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Violin, viola, piano, melodic, flute, sax, cavaquinho, mandolin, rabeca, viola caipira, guitar, electric bass, drums, percussion, and voice all blend together in this non-conventional orquestra. The nine musicians play more than one instrument, dashing around the stage from the drum set to the sax, the bass to the piano, the flute to the guitar or cavaquinho, the violin to the viola and mandolin...

It all began back in 1999, when these young musicians met to practice music in weekly workshops led by Itiberê Zwarg, in an old mansion in Rio de Janeiro, the Pro Arte Music School. Since then, the meetings - and the music - have never stopped.

As the musicians progressed, the Itiberê Orquestra Família was formed, and gained recognition as their vast repertoire and surprising musical qualities led the group to play many concerts and festivals in Brazil, such as Festival de Jazz de Joinville/SC, Festival de Inverno Ouro Branco/MG, Festival de Inverno do Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Festa da Música/MG, Festival de Música de Tatuí/SP, Festival de Montes Claros/MG, Festival Savassi/MG, Mercado Cultural/BA, Sesc Instrumental/SP, Sala Funarte Sidney Miller/RJ, Museu da República/RJ, Tom Brasil/SP, Festival Instrumental de Tatuí/SP, Teatro Carlos Gomes/RJ, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in SP, RJ and DF, Planetário da Gávea/RJ,Unicamp/SP, Sala São Paulo/SP, Teatro da PUC, Curitiba, Teatro Alvares Carvalho/SC, Teatro Francisco Nunes/BH, Teatro Castro Alves/BA, among many others, and later in Argentina and Uruguay, at the Bienal de Arte Joven in Santa Fé, La Trastienda Club in Buenos Aires, and Teatro Solis in Montevidéo.

By the end of 2001, Orquestra Família released their first double CD “Pedra do Espia” (Jam Music), with rave reviews from important critics, considered by “O Globo” as one of the year’s ten best musical releases. In 2005 the group released their second double CD, “Calendário do Som” featuring 27 compositions from Hermeto Pascoal’s book by the same name. In 2006 the Itiberê Orquestra Família made their international debut, with a series of concerts throughout Uruguay and Argentina.

In 2009, Itiberê Orquestra Família celebrates 10 years of music, and releases their 3rd CD, "Contrastes"

This new CD represents a new musical moment for the orquestra, and includes tracks recorded in many different formations - a string quartet, a flute quartet, a piano, bass and drum trio, a piano and flute duo, besides the full-blown orchestra. "Contrastes" was sponsored by Funarte through Projeto Pixinguinha, an important music project in Brazil.

Different from a traditional orchestra, the group usually doesn't use scores nor Itiberê the traditional baton - the musicians participate in the creative process, and music parts are written only after the the music is learned by heart.

Working with multiple music genres and no preconceptions, Itiberê includes in his work many musical tendencies, reflecting the Orquestra's universality as a whole. Breaking through the boundaries that separate popular and classical music, Itiberê Orquestra Família's music features universality, the greatest asset of "Escola Jabour", by Hermeto Pascoal.

Watch the Orquestra playing at Itiberê Orquestra Família's YouTube page

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