WELCOME AND SUMMARY
Welcome to the new edition of this communication and outreach initiative of the EFN. Feel free to forward it to your friends and colleagues. Receiving this newsletter is open to anyone for free, here. Read to the end to find out how to submit content for future editions.
This is what you'll find below:
🔸News from EFN: Special deal for EFN Members at Nordic Folk Alliance;
🔹EFN welcomes new members: Asociación Cultural Recreativa Vigüela (Spain), Festival Re:tradycja - Workshops of Culture (Poland)
🔸News from our members: Live Music Now Scotland at Young at Heart Festival 2024; All-Britain Fleadh, 28-30 June, Lancashire
🔹Our next featured member is Kenneth Day
🔸Our next featured artist is the Spanish guitarrist Paco de Lucía
🔹Special content: Final event of TUNE (Traditional music Undergraduate Network in Europe)
✍️ Do you want to participate? At the end of the newsletter you will find how you can contribute to future editions, whether you are an EFN member or not. And of course EFN is always looking for new members and at the end of this newsletter there is a note about how and why to join, with links to the membership pages of the website and the application form.
Thanks for your attention, have a fruitful reading and, please, forward this to any person who could be interested!
News from EFN
🔸Nordic Folk Alliance, special discount for EFN members
EFN Member Tempi has sent a generous invitation to all EFN Members to Nordic Folk Alliance, the Scandinavian showcase and conference, in Roskilde, Denmark on 21-24 May – at a remarkably discounted registration fee. The offer is an exclusive benefit for paid-up EFN Members. To find out more details and to access this offer Members should refer to the recent email on the Members-only Google e-group or can contact inof@europeanfolknetwork.com. It's just one more good reason to be an EFN Member! If you are not yet a member, why not consider joining. Check the details on our website.
Nordic Folk Alliance is a conference & festival showcasing folk & roots music from the Nordic region of Europe. It’s made possible by an alliance of the northern European export offices from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland & Denmark. Find all the details on their website.
EFN WELCOMES TWO NEW MEMBERS
By EFN editors
Three new members joined EFN during the last weeks:
🔸From Spain, Asociación Cultural Recreativa Vigüela
Vigüela is a musical group dedicated to the traditional folk music of Spain. Formed in the mid-80s, the band, like many other groups of young people in the post-Franco era, turned to the folk traditions of their region to express their creative desires without adopting unfamiliar musical styles.
After many years, hundreds of concerts, and nine albums, the band continues to take steps beyond in the dissemination and analysis of traditional music. Vigüela offers regular lessons throughout the year covering traditional styles such as jota, fandango, seguidilla, and son, along with specific thematic workshops.
About joining EFN they state that "Throughout these years, we have dedicated countless hours to analyze music and reflect on the relationship of contemporary artists, like ourselves, with the traditional ways of making music in its context of use. In addition to providing information about traditional music, we can participate in panels and conferences, as we did at the annual EFN meeting in Manresa in 2022. We are also interested in establishing contacts that help us further develop our vision. Contact with professionals from other countries is particularly stimulating for us."
Check their website for more information.
🔸From Poland, Festival Re:tradycja - Workshops of Culture
Workshops of Culture in Lublin are a municipal cultural institution which organizes 4 big summer festivals that take place in the city. One of these festivals is called the Re:tradition Festival (Festiwal Re:tradycja). It’s an event that celebrates traditional folk music and crafts and consists of concerts, dance parties, exhibitions, art installations, workshops, and more.
In applying for EFN membership they said that “As a member we can support the exchange of experiences regarding creation and organization of festivals. We can also share our experiences in the area of popularizing intangible cultural heritage traditional music and craft skills, as well as supporting creators/artists, etc".
Check their website for more information.
