The Nu Deco Ensemble Prepares for their Livestream Concert Featuring Larkin Poe in Miami, Florida
Videos by American Songwriter
In-person concerts have been suspended for a while now, but artists aren’t letting that stop them from performing. Many have turned to livestream concerts from their home studios, but the Nu Deco Ensemble is taking this new form of entertainment to the next level.
Nu Deco was established in 2015 by Jacomo Bairos and Sam Hyken and this Saturday, the ensemble is inviting their audience to tune in to a night of rock and blues featuring Larkin Poe. Since the members have not had the chance to be together as much this season, they felt this would be a good, safe opportunity to still play their music.
“More and more, remote recording is becoming the standard … it does get tricky with more players, but we have a wondaful team and amazing musicians,” says Sam.
Jacomo says this ensemble is “one of the few, if not the only, orchestras doing livestream ticketed events and that’s the thing I’m really excited about.”
As part of their mission to support living composers, the concert will also include a world premiere commission of “Out of the Gate” as well as other pieces by Pascal Le Boeuf such as “Wanderlust.” In this show, the audience will also hear a reimagination of some of Led Zeppelin’s music.
This hybrid ensemble not only creates incredible music, but they also have an educational component called Nu Deco NXT. This initiative is an opportunity for kids to learn through Sam and Jacomo and to get more involved in music.
Since they are unable to host live concerts with this group of kids this year, they will be virtually included in this weekend’s livestream show.
“I think we might be the only orchestra ever that has beamed a livestream concert into a school so that the kids can be a part of it,” says Jacomo. “It’s also going to be very interactive with us so that they can ask questions.”
The North Beach Bandshell in Miami, Florida was the chosen location for this show because Nu Deco has been performing there since they first started out.
“It’s one of our favorite venues because it allowed people to really experience Nu Deco in a way where they didn’t feel like, ‘I have to sit in my chair and watch it in a certain way,’” says Jacomo. “People would stand up, dance and go crazy. But at the same time, because it’s outdoors and it’s an iconic venue, we felt it was the safest and the best way for us to keep playing music that was almost foolproof.”
In addition to Larkin Poe, the other guest artists that will be joining Nu Deco in Miami includes José James, Cory Wong, Richard Bona, Cory Henry and more.
“We looked to have a varied season in terms of artists in different genres and backgrounds,” says Sam.
Larkin Poe, a collaboration of sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell, have never worked with Nu Deco before, but they are excited for this new opportunity. Their setlist will include songs from their album, “Self Made Man,” in order to bring the blues, southern rock genre to the show.
“I’m really pumped to be able to have our songs broadcast in this completely unique and fresh way,” says Rebecca.
This is not the first time that Rebecca and Megan have been in involved in an orchestra. Growing up they were raised in the classic discipline and played the violin and piano for several years. Megan says this event kind of “feels like a homecoming to us.”
Get your tickets now to see this live show from the North Beach Bandshell at 8PM ET. To get excited for the event, check out Nu Deco’s live performance of “Top of the World.”
