MEET ME AT THE BANDSHELL
Music, community, and ocean breezes come together in the heart of North Beach
By Kacie Brown
Photo by OS Photography Studio
“There is this kind of palpable sense of community when you enter our space,” says Adam Ganuza. “I think part of it is architectural. The shape of the building itself feels like a nice, big, warm hug. And the palm trees and the ocean breeze, it all kind of puts people in a different frame of mind, where they're a little bit more open to each other and to new experiences.”
The Miami Beach Bandshell has been a North Beach cornerstone for decades. Visible from both Collins Avenue and the beach, the round, gleaming white, MiMo construction is hard to miss, especially on nights where concertgoers flock toward the venue like shorebirds.
The venue, included in the National Register of Historic Places, is not only a recognizable landmark, but a pillar of Miami's music scene. The Rhythm Foundation became the Bandshell’s first management company in 2015, and since then the organization has transformed the space from a multipurpose rental venue into a community center of sorts. The Bandshell’s season of concerts and events draws tens of thousands of people each year. It’s a place for salsa and poetry nights, Nu Deco’s classical fusion performances, family-friendly cultural festivals, up-and-coming artists, Pulitzer Prize winners, and more.
“It's not a coincidence that when you see media mentions of North Beach, everything is centered around the Bandshell because it’s a community anchor, a neighborhood anchor, and a cultural anchor,” Rhythm Foundation executive director Adam Ganuza says.
Adam Ganuza | Photo by OS Photography Studio
The Rhythm Foundation’s work has drawn people and money to the area. The organization estimates the 2024 season generated $6.5 million in local revenue and nearly 80,000 attendees in a neighborhood of fewer than 45,000 people. But Adam says the foundation’s most powerful effects are subtle.
“It's very difficult to attribute metrics to the changing of hearts and minds,” he says.
Adam is the son of Cuban immigrants and a Brown University-trained materials engineer-turned-entertainment executive. He describes the Rhythm Foundation’s team members as “community builders” in a place of both remarkable diversity and social stratification. He sees the Rhythm Foundation as an intentional facilitator–albeit a laid-back one–of shared understanding and intercultural exchange. The foundation gives cultural organizations and ensembles of all sizes access to a large, highly visible performance space and simply invites people to attend.
Photos by OS Photography Studio
“I think the two most effective ways for people to learn about other cultures are through food and music. And we're not a restaurant, so we're not really settled to do the food part, but we can certainly do the music part.”
Adam and his team consider themselves stewards, not only of Bandshell’s historic space, arts experiences, or neighborhood, but also the land it sits on and the water just beyond its perimeter. The facility prohibits single-use plastic and recycles more than the Miami Beach Convention Center at a fraction of its size.
The foundation also leads beach cleanups along with local homeowners associations. In June, the group partnered with Blue Scholars Initiative to host the 2025 World Ocean Celebration in an event designed to raise awareness about ocean conservation. But largely, the Rhythm Foundation has chosen a lane free of overt advocacy or political involvement.
Adam explains: “We're not a university or an organization that is expressly committed to hosting those conversations and engaging in that kind of educational work. Instead, I think that our role is to show rather than tell.”
To the Rhythm Foundation, “showing” means a lineup of extraordinarily diverse artists: more than 100 each year, representing countries from all over the world, including 24 in the last season alone. It means free events for families and community members. It means artist commissions and partnerships with small community arts organizations and other local nonprofits.
The foundation’s Arts in the Parks series, for example, gives audiences access to five free performances from local ensembles each year. The series, in partnership with the City of Miami Beach, has hosted a meditative experience with the South Beach Sound Healing Orchestra, a night of self-choreographed works from Miami City Ballet dancers, and a collaboration between the Florida Grand Opera and local reggae artists.
The Bandshell’s lineup is also curated with inclusion in mind. Adam mentions a surf cowboy rock show followed by an opera for seniors event the next day. He says the Rhythm Foundation wants people of all backgrounds to have a reason to visit the oceanside venue.
“Let's create that environment where everybody feels included, where there's a sort of warmth and lightness to the space, to the energy. And we're going to show folks that it actually does feel better when you're in a place, in a space and frame of mind where you feel connected to your neighbors or to other people or to the world.”
Drawing from O, Miami’s archive, "Soy de Todas Partes" is a countywide civic publishing project that installs 100 resident poems across Miami in celebration of the immigrant experience.
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