Alain Pérez y la Orquesta

(CU)

Conductor, singer, bassist and composer, Alain Pérez is synonymous with the best that Cuban music has to offer the world and in his art, energy and sophistication combine in an affirmation of the contemporary spirit of the unique Cuban sound. Born in Manaca Iznaga, in the province of Sancti Spíritus, Pérez began singing as a child, encouraged by his parents, immersing himself early on in traditional styles such as guaracha and punto guajiro. Academic training in classical guitar and piano, which began at the Cienfuegos Conservatory and continued at the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, paved the way for a unique career. At the age of 17, he was already playing with the legendary band Irakere, led by Chucho Valdés, absorbing the spirit of Latin jazz and Cuban popular music in its most authentic form.

Later settling in Spain, Pérez expanded his sound universe through flamencoflamenco, collaborating with names such as Paco de Lucía, Estrella Morente and Niño Josele. Throughout his career, he crossed genres and borders, having also worked with Celia Cruz, Isaac Delgado and Miguel Poveda. A varied and vast curriculum that highlights his natural talent. On stage, Alain Pérez is synonymous with rhythmic excellence, improvisation and emotion. And at the front of his twelve-musician orchestra, the sophistication of his music becomes even more evident, asserting himself as an entity of pure celebration. ‘La Moneda’ or ‘Desde Que Estamos Juntos’, singles released in 2025, or his vision for classics like ‘Lagrimas Negras’ are coordinated for his contagious performances.

Dino D’Santiago & Os Tubarões

(Cv)

In 1979, with Cape Verde already independent, the legendary ‘Os Tubarões’ released ‘Djonsinho Cabral’, the opening track of a self-titled album, with Ildo Lobo providing the memorable vocal performance. In 2013, Dino D’Santiago, then in another phase of his still emerging career, released ‘Eva’, an album in which he set out to discover his roots in Cape Verde and which included, precisely, a version of this enormous classic by ‘Os Tubarões’. Ten years later, Dino returned to ‘Eva’, re-recorded the repertoire, but with a special touch: his version of ‘Djonsinho Cabral’ was this time recorded together with ‘Os Tubarões’, ‘a dream come true’, explained the artist from Algarve.

In recent years, with albums such as ‘Badiu’, ‘Kriola’ or ‘Mundu Nôbu’, Dino has established himself as one of the most important, urgent and creative national voices, opening a new path in music, mixing tradition and future with a unique balance that has taken him to important international stages and platforms, as was the case with the notorious ‘A Colors Show’ where he performed ‘Morna’. The ‘Os Tubarões’, in turn, are a true institution, a lasting symbol of Cape Verdean music. In addition to the classic album ‘Djonsinho Cabral’, they released several other important albums such as ‘Pépé Lopi’ (1976), ‘Tabanca’ (1980), ‘Bôte Bróce e Linha’ (1989) or ‘Porton D’Nós Ilha’, in an absolutely brilliant trajectory that spans half a century. This collaborative concert will feature two entities from two distinct eras, therefore, in an important meeting of generations that aims to celebrate through music the soul and identity of a people, their diaspora, their dreams and desires.

Shkoon

(SY/DE)

When Ameen Khayer and Thorben Niessner crossed paths in Hamburg in 2015, they perhaps never imagined that this union would give rise to one of the most interesting projects in contemporary electronic music with Arab DNA. Under the name Shkoon, the German-Syrian duo has built their own language, in which synthesizers dance with oriental maqams and traditional folklore gains new life under a digital pulse. The album debut came in 2019 with ‘Rima’, a record that immediately caught the attention of critics and the public, elevating Shkoon to the forefront of the so-called ‘electro-oriental’. But it was live, on stages across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, that the duo confirmed the emotional power of their music. Ameen, a Syrian with refugee status, carries in his lyrics and samples samples the story of a people in constant transition. Thorben, a German with a degree in sound engineering, builds the atmospheres where this story echoes with weight and beauty.

‘FIRAQ’, released in 2022, recorded this intensity in a live album that is not limited to compiling songs: it documents a moment — intimate, ritual, collective. Meanwhile, ‘Masrahiya’, a 2023 album, delves into more conceptual and cinematic territory. In Arabic, the title means ‘theater play’, and it is in this ambiguous space between reality and staging that the banners move. Fragments of voice, delicate instrumentation, vintage samples vintage and engaging beats make up an album that defies linearity and proposes an immersive — almost mystical — experience. Earlier this year, the duo also released ‘>1 Greater Than One’, a new EP that accentuates the power of their vision. Over the years, Shkoon hasn’t just mixed sounds; it mixed worlds. The music, which starts from pain and memory, from diaspora and belonging, has become a meeting place between cultures, where Western electronics welcomes Arabic singing without the exotic or the cliché.

