November 25, 2019 — 50 ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Academy (DTA) Band students welcomed 31 musicians from London, England for an exchange concert. On November 23, the groups gathered on the DTA campus to share their history, music, and culture — a session that culminated with a collaborative concert.

Kinetika Bloco is a performance group with an exuberant mix of young brass and woodwind players, drummers, steel pan and dynamic dancers -- all in costume -- creating a “unique new British Carnival sound with a decidedly London edge” (-BBC). They draw their influences from the Caribbean, Brazil, West and Southern Africa, New Orleans jazz, funk and hip hop.

The DTA Band has hosted dozens of cultural exchange concerts over the last five years, welcoming four school bands from Canada, a choir from Pennsylvania, an orchestra from Texas, two brass bands from Paris, and countless local artists.