Global Journeys Series: Biribá Union

Christylez Bacon was born and grew up in Washington, DC and attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He has been featured on Morning Edition, National Public Radio, performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and founded the Washington Sound Museum, a regular concert series at the Atlas Performing Arts center in Washington’s H Street NE. The Washington Post notes that he is a beatboxer and progressive hip hop artist. He also played with the National Symphony Orchestra. Bacon classifies his largely diverse music as progressive hip hop.

Patricia Ligia is an electric bass player and composer from Montevideo, Uruguay. In addition to playing regularly in pop superstar Karol G’s touring band, with whom she has performed on Saturday Night Live, NPR’s Tiny Desk, and stadium shows around the world, Patricia is co-founder of the band Mestizas – a musical group specialized in the fusion of flamenco, jazz, and various Latin American and Caribbean folklore genres, where she plays bass, sings, and arranges the music. Patricia leads Group ‘O’,  with whom she has performed in the Boston and Miami area, playing original music and her own arrangements of Brazilian and Latin music. She constantly collaborates with other artists as a bassist and as an arranger and has short-term plans to record her own 100% original music album.  She graduated from Berklee College of Music with a major in Jazz Composition.

Mike Block is a Grammy Award-winning cello player, singer and composer passionate about cross-cultural collaboration through music, and committed to inspiring individuals and connecting communities. Acclaimed by the New York Times for his “vital rich-hued solo playing, and by Salt Lake City Desert News as a true artist… a sight to behold, Mike Block is one of the bravest, most intriguing musicians on the American fusion scene. (Gramophone).  Mike Blocks shows offer a rich mixture of classical repertoire, folk music, original compositions and songs that draw inspiration from his diverse collaborations.