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.

Grèn Sémé

(RE)

With roots in Reunion Island and ears turned to the world, Grèn Sémé returns to the stage with the new EPMaloya Gazé” na sua generosa bagagem. Este projeto franco-reunionense funde maloya tradicional — ritmo ancestral da Ilha da Reunião — com eletrónica, dub, rock and poetry sung in Creole, creating a deeply unique sound language. Born in Montpellier in 2006, the group was formed around the singer and percussionist Carlo De Sacco, bringing together Reunion students passionate about world music. Over the course of almost two decades, his artistic identity has evolved without ever losing its connection with his homeland. With an increasingly sophisticated sound, they explored the territories of French song, African pop pop and electronic music, always permeated by a strong poetic and political spirit.

Grèn Sémé has distinguished himself through his inventive approach to the music of the Creole diaspora, with albums such as'Grèn Sémé' (2013),'Hors Sol'(2016) ou'Zamroza'(2022) consolidating his cult reputation with diverse audiences. The latest batch of songs reaffirms the band's artistic and social commitment, speaking of a world in transformation, always with heartfelt words, pulsating rhythms and surprising arrangements. On stage, alongside Carlo De Sacco (vocals), are Mickaël Beaulieu (keyboards), Bruno Cadet (guitars), Germain Lebot (drums, percussion, charango, kamele n'goni, guitars) and Rémi Cazal (synthesizers, programming), crew members ready for a sensory journey through the soundscapes of the Indian Ocean, where song merges with dance, and rhythm with revolt.

o gajo

(PT)

João Morais, known in the music scene as O GAJO, has been redefining the place of tradition in contemporary Portuguese music. Born in Lisbon and forged in the world of punk rockpunk rock, it was out of the need to reconnect with his roots that this unique project was born in 2016 — a sonic journey in which the ‘viola campaniça’, traditional from Alentejo, becomes the protagonist of an urban, restless and deeply identifiable musical discourse. The discovery of the ‘viola campaniça’ was more than an instrumental fascination: it was the turning point in Morais' career, who found in the chordophone from Alentejo a language of his own.

After hundreds of performances in and outside Portugal, he released his first album,'Longe do Chão', in 2017, followed by the ambitious cycle'As 4 Estações d’O GAJO'consisting of four EPs inspired by Lisbon train stations. In 2021,'Subterrâneos' brought new collaborations and complexity to the project, with musicians such as Carlos Barretto and José Salgueiro. In 2023,'Não Lugar' expanded the musician’s sound universe, exploring new geographies and instrumental fusions. Between stops at renowned festivals — from Eurosonic to Reeperbahn, from WOMEX to IMATERIAL — and tours across Europe, Brazil, Macau and Finland, O GAJO has established the ‘campaniça’ as a global instrument, without losing the accent of the Alentejo plains. Distinguished with the INATEL Award at the 2024 Iberian Festival Awards , O GAJO continues to forge his path with a free and combative spirit. In 2025,'Trovoada'arrives, a new album presented in band format, with accordions, percussion, bagpipes, cavaquinho and voice — a formation that promises to keep alive the creative storm of an artist who never stops surprising us.

Cerys Hafana

(WA)

In an era in which folk continually reinvents itself between experimentalism and fidelity to its roots, Cerys Hafana has established herself as one of the most unique voices in new traditional European music. A triple harpist, composer and sound researcher, the Welsh artist challenges conventions and transforms archive material and oral tradition into fertile territory for contemporary creation. Born in Wales, Hafana plays the triple harp - an emblematic instrument of the Welsh tradition - with a restless and innovative spirit. She released her first album,'Cwmwl'’, in 2020, paving the way for a career where the delicacy of the instrument coexists with an openly experimental approach. It was with'Edyf' (2022) that he achieved true international recognition: voted one of the ten best folk albums of the year by folk do ano pelo The Guardian, it earned him a nomination for the Welsh Music Prize in 2023 and confirmed her place among the new names to follow in 21st century folk .

In January 2024, Hafana surprised us once again with the EP'The Bitter', in which she delves into the traditional English and Scottish repertoire, showing a rare sensitivity for detail and interpretation. Months later, in September, she released'Crwydro', a set of pieces for solo piano, in an intimate gesture that expanded her musical vocabulary beyond the harp. Her music, simultaneously archaic and contemporary, has been performed on prestigious stages throughout Europe: from the Festival Interceltique de Lorient to WOMAD, including Green Man, Reeperbahn (Germany), Trans Musicales (France), Other Voices (Ireland), End of the Road and Rudolstadt. She has shared the stage with artists such as Charlie Cunningham, Adwaith, Andrew Wasylyk and Yann Tiersen, and has collaborated on tours with Sinfonia Cymru, a prestigious classical ensemble from Wales. Also a regular on British radio — BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio Wales — Cerys Hafana is building a body of work that is disarmingly original but rooted in attentive listening to the past. By reinventing tradition with freedom and rigour, the young harpist not only honours Welsh musical heritage but opens up new possibilities for the future.

Adam Ben Ezra

(IL/PT)

Over the last decade, Adam Ben Ezra has established himself as one of the most unique musicians on the international scene, redefining the role of the double bass with a bold and deeply musical approach. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, he started with the violin at the age of five and never stopped: guitar, piano, clarinet, flute, oud and even beatbox are now part of his sound universe - but it was when he discovered the double bass at the age of 16 that he found his true voice.

Inspired by names as diverse as Bach, Chick Corea or Sting, Ben Ezra fuses jazz, funk, Latin and Mediterranean music with a technical dexterity and expressiveness that captivates both on stage and on screen. With over twenty million views online, he's an internet star, but his talent goes far beyond digital: he's played hundreds of concerts all over the world, has shared the stage with Snarky Puppy, Pat Metheny and Richard Bona, and has been praised by publications such as the BBC, Time Magazine or The Telegraph. Jazz FM described him as an example of ‘dazzling virtuosity and breathtaking athleticism’. Proof of all this praise can be found in ‘Heavy Drops’, a brand new album released in 2025, which shows how Adam Ben Ezra continues to expand his musical language, integrating electronics into the arrangements and proving that, in the right hands, a double bass can sound like an entire orchestra.

BARRUT

(FR)

Seven voices, a drum and an abyss underfoot. Barrut doesn't just sing - it summons, questions, tears silences. The vocal collective from the northern shores of the Mediterranean has been building a visceral polyphony for ten years that crosses tradition and revolt, popular roots and contemporary impulses. Made up of three women, four men and a percussionist, Barrut explores singing as a poetic battlefield. The harmonies are dense, sometimes hypnotic, other times as raw as stone. There is something telluric about his original compositions: a return to the fundamentals of the voice, where sound is not adornment but vital expression, almost a cry.

Inspired by ancient polyphonic chants, the group doesn't limit itself to its heritage: it reinvents it with the urgency of the present. The percussion, sharp and precise, sustains the permanent tension that runs through their performances - concerts that are rituals, spaces of resistance, encounters between the intimate and the collective. The body listens, but it also sways, vibrates and reacts. More than four hundred live performances later, Barrut has kept his mission intact: to explore the word, to refine listening, to transform music into a territory of radical expression. And ‘Travèrsas’, the Gaulish collective's latest album, is proof that the human voice is the most powerful of instruments.

RITA VIAN

(PT)

MAZGANI

(PT/IR)