Tag Archives: European Folk Network

Magazine #32 February’21 – Port Fairy Folk Festival (AU), sector researchs, calls and +. By Mapamundi Música

Summary ? 

· 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

 

Do you want to share any useful experience you have had during this difficult time or another content relevant for our community of the world musics?

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 

Subscription is available here.

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RESEARCHS AND NEWS FROM THE SECTOR IN EUROPE

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.
  • Music Moves Europe – A European Music Export Strategy. After the latest edition of the newsletter, Birgit Ellinghaus (thank you!) advised me about several studies that worth to be shared: the mapping from EFN, this one of Music Moves Europe and the next one. The study of Music Moves Europe “defines the background, the scope, and proposes a set of measures for a European music export strategy“. Download it from here.
  • Rebuilding Europe: The cultural and creative economy before and after the COVID-19 crisis​. The full study and the executive summary are available on the website.

FANCY TO PRACTICE YOUR SPANISH? LISTEN TO ALEXIS HERRERÍA INTERVIEWING ME

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.

Click the picture to listen to the interview:

CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR FESTIVALS 

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.

MINI INTERVIEW WITH JUSTIN RUDGE, PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF THE FROM PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL (PORT FAIRY, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA) 

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:

  • The logo is from the website
  • The portrait has been provided by Justin
  • The landscape is from the festival’s Facebook page

BRIEF NEWS FROM THE MEDIA, CHARTS AND SISTER PROJECTS

  • About Mundofonías, our monthly favourites are the albums: Divine reeds, by Tassos Chalkias, the compilation Ṛṛways: Voyage dans l’univers des poètes chanteurs itinérants amazighes and Samā’ī by Azmari. 
  • I have collaborated in Juan Antonio Vázquez’s show A La Fuente, that he makes in the national radio of Spain, with a selection of rebetiko (mainly from the 1930s) and another of Polish recordings, that will be broadcasted in the next weeks. His radio show is available here.

OPEN CALLS AND PROFESSIONAL EVENTS

  • The virtual conference Folk Unlocked, by the Folk Alliance International, is taking place right now! I have already attended two of the meetings. 
  • It is still open the application period for residential projects (minimum of 7 days) i-Portunus. The deadline for music projects is 28th of February.
  • Mundofonías is media partner of the Afro Pepites Show. After the selection made by the Committee (of which Juan Antonio has been a member), it is the turn for the public vote. Anyone can vote. The votes will determine which are the 3 projects that will integrate the network in 2021 to promote themselves internationally. Learn about the finalists and vote, here.
  • 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.

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. 

Do you like our newsletter? Tell us! Forward it to your friends! To sign up, click HERE.

This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.

 

Newsletter #17 November 2019

Mini-interview with Park Jechun, from Sori Festival, congratulations, resurrections and much +

I am Araceli Tzigane. Welcome to Mapamundi Música‘s November’s newsletter, with exciting news for us, the community of world / folk / traditional music all over the world.

I write you from the office. A few days after a enjoyable edition of WOMEX, after the trip to Portugal for the Harmonia Polska magic concert at Acordeões do Mundo Festival, by Janusz Prusinowski Kompania (check here and here) and before leaving to Folkelarm in Oslo next Thursday.

Some relevant dates for our community, before the Christmas break, that I am missing and that take place this month are Visa for Music 6th edition and Mundial Montreal 9th edition. And the last days it took place the first edition of Musafir Ethnic music forum in Ufa, Russia. Wishing all of them fruitful results, I invite you to check the contents below. Ah, what is the resurrection of the subject? Discover it, below. 😉

And, remember: if you have any suggestion of contents for the next editions, let us know. And if you like it, share it!

Thanks for your attention.

Araceli Tzigane – info@mundimapa.com – +34 676 30 28 82 

Subscription is available here.

Summary:

· Mini interview with festival manager: Park Jechun from Jeonju Int’l Sori Festival (South Korea)
· Signing announced for Cosmopolis Festival direction: Alkis Zopoglou
· Welcome to a new magazine: Berlin Bazzar, by Robert Rigney
· Resurrection of what? Yes! Babel Med. Viva!
· News of our signings after WOMEX.
· Find me at…

**** Do you have a world music festival and you want to be included in our mini interviews? Contact us. ****
This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.

CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR FESTIVALS 

If you haven´t read them, you can find the previous interviews clicking on the names: Michal Schmidt (Folk Holidays, CZ) – Jun-Lin Yeoh (Rainforest WMF, MY) – Luis Lles (Pirineos Sur, ES) – Amitava Bhattacharya (Sur Jahan, IN) – Nicolas Ribalet (Sukiyaki Meets the World, JP) – Sergio Zaera (Poborina Folk, ES) – Per Idar Almås (Førdefestivalen, NO) – Bożena Szota (EthnoPort, PL) – Ken Day (Urkult, SE) – Mads Olesen (5 Continents, CH) – Karolina Waszczuk & Bartek Drozd(Jagiellonian Fair, PL) – Alkis Zopoglou (Mediterranean Music Festival, GR/CH) – Tom Frouge(Globalquerque, US) – Braulio Pérez (Música en el Parque, ES) – Bojan Djordjevic (Todo Mundo, RS)
MINI INTERVIEW WITH PARK JECHUN FROM JEONJU INT’L SORI FESTIVAL

Park Jechun is the artistic director of the festival since 2014. He is also percussionist and he has a duo with his wife, the pianist Miyeon. This interview was possible thanks to other of the hearts of the festival, Ji-Young Han, known by many people of our community of world music around the world, as she is usually the one present in the fairs and other professional meetings.

The festival combines perfectly in its program the ancestral and unique Sori repertoire, performed by old and by young artists, the new trends from Korean music and a bunch of high quality international proposals, including also activities for kids. Apart of hosting the festival, Jeonju is the paradigm city about Korean traditional cooking. If you still don´t find reasons enough to wish to visit the festival, Park will give you one more at the end of the interview.

Thank you, Park and Ji-Young!

MM – What do you search in an artist when you create the programme? 

PJ: In externally way, we have set the subject (the topic) of the year in order of drum, dance, wind instrument, string instrument and vocal music. It was wind instrumentS this year and string instrument Snext year. It will be vocal music in 2021, the 20th anniversary of the festival. And, on the other side, we see the “attitude” of an artist doing his/her art. It is very important whether they are young musicians or masters.

MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?

PJ: I’ve never thought of the word ‘global goal’. Our goal is the happiness of artists and audiences who participate in the festival through a legacy given to us in the areas leading to the world – Asia – Korea – Jeonju. I am grateful for this cultural environment.

MM – What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival? 

PJ: It is difficult to distinguish between tradition and modern, classic and contemporary. Is it really tradition that is being passed down from the past? Is evolution novel? It is difficult to judge such a thing.

MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?

PJ: As we prepare for the big festival, there are growing concerns about the environment every year. I tried to run an environment-friendly festival this year, but it was not easy. We will make continuous efforts.
And with the changing tendency of leisure life and culture, I always think about what the role of festival is in this era.
We consider the consideration and cultural heritage for the next generation a priority.

MM – In one sentence, summarise the reason/s to go to your festival. 

PJ: If you want to see how the old customs of East Asia exist in modern society, come to the Sori Festival!

Pictures’ credits:
  • Logo of the festival at their Facebook
  • Mr. Park playing, from the website of the festival
  • Ms. Ji-Young Han and Mr. Park with Juan Antonio Vázquez (from Juan Antonio’s archive)

CONGRATULATIONS TO… 

Alkis Zopoglou! He is the new director of Cosmopolis Festival, in his home town, Kavala, in Greece. His achievement was a super happy news for me, as it is the result of a life working with devotion and wisdom by a friend and collaborator that I admire.We had an interview with him in a previous issue of the newsletter, about the Mediterranean Music Festival he directs in Zurich. Check it here.

Apart of all this, he is musician at Rodopi Ensemble and teacher of traditional dances.

 

 

WELCOME TO… 

Berlin Bazzar. I knew about this surprising initiative by Yuri, flautist of Hudaki Village Band. What he explained seemed a bit weird so I requested the man, Robert Rigney, as friend at Facebook (this picture is his profile picture), in order to ask him a few questions.So, what is Berlin Bazzar? It is a paper magazine, exclusively in paper, focused on music from Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, distributed in bars in Berlin. The cover of the first edition is here at the right. It will be sold for 3€ in alternative bookshops and record shops in Berlin.

According to Robert, some of the objectives are:

  • to reflect multicultural reality of Berlin and other cities like it,
  • to provide a forum and a platform for so-called “world music”,
  • to publish stories about world music that wouldn’t have a chance of being realized in the mainstream media.

