About
From the sands of the Sahara to the shores of the Black Sea and the deep Mediterranean, the music of OMßRA flows through Eastern European, North African, Sephardic, and Hispanic traditions, inviting the listeners to submerge themselves into a unique universe where modes mesh with contemporary harmonies and traditions merge with the modern, giving light to a voyage between Caucasian valleys, multi-colored mosques, and great meadows of Neptune grass.
OMßRA’s compositions embrace Sephardic, Armenian, and Arabic melodies and lyrics with a flamenco flare; interlace Turkish harmonies and Arabic scales with jazz; vibrate with a lush rhythmic fan, where cultural fusion is the cherry on top of delicate original compositions and the meticulous combination of arrangements in the Mediterranean Jazz style.
OMßRA came to be in early 2014, inspired by the connection of musicians from various backgrounds and their curiosity to get to know and disseminate music from different places around the world. By late 2015, it was an instrumental band and after various performances on national stages, added an itinerant vocal part to the roster and launched their first album Posidonian Poetry in 2019.
Currently, the group is setting its sights on international stages and is working on its next project.
Biography
Jorge Quesada. Piano & voice.
Since 1996 to present date, Jorge has dedicated his time to the study, development, perform and research of the piano and the human voice as instruments. His learning process has taken him through Classical piano studies , Jazz, Latin Jazz & World Music. As a result, he became a very versatile composer and performer.
He also has developed different percussion studies from the latin sides to the african and east european cultures, envolving as complete musician
He has played in different places around Europe (France – Unesco World Heritage, London – Westminster Abbey, Netherland – Big Rivers Fest, Italy – Fest della Oralitá Popolare… )South America ( different places of Cuba ), Africa ( Merzouga – Fest.Int.des Musiques du Monde) and Russia ( Arkjhangelsk Street Festival ). His current style fuses both traditional and modern disciplines, which he has cleverly made use of over recent years on several live projects
Finally he ´s living in Barcelona and continues developing himself day by day.
As a result of this learning process, Jorge sets forth on OMBRA, his own personal project.
Andranik Muradyan. Duduk & Clarinet.
Andranik was formed on wind instruments at the Musical School of Erevan (Armenia) where he specialized as a duduk and clarinet player.
For more than ten years, he played and toured his own country extensively before moving to Spain where he became a member of ‘Barbod’ and ‘Yacine & The Oriental Groove’. It was with these two formations that Andranik got himself immersed into greek, Armenian, arab and Spanish music whilst touring Spain’s main cities.
He currently resides in Barcelona, where he keeps developing his musical skills and finds himself at home.
Omar Kattan Oriental Percussions.
Omar Kattan is a musician with impressive versatility. With its Syrian roots, it carries with it the art of the Middle Eastern music to the depths of its origins.Youtube content creator, teaching Darbuka worldwide. More than 15 years playing for belly dancers and music bands including other styles ( Jazz, Flamenco, Batukada, Salsa..). Hang Drum & Darbuka player with DJ set on Hotel terrace events (Hotel ME Sitges Terramar). He has participated as a Solo Percussionist in Oriental Dance Festivals throughout Europe.
His style is characterized by improvisation on stage and animation with the public.Composer of Dum Raka Tak, percussion pieces for Bellydance. Class teacher to musicians in Barcelona. Composer of percussion songs for business branding (Desigual).
Georgi Dimitrov Kanun
Self-taught musician originally from Bulgaria, started playing the Iranian santur in 2010, and the kanun in 2013, the same year in which he founded the band Soulfia in Bulgaria. In 2014, he joined the group MeşkHane with members from France, Scotland, and Denmark, with whom he has embarked on two European tours and performed a concert at the National Radio Auditorium in Bulgaria. He has also collaborated on various projects with musicians from Istanbul. Since 2016, he has been residing in Barcelona and plays in the bands Alaturca Barcelona and Trio Sarazeno, Maktub Project, and Trio Feta Orquestra.Since 2018, he has been involved in the Orpheus XXI project with Jordi Savall, with whom he has performed multiple times at early music festivals in Poblet and Fontfroide, as well as other concerts in Catalonia and France, including a performance at the Philharmonie de Paris on March 10, 2019.
José Borjas. Double-bass.
He presents himself with a musical education such as Bachelor of Music at the Autonomous University of Honduras (C.A), having received music courses of camera music, jazz ensemble or musical language. He has practiced as a music teacher in various schools between 2000 and 2009. Inside his musical experience, It is worth noting that he has played as a double bass player more than five years in the National Symphony Orchestra of Honduras. He has also traveled through music through cities such as Honduras; Costa Rica; Guatemala; El Salvador (C.A); New York City, North Caroline (U.S.A); Barcelona (Spain), going through styles such as Jazz; Bossa-Nova; Latin-Jazz,
among others, and thus giving rise to the formation of several musical projects with important relevance. He immersed himself in the study of the domain and interpretation of World-Music and the Jazz-Fusion as double bass player with this project, thus enhancing these styles and providing a musical warmth to the sound set.
Albert Pintor. Oud & Baglama.
Since 1997 is playing and improving some great instruments like the indian Sitar or the turkish Oud and Bahlama, having gone through different stages of study in places like Benarés (India) or Turkey with wonderful masters. Besides that, he also plays guitar and is a good composer, having composed for his bands as well as for audiovisuals and documentaries for camps of Intermon Oxfam.
In 2006 Albert begans as a musician and co-funder of Sada Bcn, one of the most prestigious bands of World Music on the Barcelona and Iberian scene, having played at international festivals such as the Festival of Popular Music of Torino, or the International Festival of World Music in Merzouga (Ergg Chiabbi, Sahara, Africa .)
He is also composing for OMBRA.
Special Guests
Giulia Campana Singer, percussionist & dancer
Singer, percussionist, and dancer from Salento, Puglia. From early age Giulia was influenced by singers, dancers and musicians of her homelands, the southern regions of Italy, Puglia. She started her process of self-education by feeding on music and her voice gradually started developing an extended range. Later, she took a liking to a traditional in Puglia percussion instrument called “tamburello” and started taking private lessons with musicians who participated in the festival “La notte della Taranta”, like Carlo Canaglia. At 2019 she traveled to Spain and settled in Barcelona, where she developed a strong interest about different world music genders that were being performing in the city. She started working with musician that played from Balkan to Latin or north African folk. With maestro Yannis Papaioanu and his band played Rembetiko, Laiko and musics of the Greek islands. She formed her own band called Mastika, where she is the interpreter and the composer of south Italian songs in different dialects, fusing the music with other ethnic grooves. She also performed with the collective Hamsa Hamsa in the “Festival de las Tres Culturas de Murcia”. She sang with Aliá, a Galician band in the Queixo Arzúa festival and collaborated in their last album. Nowadays Giulia also forms part of a Middle eastern project called Ombra, in this project Giulia not only sings but also plays the percussionand accompanies the show with dance.
Collaborators
Vigen Hovsepyan Voice, Guitar, Duduk, Darbuka, Bendir & Cajón.
https://www.youtube.com/c/VigenHovsepyan