Summary ?
|
Hello, how are you? I hope well! Happy 2022! I am well. The tour Klangkosmos by Jako el Muzikante is going on well, today it will be the forth concert. I am working for the promotion of the new album by Vigüela, to be released on day 28th and presented live in Madrid (February 1st) and Toledo (March 25). Despite the fact that the incidence of covid in Spain is rampant, I remain healthy.
Today I share with you two long and extremely interesting interviews. And I am sure that the end of the pandemic is just around the corner. What more can I ask for! I hope this email finds you in a good mood too. Enjoy the content.
As always, if you have any news of interest for our community, let me know. Thank you very much for your attention.
Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi Música
Do you want to share any useful experience or call relevant for our community of the world musics? Let me know.
Subscription is available here.
FLASH NEWS: MUSIC BEFORE SHABBAT HAS NOW SURPASSED 100 EDITIONS
Music Before Shabbat is a weekly bulletin and a website, dedicated to the music from the various cultural branches of the Jewish people, contextualized with info about the artists, places and other relevant data.
Since 24 January 2020, a new edition of Music Before Shabbat has been published every Friday. Only one week during this time the Friday email did not go out, because I had to undergo emergency surgery. Last Friday the 102nd edition was sent out.
With Music Before Shabbat, through music, we learn about history, places and stories. As well as being sent by email to subscribers, each edition is published on the website MusicBeforeShabbat.com.
 |
Forward to a friend right from here |
BRIEF NEWS FROM THE MEDIA, CHARTS AND SISTER PROJECTS
- #1 for Transglobal World Music Chart in January 2022 is: Khöömei Beat’s album Changys Baglaash (ARC Music).
- Mundofonías: our monthly favourites for January are the albums: Hoven Droven’s Trad, Assafir’s Digressions / Parekvasis and Ruşan Filiztek’s Sans souci
- The Balkan World Music Chart released the last chart of 2021. #1 is Xhanthoula Dakovanou’s Lamenta.
AND NOW THE FLOOR IS FOR: KAUSHIK DUTTA
I have to confess that as I was editing this questionnaire with Kaushik’s answers, I felt I was talking about two lives or more. Such is the number of activities Kaushik recounts in these lines, each one more fascinating than the last. I hope this piques your curiosity because it’s really worth it.
Kaushik Dutta presents himself as Founder and President of MusiConnect Asia, Vice President of Glommnet and Founder CEO of Song of Soul / SOS Productions. The next lines will fill with content and meaning this list of functions… and much more.
SPOILER: the Asia Music Summit is planned for 24-28 of February. Kaushik explains this further in his answers.
Thank you, Mr. Dutta!
Mapamundi Música: Before entering into the current activities of MusicConnect Asia, please, could you explain to me which is your background? Why are you working with music? What brought you to the current moment of your professional life?
Kaushik Dutta: Music has always been my passion and I have grown with it. I started learning different musical instruments at a very early age but later on restricted my focus only on string instruments. During this time, I started listening to music of different kinds, starting from Indian classical, regional to the music of the west. Though in the sixties and seventies we had very little access to western music, radio was the only source for us. It was quite an overwhelming experience for me.
I stepped into the commercial music scenario in my thirties and gradually started receiving assignments. In the year 1985, I opened my own sound recording studio in Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) by the name ‘Sing–to-Live’ and started producing music. I have designed sound for ELAN (European Live Arts Network), scored music for innumerable dance theatre projects and conducted music symphony involving 400 children and 250 youths at the festival of joy in India. I have also composed for theatre, ad films, documentaries, and Bollywood feature films. Renowned Bollywood and international playback singers had lent their voice to my compositions. I have also worked as a composer and musician for a world-class multilingual British theater production. I have had the opportunity of touring extensively and performed at over 300 shows abroad. Besides conducting workshops for differently abled children and special needs schools, I have participated in many collaborative projects, including the jazz master class series organized by the National Arts Centre, Ottawa in collaboration with Manhattan School of Music. I was also invited as a visiting tutor at the London Roundhouse and Singapore Music Academy. In addition to this, I was a Judge for the Inter school drama competition and was also a workshop trainer for annual inter school drama festival both organized by the British Council. So, it’s been quite a journey for me and I cherished every bit of it.
