Womex 2021 will take place in Porto, Portugal, 27 – 31 October 2021. The application period for proposals is open until until Friday 16th of April, here: http://www.womex-apply.com/
For that time, we should all be vaccinated… at least the Europeans. It will be a real joyful meeting after all these terrible time. I am really looking forward to it!
· Studies and news from the sector in Europe
· Conversation with Alexis Herrería from Ah! World Music!
· Mini-interview with Justin Rudge from Port Fairy Folk Festival
· Brief news from the media, charts and sister projects
· Open calls and professional events
Hello, how are you? I hope well, healthy and strong. I am having an extremely busy few weeks and the truth is that I am exhausted and right now it is taking place Folk Unlocked, the virtual edition of the meeting by the Folk Alliance.
But this monthly date with the community is sacred and there is a good bunch of things to share. It’s also time to travel to Australia ?! Of course, in our imagination.
Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi Música
Contact me if you want to share some relevant information. And if you find this interesting, share it with your friends. You can read the previous issues here.
Thanks for your attention and remember that you can check our website to learn about our offers and the artists we work with.
Araceli Tzigane | info@mundimapa.com | +34 676 30 28 82
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These works are based on Europe but I hope they can be useful also for readers from other continents.
With the collaboration of Newcastle University, the European Folk Network has published the Stage One of the ongoing mapping research. Find the complete report here. The European Folk Network is open to new members and exciting news are coming. After the meeting in Brussels in November 2019, there was planned a new one in 2020, that was postponed, of course… Check the conditions in the website. There you can also learn who is already a member.A few days ago it was published the wonderful interview that the Mexican disseminator of world music Alexis Herrería, also known as Viento Solar, made to me for Ah! World music! It was wonderful because he is a great listener, great at doing questions and the musics we listened to together (Hudaki Village Band, Monsieur Doumani, Vigüela and Janusz Prusinowski Kompania) are just outstanding.
Since 1977, over 2000 acts and around 8000 artists have appeared at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. If you are confined and bored, you can check the list of the artists they have had, in this page of their website, and tick the ones you know ?The Port Fairy Folk Festival is a big event that takes place in the seaside of the small town of 3000 residents of Port Fairy. It lasts four days and it includes concerts, storytelling, circus activities, art and craft, dance and music workshops, and comedy.
The edition of 2021 has been postponed to 2022 but they continue doing more little events. The next week they are having some concerts, at the same long weekend when it takes place the festival.
Justin Rudge is the program director. His contact is available on the website. That is something that I love, you know, when you find so easily who is the person in charge of the artistic decisions of a festival or organization. I already mentioned it in the interview of the last edition, with Girisha Fernando.
Justin is currently settled in Madrid, 12 kms far from where I am writting this. We are waiting for the end of this nightmare to meet in person for lunch. He looks friendly, doesn’t he? In this meantime, it is a pleasure to share his insights while we can finally meet face to face.
Mapamundi Música – What do you search for in an artist when you program?
Justin Rudge: There’s some key words I use to decide on programming each artist – unique, engaging, artistic, cultural and challenging are the best 5!
To put it all in one sentence – I program unique artists that engage with our audience, both existing and new, to provide culturally relevant and wholly artistic experiences, hopefully challenging our audience to new and exciting experiences in turn.
MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?
JR: As well as folk, our festival works to program world, roots & acoustic music – so from a genre point of view, it’s actually pretty broad. We have a 4 day program, across over 20 stages, so we aim to have something for everyone, all the time!
MM – What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival?
JR: A few things!The first is probably the sheer scale of the event – over 100 artists, over 20 stage, and a lot of patrons from a variety of backgrounds and demographics. Putting that all together to ensure everything works, and everyone is happy – requires a lot of work from a small dedicated team all year round, as well as a massive amount of volunteers around the actual festival period in March.
The festival is located in regional Victoria. While being located on a beautiful bay, we have the constant concern and worry of operating in bushfire season, which provides a constant challenge in terms of managing travel and safety of our festival artists and patrons.
Music festivals in Australia are a booming industry (or were prior to the current pandemic), so we need to constantly improve, update and adapt to the changing marketplace and audience expectations.
MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?
JR: Obviously, the pandemic has had a massive impact on our ability to engage with our audience who would normally gather in large numbers each March.
While we are not able to do this in 2021, we have and are continuing to create a number of small events across various virtual and in person platforms to ensure we can continue to provide our audience with the cultural and musical experiences we love to share – until we return to full scale events in 2022.
MM – In one sentence, summarize the reason/s to go to your festival.
JR: To experience the highest quality musical and cultural experiences, in and around the folk genre, from around Australia and the world, in a wonderfully picturesque setting.
MM – What has happened with your festival in the current situation of the pandemic? I see you have to postpone the 2021 edition, which would be in March, to 2022. How are you guys handling it, in terms of the team and the artists you may have already confirmed for the 2021 edition?
JR: It changes daily! While the pandemic has been well contained within Australia compared to many other places around the world, the challenges of operating any physical events safely continue.
We continue to work with promoters, agents and managers in Australia and around the world to advance our program for the 2022 event. In most cases, conversations and arrangements that had been in place for the 2021 edition will continue for the 2022 festival.
I’ve been so proud of the people I work with – in Port Fairy with our wonderful staff and amazing volunteer committee – and within the wider music industry. It’s such a challenging period, and to work daily with amazing people that are considerate, kind, flexible and understanding of each others challenges has been a very positive thing to result from the situation.
