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Samba Nova is Halifax’s Brazilian style samba batucada band!

Playing the Chester art festival in August 2017

Playing the Chester art festival in August 2017

 

Weekly samba practice is on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm at St. Matthews church gym on Barrington Street (details). All welcome – no experience necessary! Click that link to learn more.

The band ranges from 15-30 people depending on the season and we perform annually at various parades, festivals, events and benefits and paid gigs. Some of our pieces are very traditional and others highlight some funky beats.

Here’s a note from one of our clients:

“Thanks so much for organizing the drummers and for your quick replies whenever needed. It was a very successful event this year with so many people joining during and after the walk. And your music was just like the joining power in all of it. Our sincerest thanks to the whole band for the wonderful performance.”

Pssssttt…. not a big secret here… you can join! We welcome new band members whether experienced musicians or aspiring musicians or people who have always wanted to try. We’re very accessible and open and patient. If you’re reading this and wondering about it, how about coming for a visit!

The band was founded in 1989 by the late Matthieu Keijser and has thrived since he left us in 2006, for four years under the excellent leadership of Carlos Pessoa, and now with a shared musical leadership of Ian Taylor and Alex Nunes

Approaching our 25th year, longtime band member Doug Myers wrote a history of Samba Nova. We plan to create a more media-rich web page with all of the archival material and videos and sound bites in the summer of 2018.

History of Samba Nova

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”

Browse the site, follow us on Facebook, check our Twitter feed, search for us on Youtube, send an email, look for us around the city or come to an open workshop and play samba with us!

 

Watch this video on YouTube.