You may have found Kaushik Dutta in some international event of world music but, were you aware of his career as a composer? You will find him in this video about a piece composed by him, Udd Jaa. And you can listen to the complete song, here.
Mapamundi Música: What brought you to the current moment of your professional life?
KD: While I was touring extensively I developed lot of international connections in the music industry and subsequently had the chance to meet many music professionals from around the globe. All my visits helped me in expanding my horizon and reach out to people whom otherwise I wouldn’t have met in my whole life.
By now I had a very clear understanding of the functionality of the global music industry and decided to contribute in my own way to the existing structure and develop a strong networking framework. This was a major turning point in my career as I have been successful in gaining trust and making a mark at the global level. I started receiving invitations from international events as a speaker, some of which are ‘Live Singapore’ a conference on performing arts (Singapore) ‘IOMMA’ (Indian Ocean Music Market, Reunion Island),’BWME’ (Borneo World Music Expo,Malaysia), ‘APAMM’ (Asia Pacific Music Market, South Korea), ‘Seoul Music Week (South Korea) ”MMVV’ (Mercat Musica Vive De Vic, Spain) , ‘Talinn Music Week’ (Estonia), ‘Showcase Scotland’ (Scotland), ‘Trans Asia Music Market’ (Okinawa), ‘Focus Galicia’ (Spain), ‘Visa for Music’ (Morocco), ‘WOMEX’, Musiconnect TransCanada (Canada), ACC world Music Festival, (South Korea) and Sharq Tarolanari Festival (Samarkand, Uzbekistan).
I was a jury member for Jazz in Seoul and was appointed as one of the Vice Presidents for GloMMnet (Global Music Market Network). Along with table maestro Zakir Husain I was appointed a judge for the 3rd Asia World Music Awards. Presently, I am the founder and acting President of MusiConnect Asia.
Mapamundi Música: In your Womex profile you still appear as founder of Song of Soul. What is this?
KD: Song of Soul was initiated by me and a group of young and energetic music lovers in the early of 1986. It is a non-profit organization and works primarily for the folk and traditional music community. We started organizing seminars, workshops, cultural programs, recording sessions and were engaged in multi various social activities. Song of Soul moved into the villages to know about the unknown and unnoticed musicians, their life, music and misery. Their histories are undocumented and the complex patterns of changes in song text, tunes and melodies, and rhythmic accompaniment as they pass from village to village and generation to generation make historical reconstruction extremely difficult.
We started travelling to villages to document this rich cultural expression. The experience has sometimes been painful, but in spite of that, the music and songs from their heart is so refreshingly melodious that encouraged us to delve more and take interest in research work. Interesting documentation has been done on forms moving towards extinct, like the BulBuli, Natua, Jhumur, Nachni, Pata Nach, Ghora Nach, Guba Naach, Dhaki and Chaau. Pung Chalam, Tusu , Jhumur, Bhatiali. The variety and intricacies in expression of these folklores that came out through such workshops have helped the rural artists to get a feel of the inner essence of such songs of the soil.National level workshops were conducted with musicians from different parts of the country as well. For a brief period of time folk artists from different corners of Bengal were recorded and filmed at the home recording studio of Song of Soul.
Along with all these Song of Soul makes a continuous effort to provide basic care and support to the rural artisans and focuses on imparting moral value education to the children of the folk musicians. We have launched Kolkata International Music Festival mostly to give a platform to these unknown forms and neglected genre of music. In the past six years the festival has supported more than 1700 distressed folk musicians of India and featured over 170 international musicians from 27 countries. This festival is probably the only festival in India that has covered more than eighty rare folk music and dance forms from all over India.
This is a video from Kaushik’s Youtube Channel with a recording from the Kolkata International Music Festival:
Mapamundi Música: About Musiconnect Asia, checking your website, there are some things about which I’d like you to elaborate a bit more. When you explain what MusicConnect Asia is, you say:
a. “Alliance with worldwide music festivals and music markets to facilitate artist exchange, residency, collaboration.” Could you explain what you are doing about this?KD: In terms of music and music industry Asia is huge, the continent has lot to offer to the rest of the world. Music of all forms and multiple genres has evolved from this region. From South Korea to India and from China to Japan, some of the world’s most ancient cultures are now producing its most modern music. Asia’s booming music scene doesn’t fit neatly in any box. It spans the spectrum — from classical, electronic to dance via R&B and hip-hop, all written with local flair and flavor. But where this is going? We are still way beyond penetrating the international market.
