KamBrass Quintet

The KamBrass Quintet, winner of the Ljubljana Festival International Competition – Brass Quintets and Quartets 2025 (the first brass edition of the competition), was founded in Barcelona in 2017. Consisting of Iñigo Ocón Sagastume and Joan Pàmies Magrané (trumpets), Maria Servera Monserrat (horn), Xavier Gil Batet (trombone) and Oriol Reverter Curto (tuba), the ensemble is distinguished by its curiosity, stylistic breadth, and flexible programmes that incorporate original works, new compositions and arrangements by the quintet’s members. Having trained in Spain and Switzerland, the quintet has performed at festivals in Lucerne, London, Bratislava, Schleswig-Holstein and elsewhere. The quintet’s first album, Developments, was released in 2024, consolidating KamBrass’s position as one of the most exciting young brass ensembles around.

The quintet’s performance is conceived as a journey through the historical transformations of La Folía, one of the oldest European musical themes, which evolved from a lively Renaissance dance into a Baroque variation form and later re-emerged in contemporary creativity. At the heart of the programme is Foliations by the American composer Jan Bach, who reworks the theme into a series of variations arranged here as “bridges” between the other pieces. The Renaissance spirit is evoked by a song by Juan del Encina, while Baroque refinement is represented by a work by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Excerpts from Manuel de Falla’s stage works are followed by even newer dimensions, with a premiere performance of Oxímoron by Spanish composer Garazi Zabaleta, commissioned for the KamBrass Quintet, which carries the tradition into a contemporary idiom.