Robert searchs for writers who can write about these kinds music, concert reviews and profiles. At the moment the project can’t afford to pay contributors.

I wanted to share this initiative, as we are losing presence in the media for our music and this quixotic project that starts now is, in all senses, contrary to the trends 🙂

AND WELCOME BACK, BABEL MED  

After checking with Sami Sadak, we are allowed to announce that Babel Med will return in 2020! Congratulations, Sami and team, for gathering of supports that allow you to come back with the fair.

Great news indeed. We’ll keep an eye on this waiting for more news to share.

 

MAPAMUNDI’S NEW ARTISTS SIGNINGS AND SERVICES

After some conversations at WOMEX, we have included some outstanding artists in our catalogue, with which we will work for different terrories, like Hudaki Village Band or Svetlana Spajic Group, and with the collaboration of colleagues from many places. We are thrilled of the tons of talent we have available.

Apart of these, we are making occasional bookings for specific programs.Clic the picture to learn more.

And as we have so many artists, we can´t take more stable commitments but we can be of help for many unsigned artists who needs to deal with their self management. Check Araceli Tzigane’s website and feel free to address your friend artists there.

 

 

FIND ME AT…

Some interesting dates for the community (and where you can find me if you happened to be there, just let me know):

Oslo (Norway). 14th-17th November, for Folkelarm. Check the list of delegates here. On Saturday I will participate in a seminar about exporting the Nordic folk music, with a bunch of experts, starting with the master Birgit Ellinghaus from albaKultur, Germany. Check the program of the seminar, here.

 

Israel Showcase for Jazz and Worldwide Music. 20th-23th November. I will be in Tel Aviv and available for meetings on days 18-20, before the festival. The other time I was there I started to collaborate with Gulaza and we are still. Check the program here. Check the list of delegates, here and click Jazz & World.

 


Brussels (Belgium). 28th-29th November, for the first meeting of the European Folk Network. Check the interview with Nod Knowles, administrator of the network, in the previous issue of this newsletter.

 

Mediterranean Music Festival (Zurich, Switzerland). 18th January. After the Christmas break, I will travel again: to the festival lead by Alkis Zopoglou, who is mentioned below. I will travel there with Josep Aparicio “Apa”, the Valencian superb singer of cant d’estil, and with his musicians Eduard Navarro and Toni Porcar.

This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.

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 46 stations in 17 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. 

Newsletter #16 October 2019

I am Araceli Tzigane. Welcome to Mapamundi Música‘s October’s newsletter.

I write you from the office now, after returning from Jeonju Int’l Sori Festival where I was with Janusz Prusinowski Kompania and Manu Sabaté and the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa, where we premiered the collaboration between Vigüela and the Valencian Josep Aparicio “Apa” and Eduard Navarro. Here below I am with my right hand, Sherezade, at our stand at Fira.

But I am already packing the woolen caps and the scarfs to head to Tampere. It’s WOMEX time! I will be pleased to meet again so many old and new friends from the world music community. Find me at Sounds from Spain.

For the meantime, enjoy these appealing contents: a mini-interview, with Bojan Djordjevic, from festival Todo Mundo (Belgrade), a deeper plunge in the European Folk Network with Nod Knowles and the usual sections of the newsletter.

If you have any suggestion of contents for the next editions, let us know. Thanks for your attention.

Araceli Tzigane – info@mundimapa.com +34 676 30 28 82 

Feel free to resend this newsletter to your friends if you like it. Subscription is available here. 

Summary: 

· Mini interview with festival manager: Bojan Djordjevic from Todo Mundo (Belgrade, Serbia).
· Nod Knowles, administrator of the European Folk Network, explains some details in depth.
· Find me at…
**** Do you have a world music festival and you want to be included in our mini interviews? Contact us. ****
This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.

CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR FESTIVALS 

If you haven´t read them, you can find the previous interviews clicking on the names: Michal Schmidt (Folk Holidays, CZ) – Jun-Lin Yeoh (Rainforest WMF, MY) – Luis Lles (Pirineos Sur, ES) – Amitava Bhattacharya (Sur Jahan, IN) – Nicolas Ribalet (Sukiyaki Meets the World, JP) – Sergio Zaera (Poborina Folk, ES) – Per Idar Almås (Førdefestivalen, NO) – Bożena Szota (EthnoPort, PL) – Ken Day (Urkult, SE) – Mads Olesen (5 Continents, CH) – Karolina Waszczuk & Bartek Drozd (Jagiellonian Fair, PL) – Alkis Zopoglou (Mediterranean Music Festival, GR/CH) – Tom Frouge (Globalquerque, US) – Braulio Pérez (Música en el Parque, ES)