“For promoting the musicians working at the grass route level it is the need of the hour to create a strong networking system. And, this can only be possible through strong alliance and partnerships.”
For promoting the musicians working at the grass route level it is the need of the hour to create a strong networking system. And, this can only be possible through strong alliance and partnerships. The music fraternity is gaining more and more exposure through alliance and multiple opportunities. We are creating opportunities for musicians who are facing road blocks to travel beyond their limited boundaries. Of course, the past two years have not seen much of a development but we have initiated multiple online projects like the ‘Artist from Asia’ featuring bands from Asia, a collaborative venture between Australia and India, and South Korea, Nepal and India, workshops on digital monetization in Pakistan, Nepal and India. Featuring international bands at the Hidden Kingdom Music Festival, held in Bhutan. Featuring artists, managers, promoters, festival directors at the two virtual Asia Music Summit.We hope that we could do more when the situation eases up and start with the artist residency programme with Canada which is already on our cards. We have already signed two MOU’s with the Government of Mizoram and Nagaland (India) for ‘Artist Mobility’ and will turn this arrangement into multiple opportunities which will open up unsighted doors for the musicians. We are happy that we are already connected to international partners like Small World Music, Global Toronto, Music Works International, Cultural Connections Africa and Cultural Connections Latin America.
b. “MusiConnect Asia also envisages to create a touring network for the musicians, which will be beneficial for the touring band and the organizers.” With the current situation of the world, I think this is not possible nowadays but, what is your vision about this? How would this look if you reach your objectives related to this touring network?
KD: This is a very good question. The touring band always faces problem securing multiple concerts for themselves. Let me explain, when a band from Europe is invited to play for a stand-alone festival in any of the Asian countries it sometimes becomes less profitable for the travelling band. In most of the cases these bands search for multiple performance opportunities so that they could make substantial profit to sustain themselves for a few more days. But this is not easy. Moreover, after the pandemic many festivals are declining to cover the international travel cost and pushing the bands to a more complicated situation. The funding organizations also ask for a minimum of three concert deal. The process is arduous and back breaking.
We have already started creating a data base which will have useful information’s not only on festivals but also on local promoters, agents and musicians as well. Once we have substantial information’s with us we will create a touring calendar which will cover all the details of the festivals, concert venues region wise, thus enabling the musicians to draw up a tour plan. This will have a quid-pro-quo effect for both the promoters and the travelling band in terms of working out a workable budget. For instance, if three promoters from a particular region come together they can share the total cost and the band benefits by a package deal which will help them to earn extra money and play for a different set audience.
Mapamundi Música: How and why did it start?
KD: In the past ten years there has been a considerable growth of regional events. The regional events are really the new trend and they are answering to greater need now in the markets. People from the Asian music and arts industry are trying to act as catalyst to develop infrastructure at the Asian level. Unfortunately, their noble effort is becoming very regionalized. While many Asian artists have had broad regional and international careers, the world has had only a mere glimpse of the great Asian music in store. There is so much more to come, more to be discovered, so much waiting and worthy of breaking through.
“In a globalized world, where people and cultures are mixing and merging like never before, Asian music landscape is willfully ignored globally.”
In a globalized world, where people and cultures are mixing and merging like never before, Asian music landscape is willfully ignored globally. This is the reason why it is essential and need of the hour to set up an Asian Music Network and that is why we have taken up this initiative. The idea took off in 2017 at a music market in Okinawa and was subsequently launched in 2018.
Board members of MusicConnect Asia (January 2022):
Mapamundi Música: Which is the structure of MusiConnect Asia? Is it a registered organization?
KD: MusiConnect Asia is governed by a board consisting of seven members from India, Jordan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Japan and South Korea. We also have an advisory board and territory members responsible for individual territory. The board decides on the programming and activities. There will be more people joining our advisory board soon. The platform is registered under a separate organization.
