Musical Instrument Museum

Barcelona-born guitarist, arranger, composer, and bandleader Oscar Peñas has created a singular body of work that weaves elements of jazz, Spanish folk music, and the European classical tradition. But his music does not simply blend disparate influences. It ties them with an internal emotional logic that crosses genres. His capacious musical imagination embodies the limitless promise of jazz’s global reach.

Peñas graduated from the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, and he has received several prestigious awards, including the NYSCA, Mid Atlantic USAI, Jazz Road Grant, and several ASCAP Plus Awards. He has performed at prestigious venues, and his first nonimprovised suite for double, jazz, and classical ensembles, “Almadraba,” premiered at BAM Next Wave Festival; Peñas collaborated with jazz greats such as Greg Leisz, Paquito D’ Rivera, Gil Goldstein, Esperanza Spalding, Ron Carter, and Mike Stern.

Peñas often works with unorthodox instrumentation and leads ensembles ranging from a trio to an octet. Tonight, in his MIM debut, he performs in a trio with bassist Simón Willson and drummer Mark Ferber.