Luca Poletti UNAM Miles orchestral tribute

Luca Poletti is set to bring a Miles Davis tribute to the closing stretch of UNAM’s El Aleph Festival de Arte y Ciencia in Mexico City on Sunday, according to the festival program and local media reports. The work, billed as “Miles Davis. Un viaje orquestal,” is part of a broader 2026 wave of events marking 100 years since Davis’ birth on May 26, 1926. Festival materials describe the concert as a chronological tour through the trumpeter’s career, performed by the Jazz Orchestra of Turin’s Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory under Poletti’s direction. The appearance places a jazz-centered homage inside a festival that UNAM says is built around links between art, science and new forms of storytelling. ### When and where is Poletti’s Miles Davis program scheduled? Sunday, May 17, at 6:00 p.m., is the scheduled start time listed for Poletti’s performance at Foro B on the Explanada de la Espiga in the Centro Cultural Universitario at Ciudad Universitaria, according to Chilango’s May 13 report citing Cultura UNAM materials. The same report says the concert is positioned as the closing tribute of El Aleph 2026. (festivalelaleph.com) El Aleph’s official event page identifies the program as an appearance by the Jazz Orchestra of the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Turin, directed by professor Luca Poletti. The festival’s main site says the 2026 edition runs from May 7 to May 17. ### What exactly is “Miles Davis. Un viaje orquestal”? The festival description says the concert is built as a “recorrido cronológico y musical” through the most significant moments of Davis’ career. (chilango.com) It says the program follows his artistic development from early bebop years through cool jazz, the orchestral collaborations with Gil Evans and later electric experimentation. (festivalelaleph.com) Chilango reported that the set list combines historically significant works with original arrangements developed by Poletti and selected students, as well as new compositions intended to connect different phases of Davis’ trajectory. That framing suggests the concert is not advertised as a repertory-only recreation, but as a staged reinterpretation built for big band forces. (festivalelaleph.com) ### Why is Miles Davis at the center of this program now? May 26, 2026, marks 100 years since Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois, according to the official Miles Davis site. Chilango tied Poletti’s appearance directly to that centennial calendar in Mexico City. The Italian Cultural Institute in Mexico City has also promoted a related Mexico tour by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory Jazz Orchestra under Poletti with the project “Miles Davis 100: Viaje en el Jazz.” That listing describes the tour as a tribute to Davis’ creative legacy in the centenary of his birth. (chilango.com) ### How does this fit into UNAM’s El Aleph festival? (milesdavis.com) UNAM’s Gaceta said on May 4 that the 2026 edition of El Aleph would gather 180 guests from 14 countries across 154 academic and artistic activities in 27 venues. The university said this year’s theme is “Nuevas narrativas.” That same UNAM report singled out Poletti’s concert as the festival’s featured open-air music event, describing it as a homage to Davis by the Turin conservatory’s jazz orchestra. (iicmessico.esteri.it) The placement is consistent with El Aleph’s format, which mixes concerts, talks, dance, film and science programming under one schedule. ### Will people be able to watch it outside the venue? (gaceta.unam.mx) TV UNAM said on May 5 that it would air a special selection of El Aleph 2026 programming on channel 20.1 and stream more than 10 activities live on YouTube. The bulletin specifically listed “Miles Davis: Un viaje orquestal” among the highlighted music programs tied to the festival schedule. (gaceta.unam.mx) May 17 is the key next date. Poletti and the Jazz Orchestra of the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Turin are scheduled to perform at 6:00 p.m. at Foro B, Explanada de la Espiga, in UNAM’s Centro Cultural Universitario, while TV UNAM has said festival programming will continue through that same day. (chilango.com) (tv.unam.mx)