Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Meza and Gustavo Sole
Hi Jose Meza and Gustavo Sole, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At eight years old, we studied music and our instruments in Venezuela under the renowned “El Sistema” music program. When starting there, you must go through all orchestra levels, from the kid level to the young-teenage level and then to the professional orchestra. Jose began with the violin and Gustavo with the viola; throughout that career, they were both principal musicians at their instruments in the Orchestra. That made them travel and tour in Venezuela and later abroad to countries like Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, and the United States.
They have over 20 years of orchestral experience and have worked with different personalities, conductors, and artists. In 2013, they decided to start a four-piece ensemble (string quartet), and that’s when “Cadenza The Group” was born. It was a very innovative concept for the year, as they would perform for events, playing covers of top hits and different genres. They always wanted to take their classical instruments out of the preconception of the “not-so-fun instruments” as they were viewed, and that gave the band a concept.
That innovative view made them a unique string quartet, taking them out of the regular string ensemble for events to a band that would take venues and, with their upbeat concept, bring the energy to where they would stomp. Cadenza The Group was part of important shows in Venezuela, mentioning one of the most acclaimed events, the Pepsi Music Awards. There are also different television shows in Venezuela, such as “Sabado Sensacional,” Saturday’s Prime Time. This unprecedented event brought their concept nationwide and influential Venezuelan and Latin American artists to this Gala.
At the same time, the group started making their albums, mainly covering their most famous selection of songs and including their original music. For their first album, the group held a concert in Venezuela to welcome the production, which had more than 800 attendees at important venues, in a super energetic showcase concert for their audience.
Later on, Cadenza The Group started a new journey that changed their musical life, beginning to work onboard Cruise Lines, and that gave them a different approach to international audiences from around the world. This was the opportunity to understand that their music was made to start looking for other horizons.
Jose starts a lead journey as the band leader, looking for the opportunity to bring the project to the United States, making Miami their headquarters and achieving different opportunities. Highlighting one of these was making a Violin Cover of Disney’s Movie “Encanto” via TikTok, which got more than three million views and allowed him to showcase this work as part of the 94th Oscars Awards in 2022, during Encanto’s part of the Gala.
Later, Gustavo’s arrival as lead viola made the group continue with their initial concept. Being in South Florida has made them participate in local artists moving music in a different direction by using their instruments to bring a different energy and vibe to the events where they’re at. They have performed with other important artists in the US, highlighting their last year collaboration with influential Venezuelan rapper Akapellah, making part of a new video concept called “El Patio de Noxo” brought by Jeff Cardenas, who has worked with stars like Daddy Yankee, JBalvin and BeckyG.
They have participated in different festivals in the US, one of them being the SpringBoard Festival in Houston. This festival gathers musicians from all over the world and places them directly in front of industry experts from the music industry, receiving excellent appraisals from their critical panelists.
Due to their vision of being an innovative string ensemble, they always wanted to perform using electric instruments, which felt right for the project. Thanks to their social media engagement and music, they became Artists of the renowned brand NS Design, which works for important names in the industry and whose instruments are top-tier creations.
Jose and Gustavo are working on their new musical album of original tracks and new renditions with their covers. They released an original song in 2023 called “Upheaval,” an electronic fusion that defines the new path of the group in this new journey they have embarked on. In the words of Jose, who is the composer of the song, “This is a piece that reflects perfectly all the changes, disrupts and shakes that we as a group, as musicians and as humans of the world have been living, since all the new chapters of our lives nowadays, show a different aspect of what Cadenza The Group has to offer to the world.”
Gustavo, who co-created the song, states, “Upheaval is an exciting work that defines our new music, defines the way we see music and declares a different perspective of our vision as artists who want to create music, but always want our audience to be part of what we do and involve them always on that process.”
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Jose: There’s no smooth road in the music path. Music is forever challenging, but the road gets clearer when you love what you do. There’s a constant fight with yourself, and that can be an obstacle; you’re always trying to improve and be the best in what you do, but you need to understand that as long as you have at least one person appreciating what you do, your work is being done. Besides, there are so many challenges, but that’s the beauty of this: understanding there are challenges but overcoming them, learning from them, and moving on to achieve your goals.
Gustavo: We’ve been fortunate to find people who have given us excellent advice and have always been there to offer their help. However, like everything, some parts are not straightforward; we’ve been living through many changes, which can be uncomfortable. However, we are happy to face the challenges and grow, translating to maturity and professionalism.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are a String Ensemble that creates experiences through music. We like to think that our project sets us apart by conceptualizing what the audience will feel when we perform, so we involve art and music with the people who enjoy our shows.
Nowadays, our project is mainly a String Duo but is not limited only to that, so that gives us the versatility to share and collaborate with other artists, not only musicians but all the areas that want to involve a creative idea that we can be part of.
We pride ourselves in professionalism and artistship. Our concept as artists would be nothing without the importance of being professional with what we do, which comes from performing at a high level and committing to the audience and the participants of the events where we are part.
One of our facets is organizing themed concerts, where we create experiences that go beyond the musical, creating memories and special moments for our audience.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Yes, it changed the world undoubtedly and taught us that even when working away from each other, it is always necessary to be together, despite the distance, if that makes sense.
We learned that work and discipline are necessary, and a project can be torn down if you don’t keep up with it.
We had to learn it; somehow, social media made us understand that. We had ideas and a lot of creativity to use for what we did, but if we didn’t get to organize and plan what we did, the project would’ve been the most affected.
We gladly figured out a way to keep creating, and once “the world turned to normal,” we were ready to keep our concept up and prepared.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cadenzathegroup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cadenzathegroup/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/cadenzathegroup
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2iuy159WUIdhj2juei4G7K
Image Credits
Nina Rodrigues