MM – In 2022 you will celebrate the 45th anniversary. Has there ever been before a year in the history of the festival when this could not be done?
JR: No! While the time of year the festival is held was changed many years ago to the current period of March, we have never not put on a festival in 45 years. It’s very sad to be missing our event in 2021, but it has provided us with time and space like we have never had to re-evaluate, adapt and prepare to present what I’m sure will be our best event ever in 2022.
Credits:
Global Toronto: GT21 Call for Speakers and Themes. I will share the paragraph from their newsletter: “At Global Toronto, we know that the best way to create a compelling, relevant, and engaging event is to ask the most compelling, relevant, and engaging people we know: The wider GT community! Please take a couple of minutes and share your thoughts to help contribute to an impactful and exciting GT21.” The form to gather proposals is this one.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.
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Despite the situation, despite all the sadness and all the losses, Mapamundi Música wants to keep supporting grassroots initiatives that respond to challenges that will still be there when the pandemic is over. That is why we have just signed a collaboration agreement with Asociación Reforesta, an association that, since 2009, has planted more than 28,000 trees of native species and that also waters and protects them for years to prevent them from drying out or being eaten by animals. Reforesta is declared by the Ministry of the Interior as an association of Public Utility.
The first trees to be planted with our support will be holly trees, which are in danger of extinction, and will be planted in the Pinar de la Barranca, in Navacerrada. The oxygen they produce may end up reaching you and your loved ones.
Apart from the economic contribution already made, for each concert contracted to Mapamundi Música in 2021, a part of the income will be dedicated to more reforestation projects.
Keep the strength.
The 2021 edition will be the 24th of this professional meeting and festival, which takes place in Manresa, Catalonia.
The first time I attended the Fira was in 2006. I have discovered wonderful artists there, like the Italian group from Salento Mascarimiri, and I have had the pleasure to provide several acts: Triada and Hristov Brothers (it was maybe in 2008), Janusz Prusinowski Kompania & Manu Sabaté and From Turia to Tajo, the meeting between Vigüela, Apa and Eduard Navarro. For this edition I have sent several proposals and I hope next October, from 14th to 17th, it will be the moment to meet again a good bunch of colleagues from our community, after such a long time of distancing.
The application process is easy and for free. Click here: https://firamediterrania.cat/ca/professionals/convocatoria-artistica
You will have to register (if you are not already registered) and to fill in some fields. Prepare in advance, at least: bio/dossier explaining the show, artistic line up (it requires a separate document, apart from the dossier), technical/logistic needs, two pictures, links to videos and audios, usual fee and reduced fee for the fair.
In the previous years there was a professional area of fair with stands that you could rent. In 2020 that part of the Fira was cancelled. For 2021 this option is, at least now, not announced.
I hope to visit Manresa again in 2021!
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Summary ?
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H
ow are you? I hope you managed to have a great time at Christmas and a good end and beginning of year. For me, these have been a bit sad but at least I got to share some time with my family, in the street and with masks but it is so great that we are all healthy and together. My and their best wishes for your 2021!
Luckily, the storm of super heavy snow arrived later! You are probably aware of how is the center of Spain for the last week ❄️☃️. If you are not, you can check this gallery on my FB. The regional government of Madrid region wants the national government to declare the region a disaster area. You can imagine that the vaccination has slowed down for a while…
Nevertheless, life goes on and there are many plans for the future! Discover below the results of a medical research related to the dissemination of the infection in indoor concerts, don’t miss it! You’ll also find some nice interviews. Did you know that there is a festival in Germany that dates back to 1650? ? If you didn’t, now you do!
Thank you to all the participants who shared their precious time to produce this magazine, thank you too for reading and stay safe!
Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi Música
Contact me if you want to share some relevant information. And if you find this interesting, share it with your friends. You can read the previous issues here.
Thanks for your attention and remember that you can check our website to learn about our offers and the artists we work with.
Araceli Tzigane | info@mundimapa.com | +34 676 30 28 82
On December 30, the website of the PrimaveraSound festival and the website page of the Fundación Lucha contra el Sida y las Enfermedades Infecciosas (Foundation for the Fight against AIDS and Infectious Diseases) published an article on the results of the clinical testing PRIMA-CoV. It is very enlightening and deserves to be disseminated. I include here a brief summary and in their website you have more details (link to the English version and this is the Spanish one).
The research was made by Primavera Sound, la Fundación Lucha contra el SIDA y las Enfermedades Infecciosas y el Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol de Badalona.
What have they done?
On December 12th, at the venue Sala Apolo in Barcelona, it was done a concert without safety distance and with a pre-screening with antigen test and PCR test. The attendants used masks (N95), provided at the entrance. They were included only people without illnesses, who were not living with elderly people at home, and that had not been diagnosed with COVID in the last 14 days. Ventilation and air flows were optimised and the quality of the air, monitorised.
The concerts lasted 5 hours and the average time of attendance was 2h 40 min. The routes within the building were pre-established and controlled and queues at the entrance, exit and toilets were prevented.
1047 participants were tested, with negative results in the antigen test. They were aleatorized and 500 ofthem entered the venue (only 500 were allowed by the sanitary authorities).
What has been the result?
8 days later, both the ones that attended the concert and the control group (the aleatoriced ones that didn’t enter) were tested again. None of the attendants to the concert were infected. Two of the persons in the control group (didn’t enter the venue) were infected and they were treated according to the usual protocol.
What has been the main outcome?
