For more than three decades, OM has existed not simply as a musical ensemble, but as an open space where cultures, traditions and musical languages meet. Founded in 1991 by composer and multi-instrumentalist Nikolay Ivanov, OM was Bulgaria’s first ethno-ambient formation and one of the country’s earliest projects to consistently explore the idea of cross-cultural music.
In OM’s musical world, the boundaries between East and West gradually dissolve. Bulgarian and Balkan folklore meet jazz, minimalism and ambient music, while traditions from the Middle and Far East intertwine with contemporary acoustic and electronic sound. Over the years, Nikolay Ivanov has brought together a wide range of musicians and instruments – from kaval, tambura and Balkan percussion to sitar, tabla, piano, guitar, bass and electronics.
At the heart of OM, however, lies not so much a genre as an approach to sound. The music seeks a space beyond conventional forms – where composition gradually gives way to improvisation, rhythm meets silence, and each individual sound becomes part of a larger experience.
The name OM itself embodies this philosophy – music that is not merely listened to, but leads inward.
Throughout its more than 30-year history, OM and Nikolay Ivanov have presented their music across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, appearing at festivals including Roskilde Festival in Denmark, Sziget Festival in Budapest, Berlin Jazz, Krakow Jazz Festival and Amman Jazz Festival in Jordan.
One of the most extraordinary chapters in OM’s history came in 1996, when Nikolay Ivanov, together with Theodosii Spassov, Doni and Kotseto Kalki, performed at Kala Patthar, 5,345 metres beneath Mount Everest – an event recorded at the time by Guinness as the world’s highest-altitude concert.
OM JAZZ TRIO – A NEW CHAPTER
In September 2026, this musical vision, developed over more than three decades, takes on a new, intimate dimension with OM Jazz Trio.
Nikolay Ivanov is joined by two musicians from different generations and musical backgrounds, each naturally expanding OM’s cross-cultural concept.
Petar Yordanov – Bunny is a percussionist, composer and multi-instrumentalist, co-founder of Oratnitza and one of the distinctive figures on Bulgaria’s contemporary ethno and world music scene. His rich palette of percussion instruments and characteristic rhythmic language are a natural part of OM’s musical world, while his long-standing creative partnership with Nikolay Ivanov is rooted in their shared exploration of the space between ethnic music, jazz, electronics and improvisation.
The trio’s special guest is Hungarian double bassist Tamás Gyányi, a representative of Budapest’s new generation of jazz musicians and a graduate of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. With a musical language shaped by influences such as Charles Mingus, Christian McBride and Larry Grenadier, Gyányi brings a distinctly contemporary jazz voice to the trio.
OM Jazz Trio thus brings together three different musical perspectives – Nikolay Ivanov’s compositions and cross-cultural universe, Bunny’s rich ethno-rhythmic language, and Tamás Gyányi’s jazz sensibility. Within this encounter, composition remains open to improvisation, while OM’s distinctive philosophy takes on a new, more intimate form with a stronger jazz identity.
A large part of the repertoire has been composed especially for this project and will receive its premiere performances. The concert is therefore not a retrospective of OM’s history, but its continuation – music created in the moment, with the freedom to take a different direction every time it is performed.
OM JAZZ TRIO
Nikolay Ivanov – compositions, keyboards, guitar, vocals
Petar Yordanov – Bunny – cajón, djembe, hang drum, percussion
Special guest – Tamás Gyányi – double bass (Hungary)
Music that leads inward – towards those deeper layers where sound becomes sensation and silence becomes part of the music. A search for harmony – with the world, with one another, and within ourselves. OM.
With the support of the Hungarian Cultural Institute.