SOYUZ

In the organizer's words:

СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) is a creative collective originally from Minsk, Belarus, founded by multi-instrumentalists Alex Chumak and Mikita Arlou. After moving to Warsaw in 2022, Polish musicians Albert Karch (drums) and Igor Wiśniewski (guitar) joined the band. The name, which means "union", reflects both the collaboration of the members and the dual identity of the project.

In a way,SOYUZ is two bands in one. In the studio, Alex Chumak serves as composer, arranger and artistic director, crafting carefully crafted recordings steeped in jazz, folk, global pop traditions and lush orchestrations. On stage, however, SOYUZ transforms into a different being: The live quartet reinterprets the music together, with improvisation and the individual voices of each member reshaping the pieces - often to the surprise of both the audience and the band itself.

The early albums "Это всё совсем не то" (2018) and "II" (2019) explored the legacy of jazz-oriented Eastern European pop. They made their breakthrough with "Force of the Wind", the band's first album on the Mr Bongo label, which was heavily influenced by Música Popular Brasileira and featured Kate NV and Sessami. The record was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 on Bandcamp, praised by KEXP and received airplay on BBC Radio, Radio FIP, NTS and Worldwide FM.

Since then, SOYUZ has performed at major festivals such as Primavera Sound, XJAZZ, Überjazz, OFF Festival, ESNS and Bad Bonn Kilbi, as well as headline shows across Europe.

In 2024, SOYUZ released two international collaborations: "Spring has sprung" with Indian-American icon Asha Puthli and Swedish composer Sven Wunder, and "Калі ты запытаеш (If You Ask)", a dreamy pop single with a music video by Brazilian director and analog enthusiast Gabriel Rolim.

The fourth album, "KROK" ("step" in Belarusian), will be released on October 24, 2025 via Mr Bongo. It is the first SOYUZ record to be written almost entirely in Belarusian and was created between São Paulo, Stockholm and Warsaw with contributions from Tim Bernardes and Manami Kakudo. Although mostly recorded in Brazil, KROK is neither a Brazilian nor an MPB album. It combines the band's Eastern European roots with jazz, folk and global influences. The genre of the music is hard to categorize: There are folk ballads and jazz-driven pop compositions, layered with lush and often dissonant string and woodwind arrangements, where every note is placed with deliberation and meaning.