The conclusion of this research is that the attendance to a live music concert performed under a series of safety measures, including a negative antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 on the same day, was not associated with an increase in COVID-19 infections.
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On this occasion, we travel to Augsburg, in Bavaria, around 70 kms to the North-West from Munich, to learn about the Festival der Kulturen. It is organized by the municipality and is part of the Augsburger Hohes Friedensfest, the Grand Peace Festival, whose origin dates back to 1650! This Festival is a bigger celebration that commemorates the Peace of Westphalia. Learn more in the UNESCO website. As stated there, the festival promotes mutual respect for cultural and religious diversity and offers a possibility for getting to know each other.
Something that I like a lot about the website of the municipality about the festival, that is this one, is that it is very easy to find out who is the artistic director and they even provide his email. Bravo ?. I really thank this. Epecially when the programs are paid with public money, it should be mandatory to make this information public and to give a clear way to contact the decision maker.
This reminds me one time that I phoned a city council from Spain to ask about the artistic director of a festival and the person there told me “I can’t tell you because of privacy reasons”. I told her “that is not private, it is a public position doing a public service paid by public money, that information must be public.” Anyway, she didn’t tell me. ?♀️
Girisha Fernando is a music producer, songwriter and bass player, settled in Germany. You can learn about his artistic work on his website. He has a recording studio in the old town of Augsburg (Offshore Studio7). And he is a curator of music, as described on his website, “within the genres of world music, spiritual music, jazz and contemporary pop; artistically ambitious yet always with an eye to an audience”. Girisha works for several events and the one in which we focus here is the Festival der Kulturen, of which he has been curator since 2011 and artistic director since 2018.
Girisha introduced the festival to us like this:
“The Festival der Kulturen is an annual 2-3 day festival for international contemporary music / world music in the historic city of Augsburg, Germany. It is an independent part of the Programme of the Grand Peace Festival and is staged by the Cultural Office of the City of Augsburg.
Aimed at reaching out and challenging a diverse audience from all walks of society with unfamiliar music and sounds, the programming is focused on winning over the listener through sheer musical force.
Artists to have performed include Seun Kuti & Egypt80, Taraf de Haidouks, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Konono No1, the Portico Quartet, Yasmine Hamdan, Tamikrest, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Vieux Farka Toure, Dakhabrakha, Kocani Orkestar, Emel Mathlouthi, Bombino, Ibibio Sound Machine, Ebo Taylor and the Warsaw Village Band besides the participation of local musicians and associations.”
Right now, Germany is under the heavy burden of the pandemic, with restrictive measures again. I hope that next Summer Girisha and the public will be able to see the artists of the Festival der Kulturen on the stage in Augsburg. In the meantime, let’s learn more directly from him.
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Mapamundi Música (MM) – I have learnt from you that the festival started in 2008 and you became the artistic director in 2011. How did you get hired for this?
Girisha Fernando: I had some ideas, submitted a concept and then got hired as music curator for my first few years. As the festival evolved towards its current profile, my role evolved to that of artistic director.
MM – How did your incorporation in the artistic direction change the festival?
GF: The festival’s profile was sharpened and now focuses more and more on presenting international contemporary world music, reflecting musical developments and the cutting edges between traditional and modern styles.
MM – What do you search for in an artist when you program?
GF: Musical quality, authenticity, originality
MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?
GF: Introducing new and uncommon music off the beaten track and providing a space for the local and international music community to a growing, interested and diverse audience.
MM – What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival?
GF: The usual things, the routing of the bands, scheduling, finances, etc.
MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?
GF: To stay relevant artistically, developing new challenges, new projects, thereby taking one’s audience along for the ride.
MM – In one sentence, summarize the reason/s to go to your festival.
GF: Apart from presenting great music and being able to meet great people, we have also been focusing on developing unique musical projects with international artists and local artists working together, projects for example incorporating the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra with artists like Karolina Cicha or Mercedes Peon.
MM – What has happened with the edition of 2020 in the current situation of the pandemic?
GF: Last year we had to first cancel the regular festival, but were then able to stage some smaller concerts in summer. We also produced some cross-border video projects. For 2021 we will have to see and hope for the best!
Credits:
Eric offered me to reissue this interview in English and Alexander accepted, so thank you to both of you, guys!
Here on the right you see Alex and the questions below were done by Eric (picture below) for his blog at World Music Lab Italy. Remember I made him an interview about this project that you can find here. Now it is Alex’s turn. And I join him in the wish to meet again in Porto next October!
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Credits: WOMEX 20, Digital Edition feat. Budapest Ritmo
17/11/2020, Alexander Walter, WOMEX Director
Interview for World Music Lab, Italy, Eric van Monckhoven
Eric van Monckhoven: What were the biggest challenges in going digital, and how did that decision come into place?
Alexander Walter: The initial plan, of course, was to have a physical event on-site in Budapest. Due to the developments of the pandemic, in summer, we started planning for a hybrid event – involving physical with a digital programme. This hybrid event would allow us to involve our community from parts in the world where it became clear that they would not be able to travel to Europe in October – until the Hungarian government closed the borders for non-Hungarian citizens on 1st September. At that point, the decision was clear; we had to go fully digital. The biggest challenge was to transform the different programme elements into the digital sphere. WOMEX is a “meet and hug” event, and it took countless hours of brainstorming on how to shape things so that they make sense for everyone involved under digital circumstances. Luckily with our long-existing digital platform virtualWOMEX, we already had a structure in place, and with the help of a few extensions and upgrades, it gave the basis.
