If you are a fan of Haitian entertainment, the name Noel and Cecibon Productions will be familiar to you. Noel and Cecibon Productions is the fast growing Haitian entertainment company in the industry today. The South Florida based company has worked with entertainers from all around the United States and Haiti. A short while ago I had the pleasure of meeting the Vice President, Jean-Michel, and Administrative director, Evrose Philias. We spoke about the formation of the promotions company and the work involved with promoting Haitian musicians.

Rodney Noel and Jean- Michel founded this company in 1993. Their goal is to increase the popularity of Haitian culture in the United States and overseas by “providing quality Haitian music entertainment. That is one thing that we feel is lacking in the Haitian music industry,” Evrose. 

Noel and Jean-Michel are knowledgeable about the extensive yet rewarding process involved in promoting concerts, live music, and bals. They are responsible for doing all the paper work needed to bring musicians to the United States. “Pulling a band out of Haiti, you are going to have high expenses. You have to go through the immigration process, circulate a petition and sometimes hire a lawyer. This process sometimes takes three months for preparation,” Jean-Michel. This excludes all the time put into getting advertisement. However, all the hard work is paid off when they see huge crowd waiting to hear the band perform.

Noel and Cecibon Productions has come a long way since 1993. In a competitive field such as entertainment, the company has managed to remain ahead of the game. They have organized parties for some of the most popular Compas bands, opened the Noel Records music store, were nominated for “Favorite Florida Promoter of the Year” at the Haitian Music Awards, and is in the process of putting together their biggest production of the summer, The Fourth Annual Haitian Compas Music Festival for May 19, 2002.

The festival is an all day event being held at Bay front Park in Miami, Florida. This is an event where the entire family and can attend and enjoy good compas music from the top Haitian bands in the music industry. The Compas Festival is not just an event for Haitians, this is an event for all music lovers. “Someone who is not necessarily Haitian, who may not have ever been exposed to the Haitian culture could come to our event and feel at home and have it be a learning experience for them,” Evrose. People from Canada, Chicago, Boston, Haiti and New York are expected to attend the event. The attendance expectancy for this year’s festival is much larger than the last three festivals.

As an increasing amount of Haitians migrate to the United States, the Haitian culture will become more present in the American culture. The phrase “Sac Passé” has already made its way into pop culture and thanks to artists like Wyclef Jean. Noel and Cecibon Productions are determined to help compas music make its transition into mainstream music. Latin and Reggae music have paved the way for Caribbean sounds to hit the American airways; it is just a matter of time before compas music gains the same popularity.