Category Archives: General News

General News

WOMEX Announces first Set of 2018 Showcase Artists

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The World Music Expo (WOMEX) announced the first batch of artist selected to showcase at the 2018 conference. The jury- designated showcase artists will be performing at WOMEX in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain this October 2018.

 


Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Photo by Bengt Nyman

 

The artists include:

Frente Cumbiero (Colombia)
Gaye Su Akyol (Turkey)
Guiss Guiss Bou Bess (Senegal/France)
Kim So Ra (South Korea)
Ladama (Venezuela/Brazil/USA/Colombia)
Marinah (Spain)
Mario Batkovic (Switzerland)
Moonlight Benjamin (Haiti/France)
Nelida Karr (Equatorial Guinea)
Ranky Tanky (USA)
Rob Thorne Toi Puoro (New Zealand)
Sofiane Saidi & Mazalda (Algeria/France)
Sver (Norway/Sweden)
Toko Telo (Madagascar)
The Turbans (Bulgaria/Greece/Israel/Spain/UK)
Vishtèn (Canada)

And Uji (Argentina) as the first of six Club Summit artists, a special late-night program part of the Official Selection, curated by Georg Milz of Outhere Records and the WOMEX team.

 

Auditorio Alfredo Kraus

 

All WOMEX Daycases concerts will take place in the daytime trade fair venue INFECAR and the nighttime showcase performances will be in and around Auditorio Alfredo Kraus concert hall in Las Palmas.

WOMEX 2018
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
October 24 – 28 , 2018
More at www.womex.com

Headline photo: Marinah – Photo by Oriana Elicabe

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General News

Cordoba Guitar Festival Announces 2018 Courses and Master Classes

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Acclaimed international guitar event Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba will offer twelve courses and two master classes in 2018.

The festival includes concerts by some of the world’s finest guitarists, such as Vicente Amigo and Pat Metheny. Additionally, the festival regularly features workshops and master classes I the areas of flamenco, classical music and jazz.

Classical guitar

Prestigious Cuban maestro Leo Brouwer returns to Córdoba to teach a classical guitar course on styles and articulation. It will be on July 6 and 7.

During July 6-8, the festival welcomes Polish renowned musician Marcin Dylla, who will work with his students on different and effective techniques to improve the interpretation.

Manuel Barrueco will offer an interpretation course on July 9 and 10; while David Russell will teach his technical workshop on July 10 and 11.

Paraguayan Berta Rojas will lead the final classical guitar educational program on July 12 and 13 with a course on the work of Barrios and Lauro, the classical guitar in Latin American music.

Flamenco guitar

The flamenco guitar is the other great pillar of the training program. On this occasion, four of the most prestigious masters of the national and international scene will assemble in Cordoba. The series begins with Juan Manuel Cañizares, who will teach a workshop of flamenco guitar technical exercises to develop improvisation from July 5 to 7.

Maestro José Antonio Rodríguez will lead a course July 8-10 dedicated to the flamenco concert guitar.

Meanwhile, Paco Jarana will conduct a workshop July 8-9 dedicated to flamenco guitar accompaniment.

Legendary guitarist Manolo Sanlúcar will present his traditional flamenco guitar course which he has called “Architecture and pillars of flamenco.”

Flamenco Dance

Each year, the Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba reserves a section of its formative program to flamenco dancing. On this occasion, the instructors will be María Pagés, Eva Yerbabuena and Javier Latorre, who will teach their classes at the Teatro de la Axerquía.

Master classes

Finally, the 38th Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba will host two master classes. The first will feature jazz guitarist Mike Stern as the protagonist and will be held on July 9 at the Teatro de la Axerquía.

The second master class will take place on July 13 at the Góngora Theater, led by prestigious Brazilian guitarist João Bosco. Attendance at these master classes includes free admission to their respective concerts.

More information about the concerts, workshops, and discounts for students at www.guitarracordoba.es

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General News

Italian World Music Competition Call for Submissions

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The “Andrea Parodi Award”, the only Italian world music competition, is open to artists worldwide. The deadline is May 31, 2018. The finals this year will take place November 8 to 10 in Cagliari at the Teatro Auditorium Comunale.

The winner will have the opportunity to perform at the 2019 editions of the European jazz expo in Sardinia, Folkest in Friuli, Negro Festival of Pertosa (SA), Mei di Faenza, the Parodi Awards and in other events that will be announced as soon as possible. In addition to this, winners will be entitled to a scholarship for artistic growth for a maximum amount of 2,500 euros. The winner of the critics’ prize will receive a professionally-made video at the expense of the Andrea Parodi Foundation.

Applications are free, and must be submitted no later than May 31, 2018 through www.fondazioneandreaparodi.it

Requirements:

– 2 tracks (2 mp3 files, auditions or live recordings or definitive achievements, indicate which of the two tracks you want to compete with);
– texts and possible translations into Italian of the two pieces;
– artistic biography of the competitor (individual or group);

The Andrea Parodi Award was created to pay homage to the late Andrea Parodi, a musician who started as a pop musician and became a leading innovator of Italian roots music. The artistic director is Elena Ledda.

headline photo: Andrea Parodi

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General News

iLe collaborates with Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

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iLe

Puerto Rican singer iLe (Calle 13) is a guest artist on “Glorious”, the new album by the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

iLe took a break from the recording sessions of her new album to travel to Japan where she will be the guest singer in the live concert at the official launch of “Glorious” on March 28 at the Kinema Club in Tokyo .

In addition, iLe will be recording the video that will accompany the song “Te Quiero con Bugalú”, composed by Milena Pérez Joglar. Moreover, iLe is going to promote in Japan her first album “Ilevitable“.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra is a ska and jazz band founded in 1988 that has been characterized by its musical innovations and is recognized worldwide. “Glorious” is its 23rd album.

