“music that truly synthesizes traditions rather than simply flirting with them…ego-less, genre-agnostic and without expectations; it’s the sound of the future, today”

ARCO BELO is a group of high-energy improvisers dedicated to redefining the concert form. Drawing its name from the words bow and bellow, the GenreFluid ensemble captures an irreverent sound melding reeds, strings, and percussive timbres. Led by pianist, accordionist, and composer Simone Baron, their adventurous compositions reimagine a sound at the junction of avant-garde chamber music, creative jazz, Brazilian music, and Jewish diasporic music. Together, they skip effortlessly from long-form Neo-baroque string counterpoint to sludgy hip-hop pads. Post-romantic cadenzas collide in moments of spontaneous noise with reedy prepared piano; guttural bow noises and cascading plectrum bring color to plush hypnotic grooves and sharply angled linear phrases.

Since 2016, the ensemble has performed for audiences across the US, including at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, and Brevard Music Center. Arco Belo has toured the West Coast and Southeast to critical acclaim, and won grants from South Arts / Jazz Roads, the Maryland State Arts Council and Chamber Music America’s inaugural Performance Plus grant, working with internationally acclaimed bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh. Their debut album, The Space Between Disguises was released in November 2019 and lauded as editor’s pick in both Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines. In 2023 they will release their long-awaited second album, featuring collaborations with bassist Petros Klampanis, violinist Sara Caswell, percussionists Keita Ogawa and John Hadfield, and Christylez Bacon.