MINI INTERVIEW WITH BOJAN DJORDJEVIC FROM
FESTIVAL TODO MUNDO

Bojan Djordjevic, together with Oliver Djordjevic, Marija Vitas and Svetlana Spajic are the board of the World Music Association Serbia, whose work of dissemination is huge and of high quality. Check their website.
Bojan is also journalist of Radio Belgrade 3, panelist of the World Music Charts Europe and the artistic director of the Festival Todo Mundo, that takes place in Belgrade at the end of September and beginning of October.

 

I must confess that I match greatly with Bojan’s taste. This year he booked the apple of my eyes, Vigüela, and the last year, Monsieur Doumani. But, apart of this, in the last edition they have had the great Hungarian band Babra, the Armenian-Turkish duo of Vardan Hovanissian and Emre Gultekin, the band of Sephardic music Shira U’Tfila and others. Check the website of the festival.I am pleased and thanksful for the opportunity of spreading the insights of this man that is a benchmark of the world music community.

 

MM – What do you search in an artist when you create the programme? BD: The easiest answer would be: high quality, but this is what we all (hopefully) are searching for.
Most of the festival program is our personal “taste”, but we cannot bring todo mundo to Belgrade at once. What I like is that artists are standing strong with the music they play, that one feels dedication. Mostly we do not go for highly commercial groups, as we find that already on many spots.
Even in the new world with all the media, there are things that has to be discovered and are worthwhile to be discovered.
On the other hand it is nice to know that the artists are with their feet on the ground and understanding the reality in this part of Europe.

 

MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?

BD: I think that there is great music played in every corner of the world, we just have to be curious and discover it.
The festival name shows that as well – therefore music from many countries should be presented.
Of course we always wish to have focus on some region, country, instrument or style, and also to present few local artists, but apart from that we want to have not more than one group from each country. And, not to forget, sometimes is important to bring artists, who, beside the high quality have also social impact – like Vardan Hovanissian & Emre Gultekin this year, or to bring here artists from the countries that have not been presented here before, – I am sure less than 1% of people knows anything about music from Cyprus, so presenting high quality act like Monsieur Doumani was very important.

MM – What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival? 

BD: Living in Serbia means you always have to fight with financial issues. Culture and music has been supported, but in the way, that every year one have to fight from the start and the results of supporting decisions are known late April and that is why we had to move the festival for the second half of the year.
The other issue is how to deliver our message to more people when the media are mostly going for commercial music. Few years ago media situation was different. There were more options to present this music on radio and TV programs and in the magazines, now most of them are much more into the politics, reality and sports. So, we have to find new ways to reach the people, as social media networks are not enough.
Combination of new and old approach seems like the solution at this moment.

MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?

BD: Doing festival like this is great pleasure. On the other hand, as I said, there are so many great bands that deserve to be presented here. But, we cannot have 20 concerts at the festival. Even 10 is bit too much. So, we have to keep our desires under the control 🙂
And, when we do not have as many concerts as we would love to, we have to be careful about presentation of the local world music scene.
There is lots of great music coming from Serbia nowadays, some new and young artists coming, but also we have to present some of the great and well known names.

MM – In one sentence, summarise the reason/s to go to your festival. 

BD: Festival is done with great love and enthusiasm and musicians felt that and are willin’ to stay here longer. The other reason is contact with the audience – usually after the show the contact is so friendly that audience and artists are going together for a glass of wine or beer and stay into the discussion almost till the morning.
That means the atmosphere is great and you feel it from the start. Beside that we have two concerts per evening, so anyone has time to search around Belgrade and discover some secret or well known places in the friendly city.
On top of all that you can hear many great concerts at the festival where all artists are treated equally – we do not have support group nor headliners.

Pictures’ credits:
  • Bojan at the last edition of Festival Todo Mundo, courtesy of Marija Vitas.
  • Cover picture of Todo Mundo at Facebook.
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EUROPEAN FOLK NETWORK IS BORN

In the previous issue of this newsletter we announced the birth of the EFN, linked its website and noted the first meeting, planned for 28 & 29 November in Brussels. Mapamundi Música is founder member and I want to encourage the community to join too.