Milhanas

(PT)

In a calm manner, Milhanas has established herself as one of the most unique voices in new Portuguese music. With a career that is still recent, but already deeply marked by her own identity, the singer and composer from Lisbon combines the tradition of fado with contemporary sounds, creating a territory where melancholy and light walk side by side. The daughter of musicians, she grew up surrounded by songs and instruments, but it was in the silence of writing that she found her first artistic home. The words, always careful and intimate, reveal an attentive look at the world and emotions. The debut in 2021 with the single ‘Lamentos’ immediately showed what he was made of: a delicate sensitivity, a confident voice, and a clear desire to inhabit the spaces between genres, between the classic and the new, between the root and the risk.

Milhanas doesn’t just sing fado — she reinvents it, opening it up to subtle electronics, chamber pop pop and the textures that have redefined Portuguese song in recent years. Her first self-titled EP, released in 2022, confirmed this desire to experiment without losing her soul. Songs like ‘Mais que ao Sol’ or ‘Não sei’ reveal a rare talent for combining tradition and modernity with elegance and truth. On stage, Milhanas is a serene but magnetic presence. The voice — sweet, deep, with a slight hint of longing — envelops those who listen to it and refers to a lineage of performers who do not limit themselves to singing: they tell, reveal, confess. Now, with new themes on the way and a growing presence on national stages, Milhanas promises to continue charting a unique path, faithful to the heritage that inspires her but without fear of going beyond it. At a time when Portuguese music is reinventing itself at every step, Milhanas is one of the voices that makes us want to hear what comes next.

Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Salvador Sobral

(ES/PT)

Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Salvador Sobral will join forces in 2025 in an unprecedented musical project, which promises to be one of the most significant collaborations in contemporary Iberian music. On stage, the two artists will present a new album that brings together songs written especially for the occasion by composers close to both, such as Jorge Drexler, Luísa Sobral, Dora Morelenbaum, Lau Noah, Marco Mezquida and Javier Galiana de la Rosa, among others. The stage show 's repertoire also includes originals by Sílvia and Salvador.

The album was born from a deep friendship and mutual admiration, built over several years. Both musicians share an emotionally honest approach and a rare artistic sensibility, based on the celebration of the voice as an instrument of communion. Sílvia describes Salvador as a singer capable of ‘embracing’ the voices he sings with: ‘When he sings with another voice, he has the gift of embracing it and making it sound better’ she ensures. Salvador, in turn, says that hearing Sílvia for the first time was like discovering the origin of the song: ‘A new and, at the same time, ancestral world opened up.’ His voice, he says, accompanied him in moments of illness, hope, sadness and ecstasy. Over time, admiration turned into friendship, and friendship turned into shared music. ‘When we finally sang together,’ says Salvador, ‘all these emotions from the past came out in our voices, fused together. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes — but no one said you shouldn’t share the stage with them.’

PAULO FLORES

(AO)

With a career spanning more than three decades, Paulo Flores returned to the albums this year with ‘Canções que fez pra quem me ama’, a work that celebrates the trajectory already taken and pays homage to the musical roots of Angola, always present in his work. A central figure in Angolan music, Paulo Flores continues to build bridges between tradition and contemporaneity, working with traditional semba with the elegance of someone who knows his cultural DNA in depth. In this new album, there is also an intention to preserve a certain ballroom semba , a heritage that has been becoming rarer since the disappearance of names like Carlos Burity, to whom Flores pays an implicit tribute here, while at the same time rekindling the danceable and lyrical pulse of this style.

In this new album, Flores remains faithful to the Angolan tradition, but without ceasing to dialogue with other influences and rhythms, in a constant search for the fusion between body and soul, melody and memory. The songs are, as is customary in the universe of this singer and composer, full of poetic narratives, made of longing, struggle, love and belonging — a mirror of Angola and its many worlds. The new repertoire was presented live on April 24th and 25th at B.Leza, in Lisbon, as part of the Inquietaçãocycle. The sold-out shows confirmed the place that Paulo Flores occupies in the hearts of several generations, making it clear that the stage is, as always, the place where the artist transforms music into an intimate and collective sharing, calling for dancing and listening, communion and resistance.

