DIAS DO JAZZ '26 | PEDRO MELO ALVES' OMNIAE LARGE ENSEMBLE (PT)

The Omniae Large Ensemble, originally a septet that won the Bernardo Sassetti Composition Prize in 2016, became an orchestra following a commission from the Guimarães Jazz 2020 festival. With new arrangements, the music was conducted by the prestigious percussionist and conductor Pedro Carneiro and performed by some of the leading figures in classical, improvised and experimental music in Portugal. Now, the group presents itself as a robust and versatile contemporary music ensemble in Europe, open to new challenges and collaborations with innovative musicians of all kinds. Here, Melo Alves' visions of escape and transcendence – echoes of an impossible temptation – are transposed onto paper, challenging the unknown. We hear intricate soundscapes, with the expansive sounds of contemporary music mixed with the flow of improvisation and the rupture of experimental electronic music. We hear a collective of people who embrace onstage the vision of the unknown.