BIO
Stephanie Jaimes is a classically-rooted contemporary cellist based in Miami who has performed alongside big-name artists. She is the founder of the event company Miami Vice Music, previously the Director of Events for the Washington Avenue Business Improvement District, and currently serves as the Director of Education and Outreach for Orchestra Miami. As a performer, she continues to challenge the traditional role of the cello in an ensemble.
Stephanie has graced concert halls and stadiums, sharing the stage with top artists such as Björk, Andrea Bocelli, Shakira’s 2020 Super Bowl Halftime show, The Eagles, Jennifer Lopez, Foreigner, Kygo, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Disturbed, Wyclef, and il Volo.
An advocate for contemporary cello performance, Stephanie is paving the way for percussive cello playing known as “Chopping.” She has taken classes with influential figures in the contemporary string world, including Mike Block, Casey Driessen, Natalie Haas, and Ben Sollee. Stephanie now serves as Assistant Faculty for The Mike Block String Camp held each summer in Vero Beach.
Stephanie is a regular presenter for Go Compose North America and miami’s Compositum Musicae Novae, both organizations that promote educate on contemporary compositions and extended techniques.
In 2022, Stephanie joined the Miami Girls Rock Camp as a string specialist and band coach, teaching young girls how to compose original music in a traditional rock band setting.
Stephanie’s first love is classical music. She earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Cello Performance from Florida International University, where she studied with both Javier Arias and Jason Calloway. She served as a Teaching Assistant during her studies at FIU, and was awarded with a stipend and full tuition covered during her time there.
Teaching
Along with her passion for performing music, Stephanie is an educator, a Teaching Artist, and advocate for social/emotional learning through music. She is currently the Director of Education and Outreach for Orchestra Miami where she creates educational packets for their Family Fun concert series and helps connect young audiences to classical repertoire.
During her brief residency in New York, Stephanie worked as a Teaching Artist for the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL) which provided music instruction to at-risk youth in the Hell’s Kitchen area. In addition to teaching, Stephanie also assisted in coordinating YOSL’s involvement with Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA grant.
For over 5 years, Stephanie has been a Conductor and Teaching Artist for the El Sistema organization Miami Music Project where she taught orchestra and cello to the young students of Little Haiti and Liberty City.
In 2021, Stephanie developed her own educational summer program called Cello Fun Fest, geared towards beginning and intermediate young cello students in the Miami Area with a focus on contemporary string playing.
Chamber Music
In 2019 Stephanie co-founded the classical/contemporary string ensemble Trio Wolfe. This ensemble’s mission is to create a fierce all-female ensemble that breaks the norms of the traditional chamber group by exploring extended techniques and improvisation, as well as mashing up classical repertoire with modern contemporary music.
In 2017, Stephanie co-founded the ensemble Strings Attached, a cello & piano (sometimes drums) ensemble which explores elements of rock, folk, and jazz with cello as the lead melody. In this ensemble Stephanie co-writes and arranges music with her partner/pianist Kevin Maddox. This ensemble is a member of Chamber Music America and has performed in festivals including Mike Block’s String Camp/Florida Band Incubator, Clazz Music Festival in Italy, and Project Trio’s Studio in NYC.
Touring
Stephanie has joined legendary artists Andrea Bocelli, The Eagles, Foreigner, Disturbed, il Divo, and many more on their Florida tour. She has toured and performed with the progressive-rock band Tran-Siberian Orchestra, 2015 to 2017, playing in sold out stadiums across Florida; Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. In 2013 Stephanie toured the US with two-time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Elsten Torres, opening up for legendary soul groups The Spinners and Sly and The Family Stone,
Contracting
Stephanie is the founder of her company Miami Vice Music, a service used by companies to book live music for public and private events.
Through Miami Vice Music, Stephanie was hired to contract a 1o piece all female orchestra to perform on stage with Kali Uchis during her live TV performance for Premios Juventud 2021.
In early 2020, Miami Vice Music was hired to provide a string quartet for The Irish Tenor/Emmet Cahill’s tour through South Carolina and Florida.
Miami Vice Music also works regularly with big event companies to provide high energy and unique string ensembles for weddings all though out South Florida.
Community
Stephanie has been using her passion for music, education, and social impact to apply for grants in Miami as part of her mission to enhance her community. Stephanie’s Liberty City Sound Garden idea was a finalist for the Miami Foundation’s 2018 Public Space Challenge. She was also a finalist for the 2018 Awesome Foundation where she applied for funding to bring live music to her neighborhood.
In 2019, Stephanie Jaimes produced a Red Cross - Bahamas benefit concert, after the destruction of Hurricane Dorian caused significant damage to the Bahamas. As a resident of Coconut Grove, a neighborhood heavily influenced by immigrants from the Bahamas, Stephanie organized a fundraising concert at the local Panther Coffee with 10 musical acts throughout the day raising $1,000 for the Red Cross Hurricane Dorian relief.