News from the members
🔹All-Britain Fleadh, 28-30 June, Lancashire
By Nod Knowles with information provided by Comhaltas in Britain
EFN members Comhaltas in Britain (pronounced ‘Coltas’) are the UK arm of the long-established Irish Comhaltas institution. Like their parent organisation Comhaltas in Britain promote the learning and sharing of Irish Traditional music and culture and organise the All-Britain Fleadh (fleadh cheoil na breataine) on 28-30 June in St.Helen’s, Lancashire. A festival event usually attracting over 2,000 people from all over Britain, among whom will be many from the Irish diaspora community. For more information, check their website.
🔹Live Music Now Scotland at Young at Heart Festival 2024
By Malena Persson
According to Malena: "This spring, Live Music Now Scotland (LMNS) was part of the wonderful Young at Heart Festival. Especially aimed at the 50+ age group, the festival’s objective was to celebrate the arts as engaging and accessible for everyone. As part of the festival programme, LMNS offered a fine selection of traditional songs, with a relaxed and informal presentation, making the performances a pleasant experience for all audiences." The contemporary folk-duo Juliette Lemoine and Nicky Murray has been part of the program.
Live Music Now Scotland is a very active member and we usually receive news from them. But we haven't explained their background and it is very interesting. This paragraph is added by the editors of the newsletter, from the website of the festival: "Live Music Now was founded by violinist Yehudi Menuhin. It offers emerging professional musicians, in a wide variety of genres, the opportunity to perform for audiences who normally may not have access to high quality live music. This includes people in special schools, care homes, day centres, hospices and prisons."
Featured Member: Kenneth Day
When he became a member in 2019, Kenneth explained that he is a booking agent and promoter working mainly in Scandinavia. Also musical director at Urkult Festival.
We got this nice picture from his Facebook profile.
Ken leads D TOURS, an international booking agency, festival consultant and concert promotion company, representing and presenting a wide range of musical styles from all over the world.
Remember: the Featured Artist section is open to the contributions of the members of the EFN. If you want to talk about someone contact efneditors@gmail.com.
Featured Artist: Paco de Lucía
By Araceli Tzigane
Last February marked the 10th anniversary of the passing of Paco de Lucía. Commemorations of his memory have taken place both in Europe and in other parts of the world.
According to National Geographic, Paco de Lucía is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time and one of the greatest proponents of flamenco music.
The portrait is from Discogs. Paco de Lucía is one of the most famous musicians from Europe, and you can find biographies of him of all sizes. Here I will give a very brief overview.
Paco was born in 1947 in Algeciras. His father was a keen guitar enthusiast who juggled his job as a street vendor with performances in tablaos and parties where he played the bandurria (similar to the mandolin). The family's economic situation was quite poor, and they couldn't afford to provide academic education for the children. Music became an option to get ahead, so his father sought guitar teachers for his children among some renowned artists of the time.
Paco stood out early and adopted his mother's surname as his artistic name. The "de Lucía" comes from her. Paco and his brothers developed a professional career from a very young age. Paco recorded with legendary singers like Fosforito or Camarón de la Isla, with whom he would also share a great friendship.
Paco's first solo album was "La fabulosa guitarra de Paco de Lucía" (1967). By the early 1970s, he was already widely recognized, and his artistry also delved into jazz. "Entre dos aguas" is the hit that made Paco an international icon:
Listen and enjoy:
Throughout his career, Paco collaborated with international artists such as Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Chick Corea.
🎧 You can listen to the album The Guitar Trio (1996), by Di Meola, McLaughlin and de Lucía, here.
He passed away in February of 2014 in the Mexican Caribbean, at the age of 66, from a heart attack. His second wife was Mexican and he was expending as much time as he could composing, close to the sea. His body was repatriated to Spain, and the wake was held at the National Auditorium of Music. His remains rest in his hometown of Algeciras, which declared three days of mourning for his passing.
Special content:
Final event of TUNE (Traditional music Undergraduate Network in Europe), open to young musicians and all audiences interested in traditional music
A few days ago we received this news from Lauren Suisse, Communication and Documentation Officer of pôle Aliénor, about this project and the final event, that will be open to all audiences interested in traditional music. It will take place on 18th of May and will include streamed conference /round tables with students, artists, traditional music European teachers/workshops with guest artists/ concert). Araceli Tzigane, from EFN, had a conversation with Lauren to get deeper into some issues of the project.
