Duo Extempore interprets history, art, and space through music. By composing frameworks for improvisation with storytelling arcs, the performance space itself becomes the score for bold, inventive music, bringing stories of the past into the present-day imagination. Through this process, Evan Jagels (bass) and Nicole Brancato (piano) capture time and space in custom musical creations unique to the communities for which they are designed, creating “a new experience that leaves guests wanting more” (Colin Havener, Hyde Hall).
In 2022, Duo Extempore released it's nice to be on the island, a concert film celebrating the history of New York City's Roosevelt Island. To shoot the film, they created a custom mobile stage, performing through the streets of New York City with a piano in tow. Another recent project, a highly-acclaimed concert that told the hidden stories of the historic Hyde Hall, incorporated innovative techniques and contemporary improvisations on 19th-century instruments. And at New York's Carefree Gardens, they featured the biorhythms of plants live-translated into sound.
Evan and Nicole's performance credits include Carnegie Hall (NYC), the Banff Centre of the Arts (Canada), Bellas Artes Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramírez (Mexico), the Blue Note (Germany), and the UniJazz Festival (Czech Republic). They are touring nationally as Duo Extempore during the ‘22/’23 concert season, including the film festival Glimmerglass Film Days in collaboration with the acclaimed filmmaker Bill Morrison.
Duo Extempore’s distinct programs, ranging from museum concerts on period instruments to indie music films to performances with amplified plants, "capture many moods through considerable charm and creativity” (Jonathan Maney, writer). Their curated improvisations draw from classical and jazz virtuosity, and weave together storytelling, local history, architecture, and audience interaction — all to create music that pushes the boundaries for what a piano + bass can do together.
To learn more, visit: www.nicolebrancato.com/projects/duo-extempore