Nu Deco Ensemble Team With Tank and the Bangas for ‘Musical Party’
Formed in 2015, Nu Deco Ensemble gives “innovative, genre-bending orchestral performances and collaborations with the highest levels of musical artistry” as it offers “a fresh vision of what an orchestra can achieve in the 21st century.” And, created by Jacomo Bairos and Sam Hyken, Nu Deco Ensemble celebrates living composers.
In 2019, it released its first album, a disc that offered “genre-bending collaborations and reimaginings of artists such as Outkast and Daft Punk.”
In the effort to keep up its musical chops, the group has played a series of online concerts and will perform with Tank and the Bangas on May 15 from the North Beach Bandshell on Miami Beach.
“We could not be more grateful to continue to make music, create new art, and reach new audiences during this challenging year,” says Nu Deco Ensemble co-founder Jacomo Barios in a press release. “To be able to throw a musical party like this will be an unforgettable gift that has been created and inspired by all the love and support we received all year, world-wide.”
Winners of NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2017, New Orleans-based Tank and the Bangas dabble in jazz, hip-hop, soul, rock and funk.
“Jacomo and I have wanted to collaborate with Tank and the Bangas since we first saw them on Tiny Desk back in 2017!” says Hyken. “We are thrilled to finally have that chance and to welcome them to Miami for an epic re-imagination of their eclectic and powerful music.”
“[They’re] arguably one of the most relevant contemporary groups out there,” adds Barios.
The May 15 performance will also feature Grammy-nominated piano virtuoso Cory Henry, who’ll be premiere a newly commissioned piece in collaboration with Nu Deco Ensemble.
“Never could I imagine, after everything we all went through this year, that Nu Deco Ensemble would not only perform live concerts together in the community of music, but commission one of our all-time revered collaborators with musical genius Cory Henry,” says Barios. “His boundless musical virtuosity and his creativity have been constant inspirations to us at Nu Deco Ensemble ever since we collaborated, and I simply have no words to describe the excitement we feel to perform this commissioned work.”
Nu Deco Ensemble will live stream the performance via a custom platform, which allows for increased audience interactivity through audience polling that chooses select pieces, viewer selected camera angles, digital program notes and other interactive features.
The performance will be streamed live, to a crowdless venue. Nu Deco Ensemble is committed to following all CDC and local government recommendations, including physical distancing, masks for all artists able to play with a mask, health and temperature screening, sanitization and disinfectant of all touch services and a testing plan leading up to the production week.