In this occasion we have had the chance to ask Nod Knowles, the administrator of the network, some questions to get in more detail into some points. If you haven´t checked the website, I recommend you to do it before reading the interview. It is here.

Nod Knowles, former President of Europe Jazz Network, has had an international career including as Head of Music at Scottish Arts Council, CEO of Bath Festivals, one of the founding organisers of the European Folk Network (EFN) – and also of the UK/Ireland Jazz Promotion Network (JPN) and, currently, initiator and manager of an artistic exchange programme with the Netherlands.
He has held a number of advisory roles (e.g. with British Council, Arts Council Northern Ireland and Arts Council Wales) and as an independent consultant for over 40 years he has worked with a wide range of artists and organisations in research, review, policy, funding, education, project management and artistic direction. 

 

Mapamundi Música: The EFN has been made public few weeks ago but the initial idea is much older, isn´t it? What is the background of this initiative? 
Nod Knowles: The genesis of the network originated after a research project – commissioned by the Burnsong organisation in Scotland – reported on the potential for establishing a Scottish-European base for the American folk music organisation Folk Alliance. Whilst the research found that proposition was not viable, it found one of several underlying reasons for this –  the surprising fact that there was no structure linking folk organisations in Europe (whereas most other aspects of music – e.g. jazz, opera – and the arts in general – had well-established, often EU-funded network structures).

That report and subsequent discussion papers and meetings on the idea of a European folk network were shared with delegates to various showcases and many European organisers were invited to informal consultations and meetings, as were officers from other UK and European agencies including British Council and Kunstenpunt (now Poppunt) from Flanders. The results of planning meetings from 2015 onwards had to be put on hold for at least two years due to purely temporary personal circumstances but in 2018 a small group took the initiative again and in early 2019 the network was formally structured and legally registered.

MM: A basic website that explains the aims and ambitions is already available but I’d like to ask you about one of the areas of activity, that I think is one of the biggest needs of our community: policy and advocacy. In previous issues of our newsletter it was mentioned the lack of representation in relevant contexts of policies. Is there already any concrete planned initiative related to this topic?
NK: The EFN will need to build up its contacts with policy makers in European countries and in pan-European agencies such as the EU. This will not happen overnight but will be the work of the next couple of years. Contact is already being made with various national and international authorities and EFN will place advocacy at the heart of future planning – its influence will strengthen as the network develops.

MM: Regarding the previous question, the EFN is registered in Brussels, I think that it is for obvious reasons of proximity with the European centers of decisions. Have you had any contact with any authority? If so, which feedback did you get?
NK: We are not yet in direct touch with EU authorities but that will be one of the key plans for the future (see the answer above).

MM: The EFN has already scheduled a meeting in Brussels for days 28 and 29 of November. Can you share with us any of the topics that will be discussed?
NK: The agenda for the conference will be shaped by the members – we are asking for suggestions and subjects but there will be plenty of opportunity to introduce subjects during the conference. Because it is a first meeting of the members, the agenda will focus on discussion of members’ priorities and realistic plans for future work

MM: Is there any profile of persons or organizations that the EFN is specially in need of?
NK: Just more members from every country in Europe – and not just EU countries but all of the continent, from Iceland to Russia to Portugal.

MM: And, finally, tell the readers why should they join the EFN.
NK: Members should look at the vision and aims of the network. By joining they contribute to the collective impact and voice of the network and can contribute to the work of the network.

The main benefits of membership are opportunities to meet, share and collaborate with others, increasing members’ own contacts, the collective influence of a strong sector, and the mobility of artists and organisers in Europe.

Thank you, Nod!

FIND ME AT…

Some interesting dates for the community (and where you can find me if you happened to be there, just let me know):
  • WOMEX. Tampere (Finland). 23rd – 27th October. We’ll have a table for Mapamundi Música at the booth of Sounds from Spain and a showcase by Monsieur Doumani on Thursday at 24h.
  • Torres Vedras (Portugal). 8th November. Festival Accordeões do Mundo, for the concert by Janusz Prusinowski Trio focused on harmonia polska.
  • Oslo (Norway). 14th-17th November, for Folkelarm.
  • Israel Showcase for Jazz and Worldwide Music. 20th-23th November. I will be in Tel Aviv and available for meetings on days 18-20, before the festival.
  • Brussels (Belgium). 28th-29th November, for the first meeting of the European Folk Network.
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This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.

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 46 stations in 17 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. 