EVM: How did you make it to coordinate staff and events (Berlin, Budapest?)
AW: The initial plan, of course, was to have a physical event on-site in Budapest. Due to the developments of the pandemic, in summer, we started planning for a hybrid event – involving physical with a digital programme. This hybrid event would allow us to involve our community from parts in the world where it became clear that they would not be able to travel to Europe in October – until the Hungarian government closed the borders for non-Hungarian citizens on 1st September. At that point, the decision was clear; we had to go fully digital. The biggest challenge was to transform the different programme elements into the digital sphere. WOMEX is a “meet and hug” event, and it took countless hours of brainstorming on how to shape things so that they make sense for everyone involved under digital circumstances. Luckily with our long-existing digital platform virtualWOMEX, we already had a structure in place, and with the help of a few extensions and upgrades, it gave the basis.
EVM: How did you make it to coordinate staff and events (Berlin, Budapest)?
AW: We have been planning and working with our local partners, Hangvető in Budapest, throughout the year, which helped us enormously to pull off the event so efficiently. Also, since they had hosted us in 2015, they knew what it takes to create WOMEX. Within a short period of time available, and with all social distancing measures, Hangvető organized some concerts and conferences on the ground in our nighttime venue Müpa. Parts of the programme indeed took place live in Budapest and then were streamed into the digital event.
EVM: How do you assess the results and what has been learned?
AW: The overall feedback from our music community was positive. It, of course, is not possible to 100% re-create a physical experience in the digital hemisphere, but it works as a bridge until in-person meetings can be done again. It was nice to see the delegates being active during those days, and the level of interaction was high.
In the meantime, there are plenty of digital tools out there that, with the help of a good IT team, can serve the implementation of intentions and ideas. It certainly is dependent on budget, server capacities and of course internet access, but in theory, almost everything is possible.
EVM: What worked best (films, showcases, conferences, ceremony, online chat possibility, etc.)?
AW: All elements were adopted and well attended. The online conference sessions drew great attention this time, and the virtual showcases were combined with artist interviews that gave a more in-depth insight into the artist’s creative processes and stories. Though of course, the intensity of a live concert is something completely different – streaming and live should not be compared. We also included a chat tool where people could directly get in touch with each other in written form or do video talks. Over the days, more than 20.000 written messages happened via this tool. This year, delegates really appreciated watching the extended film programme – something that during the rush of a physical event does not get the same attention.
EVM: What are the positive takeaways from the digital WOMEX edition?
AW: It is good to do something than cancelling the whole event. It showed that despite the struggle that everyone is facing in the music community right now, there is still a need for getting together and cultural exchange and that people reached out, stayed positive minded and interactive. We were thrilled to see that 1,130 delegates registered to take part.
One other advantage certainly was that we could invite conference speakers that typically would not have had the opportunity or means to travel to a physical event. We could be more inclusive this way. We sincerely hope that everyone will be able to manage these financially challenging times and stay in good health – physically and mentally – until we meet again next year in October in Porto, Portugal.
Credits:
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. And we lead also the Asociación para la Difusión de los Estilos.
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.
Dear friend, after one year sending the weekly newsletter of Music Before Shabbat, I thought it deserved its own domain. You can read the editions from December 2020 and on in http://www.musicbeforeshabbat.com
Yesterday I was in El Carpio de Tajo, the village where most of the vigüelis are settled and where the band was born, to make some videos for a documentary film and, after the serious work, we had time to sing together a little. And now I share this moment with you, from the intimate environment of their rehearsal room. If you need anything else about Vigüela, just let me know.At the end of the song you see a change of concept, let’s say: it starts talking directly to the woman who is listening, who is told that she does not look stingy. This is because this song, and many others, are sung from house to house, requesting the inhabitants to come out and give something to eat or a coin to those who are singing. This custom of requesting from house to house in exchange for the song is called to “request the aguinaldo“, or “aguilando“, depending on the region.
Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi Música
How are you? I hope well! This is a season’s greeting email, how original! In fact I think so ?
A few days ago Janusz Prusinowski sent me two recordings he had made for a project to disseminate the music from Łukowa, a village with 2.600 inhabitants in the South-East of Poland with a musical tradition that was lastly added to the National Heritage list. A group of people there are working to transmit this music to the new generations.
| Listen to: the solo voice version or the version with instrumentation – You can download and use them if you make a radio show or podcast or similar and send our best wishes also to your listeners – |
Some more info about the song, by the artist:
“This is traditional wishing carol, that used to be sung by young men to the girls, walking from house to house. The name of a girl, for whom the wish is dedicated, is consequently repeated in each couplet of the song, as the magic incantation, in order to bring the “ideal bridegroom” next year. Naturally the real “ideal bridegroom” was just the one, singing the “dunaj”.
This year the covid situation stopped traditional carol singers in all regions of Poland. I hope, that internet would at least in 1% substitute the real situation of meeting, singing together and sharing good wishes.”
I am grateful to Janusz for allowing me to use his beautiful recordings to wish you a happy season. I hope 2021 will make us forget the grieves of 2020.
To the river, Maria, in the morning, to bring the water, to the river,
And with two buckets, to the river!
She picked up water, dropped the wreath of flowers, into the river,
And she went along the bank, to the river,
And she found three ospreys, to the river,
My dearest ospreys, fish my wreath of flowers, to the river
And how will you pay us, to the river,
To the river, Maria, in the morning, to bring the water, to the river?
