OMBRA

¨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 modals engage 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 Ethno-Fusion style.

OMßRA was established in early 2014, inspired by the connections between musicians of different backgrounds and their curiosity about understanding and disseminating music from all over the world. By the end of 2015, it was an instrumental band. After performing many times on the national stage, it added a touring vocal part to the list and released their first album Posidonian Poetry in 2019.

Currently, the group is setting its sights on international stages and is working on its next project.

The name “OMBRA” has a profound cultural meaning that can be explained through three main concepts: first and foremost ‘OM’, a sacred mantra coming from dharmic religions (such as Buddhism or Hinduism) in which the unity between mind and body is represented by powerful and sacred sounds; second: ‘RA’ symbolizes a ‘Great God’, ‘God of the Sun’ or ‘God of the Origin of Life’, and last but not least, the Greek consonant BETA (B) represents Greece – the ultimate Mediterranean civilization – washed by the waters of this Sea that also acts as a hub for the exchange of knowledge and traditions between Eastern and Western cultures.

The sum of it all makes up the word OM-B-RA, which also means ‘shadow’ in three Mediterranean languages (Catalan, Valencian, Italian) … a natural wonder of a playful, mysterious and peculiar character… and of course an extremely sought after companion if we think about the scorching temperatures that some areas of the Mediterranean can reach.¨