“It’s very exciting for me to participate with this orchestra I’ve known for a long time. I already know that it will be an incredible experience to be able to sing and share a part of my work in Japan,” commented iLe who had to learn some stanzas translated into Japanese for the album and live presentation of the song” Te Quiero con Bugalú “.

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Traditions Radio Show Host Earns Folk DJ Hall of Fame Spot

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Mary Cliff

Mary Cliff has been named as one of Folk Alliance International’s newest Folk DJ Hall of Fame inductees for 2018. Honoring broadcasters who have demonstrated a passion for continuing the promotion and preservation of folk music, Ms. Cliff has risen to the challenge.

After a brief stint as a singer for the Hootnannies in the early 60s, Ms. Cliff turned to radio in 1966, eventually working with radio host Dick Cerri. She would take to the airwaves in 1968 on WAVA then WHFS and in 1970 on WETA. She’s done it all, producing and presenting music, news, interviews and hosting the show Bluegrass Country until 2015.

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The Thistle & Shamrock’s Fiona Ritchie Earns a Folk DJ Hall of Fame Spot

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Fiona Ritchie

Folk Alliance International’s Folk DJ Hall of Fame honors those radio disc jockeys around the globe who preserve, promote and present folk music. One of this year’s inductees is Scotland’s Fiona Ritchie, who’s radio show The Thistle & Shamrock has proved to be a favored standard for National Public Radio (NPR) listeners.

Ms. Ritchie started out at the NPR station WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina working in fundraising and promotion before finding herself hosting a music show showcasing everything from classical to Big Band music, as well as producing and presenting live concerts. With this in, Ms. Ritchie broached the idea of a weekly hour of Celtic music and in 1981 The Thistle & Shamrock was launched. Becoming one of the most popular NPR music shows and cementing her audience base, Ms. Ritchie would return to Scotland to recreate the show from her Scottish home. She has been a presenter on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 2, launched the series Celtic Connections on Radio Scotland and launched the web-based music channel ThistleRadio, as well as produced music compilations and authored the Celtic Music section of the NPR Curious Listener’s Guide Book.

Recordings, playlists, newsletters and materials from The Thistle & Shamrock are now part of the archive at the Scottish Heritage Center at St. Andrews University in North Carolina. Ms. Ritchie also was honored by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and earned the Hamish Henderson Award for Services to Traditional Music.

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Folk DJ Hall of Fame Inducts Dick Pleasants

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Dick Pleasants

Following up on 2017’s Folk DJ Hall of Fame inductees Oscar Brand, Mike Regenstreif and Howard and Roz Larman, Folk Alliance International has added New England’s Dick Pleasants, who helped start the first full-time commercial folk music station, to this years hall of fame.

Steeped in the sounds of famed coffeehouses Unicorn and Club 47, Mr. Pleasants cut his folk music chops at such radio stations like WCIB-FM / Falmouth, WCAS-AM/Cambridge and WVOI-FM/Martha’s Vineyard. He furthered the folk music cause by way of his show Folk Heritage, hooking listeners with interviews and live performances with everyone from Pete Seeger to Odetta to The Battlefield Band to Beausoleil and included live broadcasts from the Lowell Folk Festival and inside listens into the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Mr. Pleasants would go on to wow listeners at WUMB Radio on his Guest Mix show with interviews with Rory Block, Judy Collins, Bill Stains, Richie Havens, Bill Morrissey and Michelle Shocked among others. He also had a hand in launching Summer Acoustic Music Week, helped out the Boston Folk Festival and WUMB concerts for the likes of Emmy Lou Harris, Natalie MacMaster, Suzanne Vega and Sweet Honey In the Rock. In addition, he’s one of the found members of the South Shore Music Club and Woods Hole Folk Music Club and has been a member and supporter of the Nature Connection Inc.

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WOMEX 2018 Call for Showcase, Conference and Film Proposals

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World Music Expo WOMEX is seeking music showcase, conference and film screening proposals for the 2018 edition.

WOMEX 2018 will be held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, October 24 – 28, 2018.

Proposals can be submitted at this dedicated webpage: www.womex-apply.com

Headline photo: Betsayda Machado and Parranda El Clavo at WOMEX 2017 – Photo by Yannis Psathas

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Don’t Let World Music Die in Marseilles, Zone Franche in Support of Babel Med Music

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Trade Fair at one of the previous editions of Babel Med Music

“Zone Franche, a network of 200 world music professionals from all sectors has issued a press release in support of influential world music showcase Babel Med Music 2018:

Zone Franche strongly opposes the iniquitous and brutal decision of the Regional Council of PACA forcing the Latinissimo association to cancel Babel Med Music 2018, the only French trade show of international stature devoted to World Music, which has been on the agenda of all professionals worldwide for thirteen years.

We ask that the grant allowing the staging of this show be reinstated as soon as possible so that Babel Med Music, an essential link in bringing together labels, festivals, producers, artists, programmers, can continue to find in Marseilles and the PACA Region a professional market recognized worldwide. By canceling Babel Med Music a few weeks before its start (15 to 17 March 2018), the Regional Council is showing political lightness and economic blindness as to the consequences of its action, besides the fact that the disappearance of Babel Med Music would allow supporters of cultural uniformity and the multinationals’ hold on music in France, to applaud this unprecedented reduction in cultural diversity in our country, to the detriment of our territories, our cultures and our populations.

Zone Franche invites all the artists and professionals of the sector to a massive mobilization, at the BIS of Nantes on January 17th and 18th. A petition to support cultural diversity and Babel Med Music is online. Thank you for signing and relaying it to as many people as possible. We will not let World Music die in silence.”

Petition link: www.change.org

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