For the first one, the present will be my rue crown, to the river,
For the second, the present will be my wedding ring, to the river,
For the third one the present will be the bride, to the river,
The bride, beautiful like a blueberry, to the river,
Work, work and while you are looking for money, to the river,
[One of the singers makes the prolonged sound “Iiiiiii”]
Go to the chest and look for the złoties, in the river,
Take the stick, bring down a sausage, to the river,
Search in the chest, pull out half a pig, to the river,
Look on the shelf, take out a loaf of bread, to the river,
To the river, for those in this house, to the river,
To the river, for the grandma who is sitting on a bench, to the river,
To the river, for the grandpa who is sitting on the table,
To the river, Maria, in the morning, to bring the water, to the river.
Summary ?
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How are you? I have to confess that I am starting to get emotionally exhausted from this situation although I have great hope for the vaccination. I bring you a story that has lit up my heart today.
I illustrate these words with a photo from this past Sunday. It is in the street in front of the cathedral that señor Justo has been building for 60 years, without any knowledge of architecture and with recycled materials and the money from donations and sponsors. He is now 95 years old and his work is half finished. I don’t think I’ll see him finished in life and the future is uncertain. It is not a cathedral recognised by the Church and has no institutional support, but I would like to think that such a work will not end up collapsing in abandonment.
Regardless of your religious beliefs, this is an example of the power of human will that can serve us all. You can learn about his story and see more pictures of the building (also inside), which looks like it came from a dream, here and here you are a documentary with English subtitles with interviews with señor Justo.
I hope that this story brings you a moment of happiness and that you enjoy the rest of the content, which I find very interesting and also contains examples of dedication and passion, so needed in our reality.
Contact me. And if you find this interesting, share it with your friends. You can read the previous issues here.
Thanks for your attention and remember that you can check our website to learn about our offers and the artists we work with.
Araceli Tzigane | info@mundimapa.com | +34 676 30 28 82
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Throughout several previous editions of this magazine I have been sharing some news and interviews with the festivals selected in the MOST Music project (find the links under this interview) and now I have the pleasure of sharing some of the team’s reflections, based on the questions that have come up when I read deeply the website. By the way, the MOST Music website is very detailed and, if you have not visited it, I highly recommend you to do so, both for knowing the project well and for understanding this interview.
Here I will only mention two aspects:
These interview below has been answered by members of the MOST Team: András Sőrés, project manager; Balázs Weyer, programme director.Mapamundi Música (MM): The project MOST Music is quite complex, involves many participants from four main categories: artists, managers, festivals and institutions. Who had the first idea about this? What was the first objective that he/she wanted to get from this project?
MOST Project team (MPT): MOST Music as a project has been a long time in the making. Members of the consortium have been curating this idea for a long while. The idea started out from V4 and European Capital of Culture projects. Initially partners were applying for funds many times and modifying the project plan according to tender evaluations so that it could realize itself. The first objective is what we have been emphasizing on all platforms: a way for the Balkan world music industry’s untapped potential to be channeled into and better connected with the rest of Europe, where infrastructure is oftentimes better.
MM: Following the previous question, when did this idea appear in your mind? How was the procedure between this first idea and the design of the complete project? How many profiles have been involved in the design? And during the development, now that it is being done, which are the profiles involved (I mean the team, not the artists, managers, festivals and policy makers that are the participants in the 4 branches)?
MPT: We applied to Creative Europe four times before the funds were granted. The project plan was modified and expanded according to the detailed feedback that European tenders offer. The fourth version of the tender was accepted.
In terms of project design, you of course know that there are 9 partners in the consortium that’s led by Hangvető, headquartered in Budapest. Leading means that Hangvető takes on project management duties. Otherwise consortium members vote on work teams for each pillar, so that certain partners are responsible for certain pillars. These duties are also rotating, so that each partner will have managed each pillar by the end of the project. Managing a pillar means making executive decisions and deciding on experts involved (such as mentors and trainers).
MM: About the artists part. Every year, 10 artists will be enrolled in this program to receive support and greater visibility. How was the procedure of selection? Is there any jury? If so, who selected the jury and which were the criteria to select them?
MPT: The selection procedure is decided by a professional jury. Jury members are also involved on a rotating basis from partner organizations. In the first round of MOST Music the members of the jury were Balázs Weyer, programme director of Hangvető, Budapest; Olsi Sulejmani, president of Balkan World Music Management; and Simon Broughton, editor-in-chief of Songlines Magazine.
The selection criteria (apart from citizenship of at least one of the 9 target countries) are as follows:
● artist’s international potential
● diversity of selected artists by style, to match the profile of showcase events
● popularity/artistic quality
● long-term engagement with the project
● artist’s basic infrastructure (web, communication…)
● artist’s local audience size
● quality of existing audio and video material (technical and artistically)
● diversity of selected artists by sub-scenes in world music (e.g. sevdah, brass bands, etc.)
● diversity of selected artists by gender
● diversity of selected artists by geography
MM: In the current selection of artists there are no artists from Albania, Croatia, Montenegro or North Macedonia. Of course, this has been the first round of selection and in future rounds they may be. But this arose some questions about this:
1. Did you receive applications from those countries? Albania and Croatia, for instance, have musical styles that are recognized by the UNESCO as immaterial legacy. Didn’t you have applications?
