“Why” — Nicole Thalia ft. OneOrchestra
Creating Orchestral R&B with a Vintage String Quartet Sound.
We are excited to share the story of our recent collaboration with the immensely talented artist, singer-songwriter Nicole Thalìa. Born in Rome and now based in London for over a decade, Nicole is an international vocalist known for her magnetic stage presence and extraordinary voice, a soprano with a five-octave range rooted in soul and gospel.
About Nicole
Nicole Thalìa is the co-founder of Agape Gospel Collective, a multilingual gospel choir based in London, performing worldwide. Nicole is also a member of the world-renowned Kingdom Choir. Her illustrious career spans over 12 years in Italy, where she performed alongside notable artists like Giorgia and Pooh, collaborated with personalities like Teddy Reno, and appeared in numerous television broadcasts for Mediaset and Rai. Since moving to London in 2012, Nicole has shared the stage with music legends such as Tom Jones, Barbra Streisand, and Gladys Knight, and has supported global stars like Demi Lovato, the Spice Girls, Take That, Rita Ora, and Paloma Faith.
Nicole is a backing singer for Italian superstar Marco Mengoni, contributing to exceptional performances on stadium and arena tours across Italy and Europe.
Picture by JMNI. Nicole in the studio filming her latest single “Why”
2. Studio work
Nicole approached us with an exciting project:
she wanted a string arrangement for her single "Why," to be released on Spotify. The vision was to create an R&B song with a vintage string quartet sound blended with modern R&B style drums.
After a briefing with Nicole, where we listened to the song and discussed ideas, our composer Michael Amadi got to work on the arrangement.
Nicole was thrilled with the arrangement, and we proceeded to a remote recording session to capture the string quartet. The score production was done by our score editor Francesco di Cataldo. Once the recording was complete, we sent the stems to Nicole's producer, ready to be mixed into the final track.
Pictures by Gianmarco Rizzo — Michael working on the string arrangement.
Filming session
Nicole also wanted to film a music video for "Why," featuring our string quartet. With a clear vision for the visual elements, Nicole directed the video shoot effortlessly. We spent a day in the studio with Nicole, recording and filming her song. The video was shot by Ed Jillings from JMNI, a creative partner of OneOrchestra for filming sessions and creative projects.
The release
Nicole's single "Why" was released on May 29, 2024, and is now available on all digital platforms. We are incredibly proud of this collaboration and invite you to experience the captivating blend of Nicole Thalìa's soulful voice and our string quartet.