Nu Deco Ensemble featuring Andrew Bird

Described in the press as “thrilling,” “inspirational,” and “world-class,” Portuguese-American conductor, producer, and podcast host Jacomo Bairos challenges the preconceptions of orchestral repertoire by fusing musical genres and integrating the orchestra into the worldwide community through innovative and dynamic ways.

Defined by eclectic programming, genre-bending collaborations, artistic excellence, community, and institution building, as well as education initiatives infused with mindful and wellness practices, Bairos as Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Nu Deco Ensemble has reframed the role an artistic leader can hold for its organization and community it serves.

Annually in demand with some of the world’s great orchestral institutions, Bairos collaborates with the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, the San Francisco, Atlanta, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, to name a few. Bairos works closely with today’s most prolific and inspiring Grammy and award-winning soloists in classical music, such as J’Nai Bridges and Conrad Tao, as well as contemporary music artists such as Wyclef Jean, Jacob Collier, PJ Morton, Jon Batiste, and Angélique Kidjo amongst others.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and Peabody Institute, Bairos has performed, recorded, and toured the world with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops.

A Chopra certified meditation teacher, Bairos teaches mindfulness practices, yoga, and guides meditations for the youth members of Nu Deco NXT. He makes his home on Miami Beach, with his Carolina dog, Sophie.

Sam Hyken has had a rich and diverse musical career, which has spanned the globe. Currently residing in Miami, Florida, he is in constant demand as a performer, producer, arranger, and composer. Along with Jacomo Bairos, he is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Nu Deco Ensemble, Miami’s Genre-Bending Orchestra. He also serves as C.E.O of the organization.

As a musical arranger and director, Sam has been contracted by various artists, producers, and ensembles to adapt and write new music for, including Bad Bunny at the 20th Annual Latin Grammys, Wyclef Jean, Pitbull, Robert Glasper, PJ Morton, Jacob Collier, Cynthia Erivo, Cory Wong, Macy Gray, Tank and the Bangas, Angelique Kidjo, Cory Henry, Kimbra, Larkin Poe, Jose James, Talib Kweli, Ben Folds, BJ the Chicago Kid, Rev Run, Cimafunk, Tuneyards, Jon Baptiste, Bilal, Luke James, Kishi Bashi, Emily King, Stephen Marley, Kishi Bashi, Richard Bona, Monsieur Perine, Chris Turner, Aaron Parks, Black Violin, Time for Three, Alternative Routes, Dirty Vegas, Scary Pool Party, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Danay Suarez, Steven A. Clark, Project Trio, Rico Love, Raquel Sofia, Leroy Sanchez, Jim Jonsin, and Spam All-Stars

As a composer, Sam’s music has been commissioned by several symphony orchestras and organizations, such as the New World Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra, Adrienne Arsht Center, Kansas City Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the Asheville Symphony, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra. Other ensembles that have performed Sam’s work include the Boston Pops, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Oregon Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolivar of Venezuela. From 2011-2015, Sam was Composer-in-Residence with the Miami Symphony Orchestra.

Sam held the position of associate principal trumpet of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 2004-2006. From 2006-2009, he was a member of the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Sam was a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra and the UBS Verbier Chamber Orchestra for 5 years touring and performing with such esteemed conductors as James Levine, Loren Maazel, Valerie Gergiev, Kurt Masur, Yuri Temirakanov, Christoph Donyani, and Charles Dutoit.

Sam holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York City, a post-graduate diploma with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a Master’s degree in Media Writing and Production from the University of Miami. In 2016, Sam was awarded the title of Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Andrew Bird is an American pop songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his virtuosic skill on the violin, which he often samples and loops onstage, and for his meticulously crafted songs that combine wistful melodies with hyperliterate lyrics.

Bird was immersed in music from early childhood. He began taking Suzuki-method violin lessons at age 4 and later earned a degree (1996) in violin performance from Northwestern University. He chafed at the rigid expectations of the classical music world, however, and after graduation, supported himself by playing his instrument everywhere from weddings to Renaissance fairs. Having developed an interest in vintage jazz, he soon fell in with the popular swing-revival band the Squirrel Nut Zippers, appearing on three of their albums in the late 1990s. In the meantime, he landed a recording contract of his own.

Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire, as his new Chicago-based band became known, won critical notice for its impressive command and fusion of early 20th-century musical idioms, drawing on traditions as varied as swing-era jazz, calypso, German cabaret and Central European folk songs over the course of three full-length albums: Thrills (1998), Oh! The Grandeur (1999) and The Swimming Hour (2001). The band failed to catch on among audiences, though, and Bird decided to strike out on his own.

After testing the waters with a series of solo gigs, Bird recorded Weather Systems (2003) at his family’s rural Illinois farm. The album marked a turning point in his songwriting; the idiosyncratic pre-rock ’n’ roll touches were now filtered through a sound that owed more to contemporary folk and pop-rock music than his previous pastiche-driven work had. (He also, notably, revealed a knack for whistling.) Bird expanded his fan base by frequently opening for more-famous musicians (he called the 30-minute performances “guerrilla attacks”), and widespread praise for his next record, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005), brought him further attention. The success continued with the sprawling Armchair Apocrypha (2007), which sold more than 100,000 copies — a considerable number for an independent release. In 2009, Bird released Noble Beast, and its debut at No. 12 on the Billboard album chart marked a career high. He returned with Break It Yourself (2012), which found him partially abandoning the oblique wordplay that distinguished his previous work in favour of greater emotional directness.

Bird later released the studio albums Are You Serious (2016) and My Finest Work Yet (2019). He also made a series of instrumental records, Echolocations: Canyons (2015) and Echolocations: River (2017), which feature site-specific compositions and accompanying short films.