Newsletter #15 September 2019

I am Araceli Tzigane. Welcome to Mapamundi Música‘s September’s monthly newsletter.

I am sending this news from Perth, Scotland, where I am attending The Visit (event produced for Showcase Scotland Expo by Active Events), a professional meeting in which we are discovering Scottish artists and other Scottish delights.

Since the previous newsletter I have had some experiences about visa procedures -and specially now that I came to the UK- that, combined with the excruciating menaze of Brexit, made me think a lot about how privileged I am for been able to travel to so many countries so easily. My visa for South Korea was ready in 9 days, for Uzbekistan I didn´t even need visa and my nationality is in a Schengen zone country.

Summer festivities in Turkey made the visa procedure for Cüneyt Sepetçi and team to delay more than we expected. I felt almost to the edge of the infarct: they got the visas to Portugal only in the afternoon previous to their early morning flight. All the anxieties dissipated when they announced they got the visas and big joy arised when we meet at the airport in Lisbon for their concert in Tavira. In the picture, Cüneyt and me enjoy a dinner at the restaurant Os Arcos in Tavira. Check their magnificent concert, here.

We still have to wait to know how this of the Brexit will end… In the meantime, show must go on. Find below some thrilling news about a new radio show, a new European organization, one more little interview with a director of a festival -in this edition we “return” to Spain (you’ll understand very soon why the commas in “return”)- and many useful infos.
If you have any suggestion of contents for the next editions, let us know. Thanks for your attention.

Araceli Tzigane – info@mundimapa.com +34 676 30 28 82 

Feel free to resend this newsletter to your friends if you like it. Subscription is available here.

Summary: 

· Mini interview with festival manager: Braulio Pérez from Música en el Parque (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)
· New not-for-profit organization for folk: welcome, European Folk Network!
· New radio show of traditional music in Radio Clásica-National Radio of Spain, by Juan Antonio Vázquez: A la Fuente
· Still open call: Acción Cultural Española, mobility grants application open in September
· Find me at…
**** Do you have a world music festival and you want to be included in our mini interviews? Contact us. **
This newsletter is open to sponsorship. Feel free to ask for details.*

CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR FESTIVALS 

If you haven´t read them, you can find the previous interviews clicking on the names: Michal Schmidt (Folk Holidays, CZ) – Jun-Lin Yeoh (Rainforest WMF, MY) – Luis Lles (Pirineos Sur, ES) – Amitava Bhattacharya (Sur Jahan, IN) – Nicolas Ribalet (Sukiyaki Meets the World, JP) – Sergio Zaera (Poborina Folk, ES) – Per Idar Almås (Førdefestivalen, NO) – Bożena Szota (EthnoPort, PL) – Ken Day (Urkult, SE) – Mads Olesen (5 Continents, CH) – Karolina Waszczuk & Bartek Drozd (Jagiellonian Fair, PL) – Alkis Zopoglou (Mediterranean Music Festival, GR/CH) – Tom Frouge (Globalquerque, US)

MINI INTERVIEW WITH BRAULIO PÉREZ FROM MÚSICA EN EL PARQUE

Música en el Parque holds one concert per month, on Sunday at noon, it is family-oriented, open air in a park with magnificant vegetation in an island 1500 kms far from its Spanish mainland: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Braulio Pérez, from Amilkilómetros, is its director and creator. I am happy for sharing with you the insights of this brave colleague. Check the details at the website.

MM – What do you search in an artist when you create the programme? 
BP: In the case of Music in the Park we look for several things that seem basic to us. On one side, we want to offer to the public the different ways of approaching the music that each culture has, so it is important that the musical proposal is close to these cultural sources of their countries or regions of origin.We also take into account that our concerts are held on Sundays at noon, and that normally the audience wants to have fun and spend a joyful morning, with the mood that defines the Canaries. That is why we are looking for proposals according to this, that are cheerful.And finally, and most importantly, within our possibilities, we look for artists of great musical quality, of proposals that make the audience leave the concert with the desire to continue consuming this musical style, the World Music.
MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?
BP: We pursue two main objectives:
  • Bringing proposals of World Music to the Canarian public that can hardly be seen on the islands. To make them understand that this style brings them different ways of seeing music, of feeling it and of playing it, always imbuid in the roots of each culture.
  • Our concerts are held on Sunday mornings. With this, we seek a family audience, to be able to show music to the children that provide them some experience and make them discover other cultures, other countries.

MM – What are the most complicated or difficult issues to deal with in your festival? 