2. If you didn’t have applications from those countries or if you had very few ones, which do you think are the reasons?
3. As with the artists, has it happened the same with the call for management training?
MPT: We had open calls in all the countries listed here, so the reason why one or the other might not be represented in a certain pillar is that there weren’t any or a lot of applicants from them. We have participants from Croatia and North Macedonia in other pillars, such as Management Training and Festival Exchange. However, Albania and Montenegro were hard for us to reach, we had very few applications altogether. In Montenegro one hardship was that we did not have a partner with their local network to help us spread the word. But all in all, we must certainly work on our communication in those regions in future rounds.
MM: About the part of urban policies, you mention “Projects will then be presented by the tandem (urban creative + policy maker)”. So, I understand you will involve policy makers. Let me see if I understand well. Would those be, for instance, the councillor of culture of a city? I mean, they are real politicians or people assigned by politicians, that can make real decisions, aren’t they? I think so, as you mention that “winning initiatives will be implemented in their respective cities.” How did you get the engagement of those people? Are they guaranteeing some budget from their cities to develop the winning initiatives?
MPT: We are only starting up MOST Music and the environment we planned it for was for a very different normal, so please excuse me, but I can only answer in terms of our goals, plans, and hopes, and not in terms of anything that has already been actualized.
Our goal is to involve real decision-makers: politicians, municipalities, local governments, and more. We hope that such connections between creative industry professionals and decision-makers will bring a certain openness and sensitivity to the situation of creative professionals.
MM: About the budget, the project is co-funded by Creative Europe. Can you tell me the overall budget? Which were the other co-funders?
MPT: The overall budget is 4 million Euros, half of that is provided by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme (2 million Euros). The rest of the funding was raised by partner organizations and varies from country to country.
MM: So far, apart from the emergence of the pandemic, that has made you change some activities to an online environment, did any other event or new idea arose that made you rethink any of the activities planned?
MPT: Online activities are currently happening in three pillars – we just finished a week-long online training in the Balkan Music Exchange pillar and are currently in the process of training Urban Creatives and Management Trainees, both are longer, less time-intensive training programmes. Of course one key element of this whole programme is networking and making professional connections – this is not impossible per se, but it’s certainly not as natural as it could be if we could meet up in real life, as originally planned. We are making every effort to substitute these offline connections in online ways, and to bring in new opportunities for participants to meet and network, such as providing them passes to virtualWOMEX, and more.
Previous interviews about festivals included in MOST Music project are available:
Note that some of these interviews are from before the start of MOST Music and before the pandemic.
As announced previously, Before Babel Music Xp took place in online format, on days 26 and 27 of November. They have now released the conferenfes in shape of podcast. Find them here.
I participated in a round table: New collaborations and solidarity for professionals relaunching their careers. Here below you see the moderator, Ludovic Tomas, and me with the other participants: Birgit Ellinghaus, Umair Jaffar, Emad Mabrouk and Amobé Mévégué.
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In this occasion, we travel to Cyprus, to talk with the team of the Fengaros Festival.
Mapamundi Música (MM) – What do you search for in an artist when you program?
Fengaros Festival team (FFT) – Besides music that catches our attention, Fengaros Festival – especially the festival founders, Lefteris Moumtzis and Andreas Trachonitis, particularly look for artists that play very well live, have entertaining and sophisticated stage presence and whose music is authentic and unique. This might not be whatever is mainstream according to western media.
We want to also provide a platform for local Cypriot acts and while we encourage all Cypriot acts to get in touch with us, one of our criteria is to see that the local acts are thinking about long-term plans for their career. We try to learn about more local acts by watching them and meeting them at live shows.
We started Fengaros Music Village in 2014, three years after Fengaros Festival was founded. FMV takes place one week ahead of the festival and is a series of workshops that allows for participants to meet each other, jam together, and potentially form new bands. We’ve booked a good handful of acts that were formed from Fengaros Music Village (FMV), or took off after FMV, or that came to our attention at the workshops in the past. We also think about the festival audience a lot. We understand that there is heavy reliance on the Greek music scene, however one of our goals is to unravel this and also create partnerships with the surrounding region. We know how our audience reacts to various genres and we are in a happy position where the audience is challenged but at the end of the day, they trust the festival.
MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?
FFT – Our main objective is to produce a festival with acts that we want to show to our audience and that we believe is important for Cypriots to hear. Another important goal is to produce a festival that fits and reflects our identity. Our festival does not try to copy the many fantastic festivals abroad. It’s impossible because of the many unique aspects that come into play simply by being a festival in Cyprus. We are an island; our culture and experiences have overlaps with the west and east; it’s extremely hot in the summer… Every aspect of Fengaros reflects this unique position, including the lineup, festival grounds and administrative procedures. So an important goal is to showcase this unique perspective, offer something that is not necessarily presented by the radio and mainstream media, and create reminders to embrace many aspects of Cypriot experiences, such as rural landscapes and interesting locations.
MM – What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival?
FFT – A difficulty is dealing with local policies and funding opportunities. Most of the limited institutions in Cyprus are still very much in development and require intense pushing towards arts policies that make sense and that are formulated by those with experience in arts, international festivals and tourism.
A second issue is travel – flight tickets are expensive to Cyprus, not to mention the environmental cost.
MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?
FFT – Apart from economic hurdles, our main goal is being able to sustain the trust and attention that our audience has for Fengaros. It’s important to expose the audience to our entire programme.
MM – In one sentence, summarize the reason/s to go to your festival.
FFT – Fengaros is three days of living in a traditional Cypriot village discovering new experiences every turn you take, all the while being surrounded by music and artists that seriously believe in the power of music.
