album reached No. 1 for three weeks on the Jazzweek chart and was eventually named No. 3 Jazz Album of the Year by Jazzweek.

“Etienne Charles is an accomplished industry leader, a creative innovator, a wonderful teacher and a magnificent musical artist,” says Scott MacLeod, associate professor of music. “We are honored to host his residency and immensely grateful to Randall Thomas Johnson for his generous sponsorship.”

Critics and audiences alike enjoy the Trinidadian’s exciting performances, thrilling compositions and his charismatic onstage presence.

His lectures and performance are sponsored by the Randall Thomas Johnson Guest Artist Program Endowment.

Media are invited to cover this Jan. 19 event:

-Untold stories: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Callicutt Auditorium in the Congdon School of Health Sciences. Charles will discuss ethnography, composition and performance from different cultural events and groups. The lecture features video footage and uses field recordings for demonstration.

Charles has been recognized with numerous awards and honors throughout his career. In June 2012, he was written into the U.S. Congressional Record for his musical contributions to Trinidad, Tobago and around the world. In 2013, he received the Caribbean Heritage Trailblazer award from the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington, D.C. He was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015. In 2016, he was the recipient of Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing award and was a featured panelist and performer at the White House for a Caribbean Heritage Month briefing. He made his debut as a producer and songwriter on the album “Petite Afrique” by Somi, which won Outstanding Jazz Album at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards. Most recently, Etienne Charles and Creole Soul were commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to play his new composition “San Juan Hill” for the opening of the Lincoln Center’s renovated David Geffen Hall.