Jorge Martin's Song Cycle A CUBAN IN NEW YORK To Be Performed By NU DECO ENSEMBLE, 3/18-19, 21, 24-25

By: Mar. 03, 2017
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Nu Deco Ensemble has emerged as one of Miami's most innovative and exciting small orchestras. On March 9, 10, and 11, at the Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood, Nu Deco Ensemble presents Jorge Martín's song cycle A Cuban in Vermont. All performancs begin at 8 pm.

The performances come just one week before Florida Grand Opera's (FGO) regional premiere of Martín's powerful opera Before Night Falls, which opens March 18 and runs March 19, 21, 24, and 25 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County's Ziff Ballet Opera House.

A Cuban in Vermont is a part of Miami's Tenth Annual Global Cuba Fest, which shines a light on the most talented musicians from the Cuban diaspora. A Cuban in Vermont is a collaborative presentation between Nu Deco Ensemble, Miami Light Project and FUNDarté. The cycle will be performed by soprano Elena Galván, a member of Florida Grand Opera's Young Artist Program.

After only two years, Nu Deco Ensemble has established a reputation as one of Miami's most stylish and relevant purveyors of contemporary music. Founded in 2015 by Sam Hyken, a member of the faculty at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, and Jacomo Bairos, conductor and musical director for the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. Hyken, Nu Deco Ensemble's artistic director, told Michelle F. Solomon of artburstmiami.com, "We wanted to change the world through music." In an age when many large symphony orchestras are struggling for financial survival, Hyken and Bairos were drawn to the idea of "small, dynamic, flexible orchestral collectives that are much more sustainable."

Nu Deco Ensemble aims to blur the lines between classical and contemporary music performance, with presentations that mix up a wide range of musical styles, visual art, and media collaborations in both traditional and alternative venues, striving to be South Florida's "leader in genre-blending musical exploration."

ABOUT JORGE MARTÍN AND A CUBAN IN VERMONT

Jorge Martín is a Cuban-born composer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1964. He studied at Yale College and Columbia University and received the 1998 American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award in Music. His opera Before Night Falls had its world première at Fort Worth Opera in 2010. He divides his time between Vermont and New York City or, as he puts it, between "deepest countryside and the citiest city on earth." He also has strong ties to South Florida.

A Cuban in Vermont is a cycle of five simple songs for mezzo or soprano and piano. One song, "Noctorno," is featured in the film Voice from Mariel. Commissioned by the Vermont Teachers Association, A Cuban in Vermont features text by the composer.

"These songs are my musical response to the questions of belonging and identity that shadowed me for much of my life," says Martín. "I grew up as an exile, an uprooted boy, out of place in many ways. This experience is universal, actually, and not just that of exiles and immigrants: we all feel a separation from a 'homeland' where we ought to be, where happiness is our rightful inheritance, but from which, as from a garden of Eden, we have been banished."

The program also includes Sam Hyken's new arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona's classic "Malagueña." Guest artists include singer Danay Suarez and pianist Dayramir Gonzalez. The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse is located at 404 NW 26th Street in the Wynwood district of Miami.



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