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Long live Universal Music, the music that will help unite the peoples of the world through art, to build a better world for all.

Itibere Zwarg

Itiberê Family Orchestra of France

The Itiberê Orquestra Família da França is an orchestra that brings together French and Brazilian musicians under the direction of Itiberê Zwarg.

 

Itiberê Zwarg is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer, teacher and conductor. Known for being the bassist and main companion, for the last 45 years, of one of the most prolific figures in Brazilian music, the inventor of universal music, Hermeto Pascoal. 

 

Imagined and conceived in the midst of the pandemic on both sides of the Atlantic by Itiberê and the French saxophonist Benoît Crauste, the Orquestra Família da França was born in Paris, in January 2022.  Itiberê came with his son Ajurinã - himself a drummer for Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo - and his flutist daughter Mariana, to lead talented instrumentalists on the Parisian scene. The orchestra rehearsed a repertoire entirely composed and organized for the occasion during 15 days of creation.

 

At the end of the rehearsals, several concerts were held - including a landmark date at the « Sons d'Hiver » Festival on February 5, 2022. An ambitious musical cultural exchange project, led by one of the brightest minds in Brazilian instrumental music, the Orquestra Família da França follows the tradition of the great groups led by Itiberê since the early 2000s. 

 

The orchestra allowed the musicians, throughout an intense creative process, to face the innovative perspectives of Universal Music (still largely unknown in France) in order to disseminate it to a wide audience. This experience generated powerful human and musical exchanges. The French family orchestra is the realization of the dream of bringing together French and Brazilian artists around an unprecedented song and is a strong symbol of the musical friendship between the two countries.