Mapamundi Música: On the website, I see your address is in Jordan. If you are registered there, why did you guys choose this location?
KD: All of our activities are being monitored from India and Jordan. My colleague Lama who plays a very vital role also lives in Jordan. We have two office, one in Jordan and the other one is in India.
Mapamundi Música: Is the network open to more members? If so, what do they have to provide to the network? How can they apply?
KD: Yes, the network is open to all. They can join us as a general member and will be allowed to participate in our general meetings. We have a nominal joining fee for the general members. If anyone wish to be in charge of a territory they have to write to the board: musiconnectasia@gmail.com
Mapamundi Música: On the website you have a section of Playlist, with videos and audios of several artists. I think this is just the beginning. Do you have any plan of doing a catalog of artists on this web page? If not, what is the plan for this section? I think this is a relevant question because you guys, the board and all the members, are renowned professionals, so I think the artists who are and will be on your website have a kind of quality seal, am I right? Another option would be to create a kind of totally inclusive catalog. Please, explain what the plan is.
KD: You are absolutely on the right track. Yes, this just a beginning. We will be creating an exclusive catalogue of Asian artists. The best selection will be featured on this catalogue. We are in the process of collecting data’s and have so far received more than 300 band data’s from across Asia.
Mapamundi Música: There are other “MusicConect”, like the Italian one (an event that took place in December 2021 for the first time) or MusiConnect Canada. Is there any relationship between these “musicconect” networks, besides the name?
KD: The term ‘MusiConnect’ was coined by me. My friend Michael from Canada asked me whether he can use the term and I agreed. It was then decided that we will work as a conglomerate but finally it didn’t happen. MusiConnect Italy was born while we were touring in Canada. We are not connected at the moment but in future we will surely look forward to a possible partnership.
Mapamundi Música: If there is anything else you want to explain, please proceed.
KD: We are launching Asia Music Summit physical version this year (www.asiamusicsummit.com) in India. Our dates are 24-28 February, 2022 but unfortunately due to the travel restrictions declared in many countries we may have to reschedule our event. This event will be an important destination for cultural tourism, international art exchange and a vibrant market for music of all genres. AMS will act as a platform to create and extend professional opportunities for the music industry and will provide international performing arts practitioners with a one stop access to the blossoming Asian music market. The aim of “AMS” is to provide a global platform, where the exchange and birth of ideas, and concepts will be fostered, to create exciting new partnerships within Asia and the rest of the World.
Credits:
- Portrait of Kaushik, provided by him.
- Banner of MusicConect Asia, from its Facebook page.
- Board members portraits, from MusicConect Asia’s website.
- Logo of Asia Music Summit from MusicConnect Asia’s twitter.
|
Forward to a friend right from here |
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. TALK WITH: DUŠAN SVÍBA
Another heavyweight figure, another high-octane questionnaire. Dušan Svíba appears in this magazine in two roles: as an agent for world music artists, with his agency Earth Music, and as the director of a festival, Colour Meeting, which takes place in July in Polička.
I think his dual point of view, on one side and the other of the, shall we say, service sales process, is very enriching, and his own life story will probably resonate with many of us.
Thank you, Mr. Svíba!
About your work as a booking agent:
Mapamundi Música: Which is your background, what made you become an agent for world music artists
Dušan Svíba: If you’re asking about my musical background, it was rock of the 60s and 70s and later the Czech underground movement (Plastic People Of The Universe, DG 307 etc.) And I was already 14 when I played in my first band. Then came punk and New wave and out of that a lot of great music came – Joy Division, Talking Heads, Devo, Tuxedomoon, This Heat, Suicide etc… And Rock in Opposition – Art Bears, Henry Cow, Art Zoyd… and also Samla Mammas Manna, Lars Holmer, Embryo. And I mustn’t forget the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Especially with those last bands I was attracted to the combination of experimental rock, jazz and traditional music and this was probably where my journey to world music began, although we didn’t know the term back then :). But when I look back, it was actually with old Led Zeppelin that I loved, and still do, the combination of rock, blues, English folk and African or Indian music. Nobody still can beat their version of Gallows Pole.