BP: Maybe the connections for the flights. We live in a wonderful and privileged place, but far from Europe. This implies an important cost in fights and forces us to have artists who are touring the continent at that time. This, in some months of the year, since we schedule a concert every month, makes it difficult to find proposals that fit date and style.

MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?

BP: I guess sustainability. We are talking about an event that offers unknown artists to the public of the islands. Artists who could hardly come and get payed enough if they only depended on a box office. Here you can´t  by train or in a van while on tour. Here there are costs of tickets, hotels and transfers that, added to the artists’ caches, would make it unfeasible for them to come in a totally private festival.

MM – In one sentence, summarise the reason/s to go to your festival. 

BP: An incredible island, the best climate in the world, an outdoor setting surrounded by greenery and the best artists of the World Music. What more can you ask?

Thank you, Braulio!
Pictures’ credits:

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EUROPEAN FOLK NETWORK IS BORN

In a previous issue of this newsletter I mentioned how world music and folk community was almost not represented in relevant contexts where politic decisions about culture in Europe are done. An initiative with aspirations of policy and advocacy was really needed and now we have a network with a formal structure that could channel the voices and visions of our community: the European Folk Network.

I first listened about this in September 2015. I was so expectant that I even went to Glasgow the next January just for a short meeting with this people. And finally, almost 4 years after, I knew it had become formal, it had a website with the aims, vision aspirations… Mapamundi Música is proudly a founder member and I am personally eager to attend the EFN’s first conference for all members, planned for 28 & 29 November in Brussels.

Please, don’t miss a visit to the website to learn more!

JUAN ANTONIO VÁZQUEZ PRESENTS A NEW RADIO SHOW FOR RADIO CLÁSICA-RNE: A LA FUENTE

It is great news to announce the birth of a new spot for the dissemination of traditional music from the peoples of the world. And if it is signed by someone so experienced and devoted as Juan Antonio Vázquez, the joy multiplies.

From 5th of October, every Sunday, Radio Clásica, channel of Radio Nacional de España (Spain’s national radio) will host A la Fuente (to the source). One hour dedicated to acoustic music from all over the world.

Juan Antonio has been doing radio for more than 30 years. He is my partner in Mundofonías and during Summer he is also doing La Ruta de las Especias (the spice road), also for Radio Clásica.

The picture, holding a Uzbek rubab, is done by me.

PICE, THE PROGRAM FOR MOBILITY BY ACCIÓN CULTURAL ESPAÑOLA (AC/E), OPEN CALL IN SEPTEMBER

Remember: during September, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) will have opened the application period to request support for the logistic expenses for booking a Spanish artist or expert, for events abroad taking place from January to June, both included. The official info is at their website.

From Mapamundi Música we have supported clients in previous editions, to fullfill the procedure, that is not complicated. The chances to get it are not 100% but note that the results are published around the 3rd week of October, so it allows you to opt for a plan B in case of need.

We offer you our Spanish band Vigüela, of course.

FIND ME AT…

Some interesting dates for the community (and where you can find me if you happened to be there, just let me know):
  • Perth (Scotland), where I am currently. 16th – 20th September. The Visit (event produced for Showcase Scothland Expo by Active Events).
  • Jeonju (South Korea). 29th September – 7th October. At Sori Festival, with the collaboration concert by Janusz Prusinowski Kompania and Manu Sabaté. In the meantime, my Vigüela will play in Festival Todo Mundo in Belgrade. I can´t attend and will miss it with sadness. It is an amazing program made with very good taste!
  • Fira Mediterránia de Manresa (Cataluña). 10th – 13th October. Mapamundi Música will have a stand and a showcase: Vigüela with the Valencia artists Apa and Eduard Navarro. Don’t you know Apa? He is one of the best singers of the world! Check here and ask me if you have any question.
  • WOMEX, yes. Tampere (Finland). 23rd – 27th October. We’ll have a table for Mapamundi Música at the booth of Sounds from Spain and a showcase by Monsieur Doumani on Thursday at 24h.
  • Torres Vedras (Portugal). 8th November. Festival Accordeões do Mundo, for the concert by Janusz Prusinowski Trio focused on harmonia polska.
  • Israel Showcase for Jazz and Worldwide Music. 20th-23th November.

More dates, in the next issue.

Do you like our newsletter? Tell us! Resend it to your friends! To sign up, click HERE.

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 46 stations in 17 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.