Ensemble
 Sesiones Del Sur

The Leipzig-based ensemble "Sesiones del Sur" is a transcultural collective consisting of nine young musicians from Argentina, Brazil, Perú, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panamá and Germany.

Since 2018, the ensemble has focused on bringing together musical traditions from Latin America, especially Peru, Brazil, Venezuela and the Latin American and African diaspora. Their musical research focuses on the centuries-old mutual exchange of rhythms and motifs across the Atlantic Ocean. The goal of the project is to produce and market an album of original compositions in which past transatlantic interactions are acknowledged and enter into a dynamic relationship with contemporary, cosmopolitan styles such as jazz, psychedelic, trance and contemporary music. West African balafon meets jazzy flute and classic violin meets Afro-Peruvian festejo. "Sesiones del Sur" is more than an ensemble, it is a poetic cultural practice that enters the ear and the body: profound, complex, moving, with mystical serenity and individual language, tradition and the present enter into one another.

"Sesiones del Sur" was founded in Leipzig in 2018 under the direction of Venezuelan multi-instrumentalist Mauricio Vivas. The work as a collective began with monthly music events in jam-session format, with varying instrumentation and changing repertoire. From the beginning, numerous renowned Leipzig jazz musicians as well as international guest musicians, especially West African artists, were part of the group. With this concept of presenting the audience with a constantly changing repertoire, diverse instrumentation and lesser known musical styles from Latin America, "Sesiones del Sur" quickly established itself in the Leipzig music scene. 
In 2020 a first studio session was recorded, and two singles from this session were released. In 2021, "Sesiones del Sur" was funded by "KulturDigital" (program of the umbrella brand of the Free State of Saxony "so geht sächsisch") for three video productions of live sessions. The films produced in this framework are more than just music videos, because they address the reality of everyday life of musicians with international biographies in Saxony and their own modern interpretations and arrangements of Latin American songs, especially from the Afro-Peruvian tradition.

In 2022 the Ensemble recorded their debut Studio-Album with 10 new compositions written by different members of the project and released in May 2023. This production was funded by the "Initiative Music" and for the recording, the ensemble counted also with the participation of guest musicians like Marja Burchard (Embryo), Julio Alcocer (Aquiles Baez Group, Los Candeleros), Izabela Kaldunska (The New Solarism) and La Perla, among others.