But if you’re asking about my work background, it’s a woodworking. I used to work as a carpenter and also spent some time fixing up old timber houses. Then I started to work as the assistant and booking agent for the Czech singer Ida Kelarova and later also the Gypsy band Terne Čhave. It was just a coincidence that the booking agent job eventually took over because I still love woodworking a lot.
Ok, so let’s listen to what was so loved by Dušan:
And to his first artist as an assistant and booking agent, Ida Kelarova:
Mapamundi Música: From your training, education, previous experiences, which ones of the skills or knowledge you got have been the most useful for your career as an agent of musicians?
DS: I guess like most agents I know, I’m self-taught in this business, no prior education. Add the handicap of no music business in the former communist bloc and it’s clear that the vast majority of my skills and knowledge come from my personal experience and discovering what has already been discovered :). It’s great that in the last few years there are already training opportunities for young music professionals in Central and Eastern Europe, but when I started in 2002 there was nothing like that here. My personal experience is that the most useful quality for career of booking agent is to stay constantly open, to communicate, to follow what’s going around and how others cope with it.
“The most useful quality for career of booking agent is to stay constantly open, to communicate, to follow what’s going around and how others cope with it.”
Mapamundi Música: Apart from that or those skills, which other do you think are essential to succeed in this field of work?DS: The job of a booking agent is neverending story. If you don’t have a band that everyone wants, they write and call you and all you do just ask “what’s your offer?”, then for all other artists there are always plenty of other promoters and festival bookers that you haven’t approached yet or that you should remind again with your offer. So if you really want to succeed, don’t go to sleep ;).
Mapamundi Música: Any particular advice for a fellow newcomer or someone who wants to get started in this field?
DS: Never offer booking of artist you don’t burn for. You won’t enjoy it and no one will want that band from you.
Mapamundi Música: And now, for the artists. I’m sure you get requests from artists every day to be their manager. I am sure because it happens to me too, and many colleagues tell me the same thing. Do you have any recommendations for the artists, so that they can improve the way they communicate when they do it for this purpose?
DS: Yes, of course. I think the very first thing is to approach the right person. Not to shoot blind, but first to find out which artists that agent represents. That’s an easy way to find out what kind of music he prefer. As I said above, an agent has to enjoy the music of the band they represent to be able to put their energy, time and enthusiasm into the job, because let’s face it, without that it would just be a terribly boring office job. Hours and hours in front of a computer monitor or with a phone to your ear.
The second thing is to be prepared. Have a short bio, 3-4 good photos (both portrait and landscape) and above all 2-3 good live videos ready. When I say good, I don’t necessarily mean professionally shot videos, but the ones that capture the energy of the band at a live show, ideally with audience reactions. That’s what every agent and especially promoters are interested in. Studio recordings are fine, they are a must for fans and for radios, but every promoter, before booking an unknown band, wants to see them live or at least needs to be convinced by a good live video. If the music of the artist in question appeals to me, and if they give me quality material to convince promoters with, then it’s half won.
Mapamundi Música: Do you think it makes sense for the artists to try to find an agent? Have you ever started a stable collaboration with a band or artist that approached you in their search for an agent?
DS: Sure it makes sense, but the band need to know what they want, to be prepared and also to come at the right time. The artist must be aware that for the agent music is not only his hobby, but he also does it for living. He can’t work long term without financial reward. So the artist/band should already be able to function professionally and start “generating some income” soon.
Yes, I started working with a few artists based on the offer they sent me because they met all the above. But it’s hard to rely on that because first of all the agent has to read your offer, which unfortunately often doesn’t happen due to the huge amount of emails. In such a case it’s good to meet him at some public or professional event, like a showcase festival etc.
Mapamundi Música: I think there will still be, at least for many years, a lot of artists and a much smaller number of agents, that is the current situation. This makes me think that we are not in a very interesting business, otherwise there would be many more agents working in world music. Nevertheless, it seems the artists requiere us. Something seems to be wrong, what is it?
DS: Excellent question. I’m not sure I know the answer, but I’m glad to know I’m not alone :). And it doesn’t just apply to the world music scene, it applies in general to other genres as well. Let’s put aside the big mainstream artists, it’s a different world. Could it be related to the generally poor funding of culture? And that in turn with an underestimation of the role and importance of culture in our world? The money just isn’t there, it’s not a big business. Maybe if it was, the best artists would be with agents for whom music is second only thing to money. Which brings me back to the beginning, this happens quite often in the world of big music business.
