NU DECO PERFORMS RADIOHEAD MARCH 3
Credit: Southern Land Films / Monica McGivern
The Nu Deco Ensemble, Miami’s “21st century chamber orchestra” is on a roll. Fresh off an intoxicating night of collaborating with Miami’s Afro-Cuban jazz fusion group The Spam Allstars and performing their Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem suites, conductor Jacomo Bairos and composer Sam Hyken are still buzzed by the crowd’s reaction that night at the North Beach Bandshell.
Speaking via phone from San Diego, the conductor recalled the energy from their most recent performance. “Something about this concert was really, really magical,” he says. “The collaboration went off better than at least I thought it would go, and the energy of the crowd was definitely unique. By the time we got to the second half everyone was standing up. It was almost like a rock concert.”
Credit: Southern Land Films / Monica McGivern
That was only the ensemble’s third show. The 24 piece group is composed of classically trained musicians from the New World Symphony, University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and the Florida Grand Opera. Bairos and Hyken founded the group to break down perceived barriers in classical music, something Hyken was very aware of having witnessed the night of the Spam Allstars collaboration. “For me what was special about this concert is that I saw our mission unfolding before our eyes in terms of its inclusiveness of music being universal and connecting to such a diverse audience,” he says.
Now they are about to unleash a new suite of music based on Radiohead’s music, and the interest in Nu Deco is bound to expand. Asked what songs he has adapted for the show, Hyken remains coy only revealing some of the albums both he and Bairos looked at for the songs. “There’s so much to choose from,” says Hyken. “I’m looking at OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows, Hail to the Thief and even King of Limbs.”
Hyken and Bairos promise their take on Radiohead will be as distinctive as their previous adaptations, which also includes bringing Latin influences to classical pieces. “It’s not a copy,” says Bairos, “because Sam and I are really composing things just like the other stuff. It’s original material… We both love Radiohead. There is so much incredible music to draw from, inspiration to draw from, their harmonies, their melodies, everything.”
The Nu Deco Ensemble perform with Project Trio on Thursday, March 3 and 4, at 8pm at the Light Box at Goldman Warehouse. www.nu-deco.org. RSVP on FB
~ Hans Morgenstern | The Independent Ethos www.indieethos.com
