From Buenos Aires via Montreux to Nišville
The Argentine ensemble La Orquesta de Antes will perform on Friday, August 14, in the main program of the Nišville Jazz Festival.
This eleven-member group was founded 15 years ago in the town of San Miguel del Monte. Their repertoire ranges from traditional Argentine songs from different parts of this vast country to Argentine rock over the past 50 years — a genre that has shaped the music scene of this country and of Latin America as a whole. The ensemble approaches these styles through the sound and language of a jazz orchestra, offering the audience an experience that is both familiar and innovative.
They have performed on various stages in Argentina and abroad. They have played at 12 editions of the Festival de Jazz de la Playa and two editions of the Festival de Jazz del Subte, and they also host the Festival Jazz de Monte. On the international scene, the orchestra embarked on an ambitious project in 2017: its first European tour, with performances in Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, England, and Wales.
The peak of their career so far was in 2019, when, as part of their second European tour — which also included performances in Austria, Germany, France, and Belgium — they represented San Miguel del Monte and Argentina at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. This tour confirmed the orchestra’s ability to interpret Argentine popular music in a modern format, acting as a true cultural ambassador of the country.
In 2025, La Orquesta de Antes received recognition from the Chamber of Deputies of the Province of Buenos Aires for its “extensive career and invaluable cultural contribution to the community.”
The lineup is: Alejandro Beelmann – drums, Enzo Villar – bass, Joaquín Díaz – guitar, Melany Fazio – vocals, Ariana Villar, Mariela Velázquez and Santiago Aicardi – alto saxophones, Lautaro Gomez Casale and Leandro Morielli – tenor saxophones, Matías Olivera – trombone, and Gustavo Firmenich – clarinet.