Mapamundi Música: Especially in recent times, because of the pandemic, many of us, independent agents or micro-companies, have felt a bit alone and misunderstood. I have heard claims from colleagues from different countries arguing they have not been considered in support for the arts after the ravages of the pandemic. My experience in Spain has not been exactly like that (I have got support because I am an independent worker in a field with loss of income, not because I worked with art, and the support in Spain depends a lot on the region, so the situation is a bit complex), but what has been your experience in Czechia?
DS: Thanks to the aforementioned lack of a music industry in the former communist Czechoslovakia, the Czech music scene was very fragmented and unorganized. There have been several attempts to unite and bring the scene together, but compared to Western European countries the situation is still very inadequate. When covid appeared, this need had arisen very acutely. Industry associations and unions negotiated with the government on behalf of the industry, but there was no one to speak for musicians and all the related professionals. At that moment we initiated the establishment of several professional organisations and I personally participated also in the founding of the umbrella association Česká obec hudební, which should bring all these professionals together. We managed to establish a dialogue with the government and the result was financial support for musicians and some professionals in the field. But it was difficult to explain to the government officials how the whole organism works, how many people work in the field, what the relationships are, how the financing is done, etc. Some professionals, such as technicians, who are mostly employed only seasonally, did not reached this support and unfortunately had to leave their jobs, which will only become apparent when the activity is fully restored. It is already clear that if all the major festivals were to restart in the summer 2022, they will not have staff enough.
“It was difficult to explain to the government officials how the whole organism works, how many people work in the field, what the relationships are, how the financing is done, etc.”
Mapamundi Música: Related to the previous question, I have several questions:a. We are required by the artists but, at the same time, it seems we are a bit invisible. Do you feel that?
DS: I don’t think that’s a problem. In all fields there are “stars” in the limelight and plenty of invisible ones. Those, who want the spotlight, go on stage, those who don’t have that need work in the background. And some are even grey eminences :).
b. How could we explain briefly which is the value we, the agents, provide to the value chain?
DS: We create conditions and facilities for artists to focus on their artistic work. We translate artists’ requests and chaotic information to the organizers so that they understand them, have them in time and, above all, have them at all.
Mapamundi Música: My last question in this section. Explain in one or two sentences, to the wider culture community, the reasons to book musicians from around the world that give a relevant presence to their roots.
DS: Face to face to traditions and roots of people from other cultures, you become more aware of your own roots which strengthens your awareness of your own identity, broadens your horizons and enriches your life. And it’s fun :).
The second part is about you as an artistic director of a festival:
Mapamundi Música: How did the festival start?
DS: Colour Meeting was created in 2001 as a reaction to my visit to several festivals where I liked one out of twenty bands who played there. I had an idea to make my own festival where only bands I like will play. Soon I found out this was a naive idea because as a festival director, especially in the first 15 years, I had no time to enjoy the bands. Sometimes it still happens today. But instead I have discovered another benefit – it’s amazing when other people like the festival.
Mapamundi Música: What do you search for in an artist when you program?DS: Great music, passion, enthusiasm, energy, something new… But then I mix it all together and select it so the programme makes sense, the individual performances build on each other in some way, all the possible genres are there, there are fresh discoveries and current names there, the programme is gender balanced and finally couple of little bit well-known Czech artists are there. Even though we’ve cultivated our audience over the past 18 years that they love to discover new music, always well-known Czech names sell more tickets.
Mapamundi Música: Which are the global objectives of your festival?
DS: Colour Meeting’s aim is to bring to the festival’s audience original, new and innovative artists and projects that speak about the current state of the world we live in and try to offer a new perspective on it or their own solution. We present artists and projects that draw from traditional culture, but also those that confront tradition and the present, use new technologies and independently of media trends create today’s urban folklore. At the same time, we support the local community where the festival takes place and involve local volunteers in the organisation of the festival.
Mapamundi Música: What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival (your festival, specifically)?