MM – What has happened with the edition of 2020 in the current situation of the pandemic?
FFT – Although there were not any official laws against festivals in the summer, we decided in the springtime to postpone our festival to July 29-31 2021. Cases were between 0-10 each day in July 2020 and we were able to go ahead with safely hosting our series of workshops at Fengaros Music Village although with slight changes in our instructors lineup. This turned out to be hugely successful and we had double our usual turnout, even with many precautionary restrictions in place! We are now planning an online edition of Fengaros for early 2021 that will showcase Cypriot acts to local and international audiences. Stay tuned!
Credits:
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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. And we lead also the Asociación para la Difusión de los Estilos.
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.
Hello, how are you? I hope well. You know how I love old music. But from time to time I like to talk with people that are alive, because they can answer. I would love to make questions to Moishe Oysher or to Bienvenida Aguado but for now I just can dialogue with them in my fantasy. So on this occasion, I will be exchanging ideas with another disseminator whose work is exceptional: Joel Bresler, creator of SephardicMusic.org. He is also very fond of old music and not only old. He is, in his own words, an “obsessed” collector and discographer.
On this enlightening report, “The Music of the Sephardim” in Early Music America magazine, he and Judith Cohen (with whom I will talk soon) explain what is the Sephardic music and they mention several artists that have striven for authenticity and Ruth Yaakov is one of them. Find the video with her music at the bottom.
Hannukah is coming soon and the last Hannukah is when this Music Before Shabbat initiative was born. Celebrate this birthday with me ?. All I want as a birthday present is to welcome more people here. Share this with your friends and with anybody who can enjoy it. Thank you in advance. |
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The website SephardicMusic.org has been a source of information for me in several occasions, specially related to the oldest recordings. For it didn’t seem to be supported by any organization, so I got curious to learn who was behind this jewel. And it was not difficult: Joel Bresler is the author and here below you have a little conversation in which he explains some interesting facts. I am really thanksful to him for his dedication! In the picture you see Joel with Mrs. Sylvia Cohen, who donated 78-rpm recordings for his project ?
Araceli Tzigane: As a disseminator of Jewish music, and moreover being a Spanish person, your website is a treasure for me. I feel I can understand what forces drives you to disseminate this music you love. Because I think this is not a business, despite you may earn some income from the sales from Amazon done through the website. These kinds of initiatives come from some transcendental need. Which is yours?
Joel Bresler: So glad you enjoy the website – that means a lot to me! I have never earned any money from the amazon links, so that wasn’t a motivation. I went from devotee to collector to discographer. Enjoyed the music, then started collecting it, then attempting to collect every recording ever made with at least one song in ladino. And by then, since I had built a “want list” of recordings that weren’t in my collection I turned it into a discography. First for LPs, cassettes and CDs. And then a separate effort for 78s.
AT: In the website, in the About, you explain that you were transfixed by Sephardic music when you first heard it thirty years ago (now it must be around forty years ago, right?).
JB: Yes.
AT: But what happened, why did you get transfixed? What was the specific song or recording? Was it just because of the music or also because you realized there were Jews who spoke Spanish out of Spain for 5 centuries or anything else?
JB: I love Renaissance music and also listened to a lot of Spanish Renaissance music. So my first Sephardic recording was the Hesperion XX double LP of Jewish and Christian music. They performed Sephardic music as Renaissance music which is actually not that authentic, but it was my start.
AT: I’d like to highlight that you have another career, you are currently the Director of Technology Ventures at Northeastern University. It sounds very cutting edge. You are not the first Jewish person who I have met that works in something very technological and at the same time has an initiative related to the dissemination of Jewish culture, like a festival of live music or your website. Are you also a musician yourself? Do you have any other initiative, apart from your work and the website of SephardicMusic.org?
JB: I fell deeply for the American folk song Follow The Drinking Gourd and wrote a cultural history of it at www.followthedrinkinggourd.org . I have also prepared political parodies the last three us presidential elections, see:
2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD-vY5WIZdw
2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM_9CltI4G8&feature=youtu.be
2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWs7TXCy7uI&t=5s
AT: What are the origins of your family? I believe Bresler comes from Breslau/Wrocław, the city that is currently in the South West of Poland, doesn’t it? Can you explain to me the background of your ancestors from both sides? Bresle is the Yiddish for Wroclaw. I believe you may not have Sephardic ancestors, do you? (according to your answer I might have to ask you something more).
JB: Hi, you have all this exactly right. My maternal grandmother’s maiden name was Karo, which as you may was the name of a very well-known and influential Sephardic rabbi. There were Sephardim who made it as far as Poland, so it’s possible even if not likely. Since it is such an influential name, it could be my ancestors adopted it for the prestige. We may never know. I’ll probably get a genetics test some day!
Related to Joseph Karo, Joel provided several links:
AT: So one side of your family comes from Poland. And the other side too? Your grandparents from your father and also from your mother, were from Poland? And do you know when did your ancestors arrive to the USA?
JB: Yes, all four grandparents from Poland (though one was US-born.) And perhaps some ancestors from Spain (much earlier!!. Key word here is “perhaps”!) On my maternal side, approx. 1920 or so. On my paternal side, my grandfather was here at roughly the same time; my grandmother was US born and so her parents like arrived late 19th century??