~~
This is the information about the project and the final event:
TUNE is an Erasmus+ partnership for cooperation. The aim of this three-year project is to create opportunities for bachelor-level traditional music students from five European music institutions to participate in a democratic space for learning, exchanging, developing and performing European traditional musics.
The institutions have been:
University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), Department of Traditional Arts and Traditional Music, Campus Rauland, Norway (applicant organization)
University of Tartu, Viljandi Culture Academy, Estonia
Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo (Higher Conservatory of Music of Vigo), Spain
University of Ioannina, Greece
pôle Aliénor, Poitiers, France
Association européenne des Conservatoires (AEC), Brussels, Belgium
The two pedagogical results are:
A sustainable, mutually recognized joint undergraduate module «European traditional music beyond borders» based on blended mobility.
An online learning platform: an innovative digital education content and technical structure with e-learning activities.
The event on 18th of May, «TUNE opening borders» in Poitiers is open to young musicians and all audiences interested in traditional music.
And Lauren kindly answered some questions to provide additional information for our readers.
Araceli Tzigane: Can you elaborate a bit more about this: "In addition to ongoing e-learning activities, annual week-long intensive courses are held in conjunction with professional music festivals in the participant countries." I understand these have already happeneded except the last one that will take place in May. I understand this is an in person activity, isn't it?
Lauren Suisse: Yes, since the project’s kick-off in February 2022, students and teachers of partner institutions have participated in 4 in person « intensive weeks » in Greece, Estonia, Norway and Galicia (Spain). The last intensive week will be in Poitiers from 13 to 17 of May.
AT: What has been done during those week-long courses?
LS: The main focus of each intensive week is to play music/rehearse intensively together and, as a result, perform a public concert. In addition to the musical activities, students benefits of the development of transversal skills – teamwork, self-confidence, multi-cultural recognition and diversity management, and independent learning skills. Students develop these skills in teams as they adapt to unfamiliar environments and cultural backgrounds. Since one of the main objectives of the intensive weeks is to enrich students’ repertoires and musical skills, intensive weeks are perfect laboratory-like environments for the achievement of this objective.
AT: What do you consider that will stay when the project has ended?
LS: The consortium partners intend for both main project results, the joint module “European Traditional Musics Beyond Borders” and the “TUNE Online Platform for teaching, learning and musical exchange”, to be maintained and developed following the completion of the project. The official launch of the joint module is planned for autumn 2024.
AT: About the event of 18th May. Will this be an in person event? I understand it is but the conference will be streamed so it can be attended online, is this right? Are there any other ways of participating? I mean, can anyone go to Poitiers for the event (after subscribing)?
LS: Yes it will be an in person event, open to all audiences. The conference could be attended online under registration. Registrations will be open when we launch the final program!
You can check the pre-program for the event of 18th May, here.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Are you already a member? Then, remember that you can submit contents for this monthly newsletter. Email your content to efneditors@gmail.com, for these sections:
· News from EFN Members. Brief announcements – of around 100 words and a link.
· Featured artist. A profile with around 200 words, an embedded video and one link. Members are invited to submit profiles, considering solo and ensemble living or not living artists who have achieved lifelong artistic and technical quality or historical significance in the field of folk art from or developed in or settled in Europe. If you have any artists in mind that you'd like to feature, please ask in advance, just to be sure there is no other member already doing it.
And whether you are a member or not, you can participate in this section:
· Special sections. For instance, an interview with someone from an institution that is not a member or a thematic article by a guest writer or anything that can appear and be considered as interesting. This section can also host guest writers that are not members.
If you'd like to share any content, contact us in advance to schedule it by emailing efneditors@gmail.com
Of course, self promotional articles lacking interest won't be accepted. In case of doubt, the EFN board will be consulted and will decide.
Comments