About us
MANY CULTURES, ONE CARIBBEAN
"We are more than a common market or a term, we are Caribbean, brotherly countries of a region that has so much in common, and also so many cultural, artistic, culinary, musical particularities, that their riches complement each other and deserve to connect." Philippe Bayard, founder of Encuentro.
ENCUENTRO wants to translate concretely the geographical and natural melting pot where men find themselves, rhythms and sounds, music and musicians, expressions and artists, tastes and colors of the countries of the Caribbean ...
The convergence of European countries towards the New World, through the island spaces of its archipelagos, has been accompanied by models of domination which have resulted in the creation of societies - of various forms but of identical essence. If the Caribbean islands today form a crossroads between the Americas and Europe, they must find their crossroads of cultural and artistic encounters.
ENCUENTRO wants to translate concretely the geographical and natural melting pot where men find themselves, rhythms and sounds, music and musicians, expressions and artists, tastes and colors of the countries of the Caribbean ...
The convergence of European countries towards the New World, through the island spaces of its archipelagos, has been accompanied by models of domination which have resulted in the creation of societies - of various forms but of identical essence. If the Caribbean islands today form a crossroads between the Americas and Europe, they must find their crossroads of cultural and artistic encounters.
This is what ENCUENTRO proposes to do, both a concept translated by concrete projects in the arts and culture and a virtual platform that welcomes and shares the initiatives and projects of our Caribbean. ENCUENTRO's ambition is to create a "space-time" where musicians, artists, conductors, from Cuba, Haiti and Saint Domingue, Jamaica, Martinique and Guadeloupe, Trinidad or Saint Lucia, Curaçao, Turks and Caicos meet Saint Martin etc ...
Each "Meeting" will be a renewal, will allow different artists from different countries of the Caribbean to meet around an ephemeral construction but in a dynamic of lasting project.
The idea of ENCUENTRO was born in 2019, and connects the countries of musicians currently involved. It came to fruition in 2020 through the creative encounter between exceptional musicians from Cuba and Haiti. A first creation by Encuentro, bringing together pianists Réginald Policard (Haiti) and Alejandro Falcon (Cuba) and their musicians, performed at the Jazz Plaza festival in Havana and Santiago, then at PAP JAZZ. (January 2020), as well as for a concert in December 2020 with surprise guests including the famous Horacio Hernandez "El Negro".
Encuentro is a project designed by Philippe Bayard. It is from his pragmatic vision as a businessman and president of the airline Sunrise Airways, and his passion for Caribbean music, that his dream was born to create a meeting, a fusion and a magic between the talents of the region, to make them discover each other... and make them discover to the world.