DS: We are currently struggling with a shortage of people for the core festival team. It is not a full time job, but it still takes up a significant amount of time. Up until now it has been done by a few volunteers, but this model has become inadequate to the increasing demands and most of the volunteers have left us. Now we are trying to build a core team of a few professionals and shift resources to pay them.
We are also dealing with the funding structure of the festival. We have no commercial partners, relatively unknown names on the festival lineup and low capacity of the festival are not attractive for commercial partners. Most of our budget is covered from public grants. This model provides us with important artistic independence, but on the other hand it is quite vulnerable if any of the grants fall through. The simplest solution could be to raise the admission fee but for a festival of our size and in our circumstances our admission is already relatively high. Another option is to spread the structure of public grants over multiple donors. The real solution is likely to be a combination of both approaches.
Our third pain point is the size of the festival site, which is already at the edge of its capacity. It is a park in the middle of the city between medieval walls and a pond, a beautiful place. However, thanks to its location and genius loci, this place is one of the great assets of the festival and we would certainly not want to move the festival to any green field without an atmosphere somewhere on the edge of town.
Mapamundi Música: Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposal like yours (in general, not only about yours)?
DS: The two problems described above with the lack of festival stuff and with funding are more or less common to all similar festivals in our country. And of course the last 2 years with covid have thoroughly tested viability of all festivals.
Mapamundi Música: In one sentence, summarize the reason/s to go to your festival.
DS: If you like the idea of a small family festival in a park under medieval walls, with home made food, workshops, theatres and a music programme made up of current and interesting artists regardless of genre and country of origin, come!
Mapamundi Música: How are the plans for 2022? Are you working considering a scenario of normality, concerning the pandemic?
DS: In the Czech republic unlike big festivals, small festivals had been able to operate with relatively minimal restrictions over the last 2 years. The main problem for Colour Meeting was getting foreign artists to come to us. But we hope that in 2022 the situation will be more under control. We are preparing for a standard version of the festival.
Credits:
- Portrait of Dušan, provided by him and credited to Tomáš Moudrý.
- Logo of EarthMusic, from its website.
- Picture of Dušan in action, provided by himself.
- Banner of Colour Meeting, from its Facebook page.
| Do you have a call of interest for our community that you want to share? Let me know asap. |
OPEN CALLS AND PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
If you have anything to share in this section in a future edition, let me know.
Mobility grants to book Spanish artists, by Acción Cultural Española. The dates and conditions for this grants have been dramatically enhanced. The official information is here.
? Check the Spanish artists I offer from Mapamundi Música, here. They are Vigüela, Entavía, Jako el Muzikante, Xabi Aburruzaga and Citra Trío.
Fira Mediterrànea de Manresa. The application for showcasing is open until January 20th at 12 PM. It will take place from 6th to 9th of October 2022. More info, here. And for the application, here.
Andrea Parodi Prize competition. NEW. The subscription (for free) for the 15th edition of the contest is open until May 31st, here. “The overall winner will be entitled to a scholarship of € 2,500, as well as the opportunity to perform in some of Parodi’s partner festivals in 2023, such as the European Jazz Expo (Sardinia), Folkest (Friuli), as well as in the Andrea Parodi Prize itself.”
Folk Alliance International annual conference. Hybrid event. Postponed to 18th-22nd May. MEET ME AT…
Most of the time, at my house. I won’t attend the concert by Monsieur Doumani on 21st of January in Coimbra. The rise of the infections in Spain is too high to increase more uncertainty for attending and they will be perfectly looked after by the Sons em Trânsito team.
This is still planned:
- Lisbon, Portugal, for the third concert of the series of Músicas Escondidas at the Museum of Orient. 4th February: Daud Khan Sadozai
And besides that, the rest of the concerts I have, among them the presentations of the new Vigüela’s album, are in Spain (Madrid and Toledo for now).
WHO WE ARE AND SISTER PROJECTS
Mapamundi Música is an agency of management and booking. Learn more here. Check our proposals at our website.
We also offer you our Mundofonías radio show, probably the leader about world music in Spanish language (on 50 stations in 18 countries). We produce the Transglobal World Music Chart with our partner Ángel Romero from WorldMusicCentral.com.
Feel free to request info if you wish. For further information about us, get in touch by email, telephone (+34 676 30 28 82), our website or at our Facebook.
This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.