Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra X Hermeto’s Mothership

Since its foundation in 2006, the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra has continually reinvented itself. With over 120 works now composed and arranged specifically for this remarkable ensemble – most of them written by the ensemble’s director, Daniel Glatzel – the AMEO embarks on adventurous musical journeys of discovery.

It explores and develops, combines and varies a seemingly endless variety of musical styles, schools and cultures. The orchestra will mark its 20th anniversary in 2026 with several special programmes. One of these is dedicated to the musical legacy of the Brazilian music legend Hermeto Pascoal.

In July 2015, Hermeto Pascoal travelled to Berlin to stage a joint project with the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra and his two fellow musicians, Fábio Pascoal and Aline Morena. This encounter was a first in several respects: it marked Hermeto Pascoal’s first collaboration with a German ensemble. Furthermore, for this project, Pascoal left Brazil for the first time to perform his compositions in arrangements by another artist – the ensemble’s director and composer Daniel Glatzel.

This collaboration was a great success and met with an extraordinary response. As well as receiving widespread press coverage, the artistic performance of the orchestra and the soloists was honoured by the audience with standing ovations. An exciting new line-up of Pascoal’s long-standing collaborators and the AMEO will now build on the energy of these unique concert evenings in November 2026. All those who were artistically closest to Hermeto will be taking part. ‘Hermeto’s Mothership’, comprising Itibere Zwarg, Fabio Pascoal, Andre Marques, Ajurina Zwarg and Jota P., is made up of the musicians who performed on stage alongside Hermeto Pascoal around the world for decades. The ensemble is complemented by Hermeto’s goddaughter, the flautist Mariana Zwarg. Mariana now lives in Berlin and acts as a sort of link between the two ensembles.

The world-famous Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal passed away on 13 September 2025 in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 89. Pascoal is regarded as one of Brazil’s most extraordinary and internationally influential musicians. Countless musicians around the world have been performing his works for decades. He was an incomparable virtuoso, composer and arranger who blended different musical cultures with great ease. Traditional Brazilian music and jazz, dissonance and catchy melodies, odd time signatures and forró dance beats – in Pascoal’s hands, all this complexity became captivating and enthralling. The collaboration between Hermeto’s Mothership and the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra celebrates and honours the immensely diverse body of work by this Brazilian visionary.

The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra was named the first winner of the German Jazz Prize for large ensembles in 2021 and was honoured as ‘Live Act of the Year’ in 2025. Over the course of its twenty-year history, the orchestra has given over 250 concerts in 25 countries across four continents and has been involved in countless different projects and intercultural collaborations. All four of the orchestra’s albums released to date have been internationally acclaimed. A fifth album is in the pipeline and is due to be released in 2027. The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra currently performs in line-ups featuring up to twelve musicians from eight countries.

• Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra X Hermeto’s Mothership – A Tribute to Hermeto Pascoal
• 11 November 26
• 8.00 pm
• HKW, Berlin