AT: In your website I found a link to the work of 2009 The Music of the Sephardim, by you and Judith Cohen. There you mention that: “But some musicians constantly invoke a mythological exoticism and the supposed antiquity of Sephardic song as an excuse to make of it what they will and justify it in the name of “creativity.””. I have to say that I totally agree and that the same happens with traditional music from Spain (not Sephardic, but rural traditional). The invocation of its antiquity, or of its coming from the tradition, is used to legitimate also mediocre works. Don’t you think it may happen the same in many other traditions? Doesn’t it happen with Askenazi or Yemenite Jewish music?
JB: I believe that after World War II, once musicians hear a song they can take it and perform it however they might wish to. It used to be difficult to find repertory – there were actually song-sharing groups active in the folk community in the 1960s. Now, with Itunes, Spotify, digitized field recording, Youtube, etc. It’s quite easy.
AT: Are you interested in receiving new recordings of Sephardic songs that are done nowadays? If so, how shall the people send them to you?
JB: My public account is joelbresler@gmail.org. I am always interested in new recordings. Although i am not doing a comprehensive discography of electronic recordings – a job for the next generation.
AT: In this edition I will accompany your interview with a recording by Ruth Yaakov: “Majo, majo y majo” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty-7V-MZfFo She is one of the singers you and Judith Cohen (old friend of mine, with whom I will talk here soon) mention that have striven for authenticity. She is really outstanding, one of those singers that are quite impossible to imitate. Do you want to share any insight about this recording or about the song or about Ruth Yaakov?
JB: Aside from deep admiration for her work and artistry, I don’t have too much to add. As opposed to scholars like Judith, I am “just” an obsessed collector and discographer!
So the origin of Joel Bresler’s surname and at least of some of his ancestors is Breslau, currently Wrocław in Polish. After the II World War and the Potsdam Agreement (August 1945) the city became part of Poland. I would have been in Wrocław last June, for a concert by Gulaza. It is one of the losses caused by the pandemic. Nevertheless, the city is still there, waiting for me….
According to JGuideEurope, the oldest Jewish tombstone found in Wrocław (Breslau) dates back to 1203, indicating that by then Wrocław was home to a permanent Jewish community. In 1290, Wrocław had the second largest Jewish community in East Central Europe, after Prague. Click the link to learn more about the history of Jews in this city, that was a referential point in several moments.
This is the White Stork synagogue in 1979, by Stiopa in Wikipedia ?
The website of the Jewish Community of Wrocław explains that:
“The resurgence of the Jewish community in Wrocław took place after 1989. Scientific conferences, exhibitions and cultural events dedicated to Jewish issues began to be organised in the city. Scientific research on fascism and the Holocaust in Silesia was developed, as well as on the history of the Jews of Lower Silesia after the Second World War. In 1993, the Centre for the Study of the Culture and Languages of Polish Jews was established at the University of Wrocław, transformed in 2003 into the Study of Jewish Culture and Languages.
Until 2006, there was an independent Jewish religious community at Wrocław, which was then incorporated into the structure of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in the Republic of Poland and transformed into a branch of the ZGWŻ at Wrocław. The branch has its own rabbi: since 2013 it has been Tyson Herberger, who is the Chief Rabbi of Wrocław and Silesia. TSKŻ still operates in the city, as well as several organizations dealing with Jewish culture and education, including the Bente Kahan Foundation and the GESHER Foundation for Jewish Culture and Education. Aleksander Gleichgewicht has been the president since 2012.”
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As Ruth Yaakov (born in 1960 in Israel) is one of the artists that, according to the article “The Music of the Sephardim“, have striven for authenticity, I have chosen a piece of her work. From the album Shaatnez (Piranha Records, 1998), by Ruth Yaakob Ensemble, I have chosen Majo, majo y majo, with a part of the lyrics of the piece El mancebo enamorado (The young man in love), that shares part of the lyrics with the story of the but also of the song of the Ciego raptor (The blind raptor). Under the picture you’ll find the lyrics that Ruth Yaakov sings in this recording. But before, let’s go deeper into this piece.
In the popular anonymous pieces that have been transmitted orally it is very normal that versions and divergences arise. This is a case in point. I have located several references and recordings that exemplifly it well.
The Maale Adumim Institute for the Documentation of the Jewish-Spanish (Ladino) Language and Culture has several versions, published in their El Trezoro de Kantes de Sefarad (Sefarad Song Treasure). There are many other recordings named El mancebo enamorado, but I have selected the ones that have at least one stanza similar to what Ruth Yaakov sings. The stanza of majo, majo i majo is present in many occasions between any other lyrics, usually related to love, but in some ocassions it is sang together with the lullaby “nani, nani”.
Some of the stanzas and ideas of the lyrics of this piece are shared with another piece, with very different meaning: the blind raptor. I found the lyrics at the website of Pan-Hispanic Ballad Project. This song registered by David Romey in Seattle between 1948 and 1950 starts like the other and the last stanza is also shared, but the story is quite different. In this, the foreigner pretends to be blind to beg at the house of the girl he loves and kidnaps her. His mother wonders where his Flor (flower, used as the girl’s name) is.
So far I am sure you want to listen to the announced recording by Ruth Yaakov, so here you are!
| Majo i majo i majo Agua en el mortero No ay ken s’adjideye De este forastero No ay ken s’adjideye De este forastero. Akodravos damma I dezir ansí Majo i majo i majo |
I mash, mash and mash water in the mortar. No one take pity on this foreigner. No one take pity on this foreigner. Remember, lady, And to say so I mash, mash and mash |
Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi Música