Lá no Xepangara

(MZ/BR/GW/PT)

Lá no Xepangara is a project that celebrates the work and thought of José Afonso from an African and Lusophone perspective, bringing together artists from various Portuguese-speaking countries on stage. Created in the year that marked the half-century of the Carnation Revolution, this tribute revisits Zeca Afonso's legacy, highlighting his deep connection with African culture and the fight against colonialism. With artistic direction by guitarist Manuel de Oliveira, the project brings together the voices of Selma Uamusse (Mozambique), Karyna Gomes (Guinea-Bissau), Isabel Novella (Mozambique), Fred Martins (Brazil) and Edu Mundo (Portugal), accompanied by Carlos Garcia (keyboard), Albano Fonseca (bass), Dilson Pedro (percussion, Angola) and Manuel de Oliveira himself (guitar).

Through contemporary arrangements, combining African sounds with José Afonso's musical heritage, Lá no Xepangara not only pays tribute to the artist but also reflects on April’s values ​​and the current relevance of his thoughts. The show also promotes intergenerational dialogue, focusing on the involvement of young audiences and the appreciation of the common cultural memory of Portuguese-speaking countries. The word “xepangara” — coming from Mozambique, evoking popular markets and meeting spaces — gives its name to this concert which is, above all, a place of sharing and celebration. A living tribute to José Afonso, made in communion, rhythm and freedom.

Tarwa N-Tiniri

(MA)

Straight from Ouarzazate, at the gates of the Sahara desert, Tarwa N-Tiniri is a band formed in 2012 by five childhood friends, all self-taught musicians and coming from the Amazigh (Berber) culture. The group’s name means ‘Desert Generation’ — a reference to the responsibility they feel to preserve and give voice to the traditions and stories of their nomadic people. With a rich and immersive sound, Tarwa N-Tiniri fuses traditional Amazigh melodies with influences from blues, reggae, jazz, rock and Gnaoua music. Their songs address themes such as love, friendship, social justice and the daily lives of desert and mountain communities, in a deeply rooted but universal musical language.

The band has conquered stages on several continents, taking with them the poetry, rhythm and identity of the people of southern Morocco. In 2024, they released the EP ‘Yougi Ya Mahsar’, a new stage in a musical journey that crosses borders without losing the connection with the roots, translating this purpose into music that, without leaving aside a deep local identity, has, however, a strong global appeal.

Queen Omega

(TT)

Jeneile Osborne, known in the music world as Queen Omega, was born in San Fernando, Trinidad, and from an early age, she forged a unique trajectory that would make her one of the most respected female voices in international roots reggae. roots reggae. Encouraged by her mother — to whom she would later dedicate the heartfelt song ‘Mama’ — she began singing and writing her own lyrics at the age of nine. Raised in a musical family, Queen Omega grew up listening to the great voices of soulsoul, such as Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker and Whitney Houston, without forgetting jazz jazz and the traditional music of her island. However, it was reggae and dancehall that touched her the most. Rastafári spirituality, inspired by the teachings of Emperor Haile Selassie I, would come to shape not only his artistic discourse but also her personal and musical identity.

Her international career took off with a trip to Jamaica in late 2000, where she performed at the Caribbean Music Expo. There she met producer Mickey D, who took her to London. The collaboration gave rise to her first album, “Queen Omega”, followed by ‘Pure Love’ and ‘Away From Babylon’ — the latter considered her most successful work to date. Queen Omega established herself in a space where female vocals were scarce, becoming a central name in reggae reggae with a conscious message. Spiritual lyrics, feminine affirmation and a constant political commitment marked her work, where she combines lyrical singing with touches of deejaying, a technique she masters. Queen Omega has traveled the world — from the United States to Brazil, from Germany to the islands of the Indian Ocean — taking her message of resistance, faith and love to renowned festivals where the public has consecrated her with just applause.

Cristina Clara

(PT)

Cristina Clara was born in Vila Nova de Famalicão and grew up listening to the traditional songs that her mother sang to her. Between her love for poetry and the performing arts, she worked in university theater and it was in fado that she found her most intimate language. Her professional debut took place at the historic Café Luso, in Lisbon, after an invitation from Marco Rodrigues. In 2021, she released her first album,'Lua Adversa', where fado coexists with Brazilian choro, traditional Portuguese music and jazz influences. jazzThe album, which includes original songs and versions of Portuguese-speaking repertoire, stands out for its poetic richness and plural sound — with Portuguese guitar, mandolin, cavaquinho, flute, piano, percussion and acoustic and electric bass.

Cristina Clara is the author of several lyrics, including the delicate song ‘Lua’, inspired by the work of Cecília Meireles, and ‘Novo Fado da Melancia’, an humorous tribute to Hermínia Silva. Between nostalgia, humor and creative freedom, he builds a musical identity where tradition and invention meet. On stage, her luminous presence gives new life to fado, celebrating the cultural bridges of the Portuguese-speaking world.