WOMEX NEWSletter #13, 26 July 2012
WOMEX Opening Concert Announcement
Your Questions Answered: Tips for Thessaloniki on Facebook
Future Music Forum (Ad)
Dear WOMEXicans,
WOMEX is delighted to announce that a special WOMEX Opening Concert will take place on Wednesday, 17 October: My Sweet Canary - A Tribute to the Life of Legendary Singer Roza Eskenazi, will launch WOMEX 12 - taking place in Thessaloniki, Greece, from Wednesday, 17 to Sunday, 21 October - and will proclaim another round of encounters within the international music community.
WOMEX OPENING CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT
Delegates will be welcomed to the first edition of WOMEX in Southeastern Europe with an Opening Concert at Megaro on the Wednesday evening at 20:00.
The special WOMEX Gala Edition, My Sweet Canary - A Tribute to the Life of Legendary Singer Roza Eskenazi, was inspired by a documentary film of the same name and is presented by Wines of North Greece, Ergon - Greek Deli + Cuisine, and Queen Olgas Hotel.
Below is a list of the featured acts:
- My Sweet Canary Ensemble (Greece/Turkey/Israel)
- Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico (Greece)
- Apsilies (Greece)
The My Sweet Canary Ensemble concert will also include rare archive footage of Roza Eskenazi, as well as scenes taken from the documentary film; both are produced by Roy Sher and Elpida Markianidou.
Roza Eskenazi sang the way she lived: with passion, fire and love. She was the "queen of rembetiko" in the early 20th century, famous in Greece and Turkey – the first true "star" of rembetiko. She was born in Istanbul to a Sephardic family in the last years of the 19th century. During her early childhood they moved to Thessaloniki, still part of the Ottoman Empire but soon to be part of the Greek national state. Roza's rise to fame began in the late 1920s, after she was discovered at a club in Piraeus by composer and director of Columbia Records in Greece, Panagiotis Toundas. At the height of her career, during the 1930s, Roza recorded 40 songs each year, in different musical styles (rembetiko, Greek and Turkish folk songs, island songs, etc.), and performed not only in Greece, but also in Turkey, Albania, Egypt and eventually, in the United States. She sang in Greek, Turkish, Armenian and Ladino.
Rembetiko, the "Greek blues", is a musical genre that lies at the crossroads of East and West, an apt reflection of the region into which it was born. It evolved from the music that the refugees from Asia Minor brought with them to Greece in the 1920s and first emerged in the hash-dens and prisons of the harbour cities of Thessaloniki and Piraeus.
For more information about the Opening Concert and artists visit:
www.womex.com/lnk/opening#more
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: TIPS FOR THESSALONIKI ON FACEBOOK
Thank you to everyone who joined our Facebook chat on Wednesday, 25 July - in particularly our kind hosts, rock paper scissors, and our knowledgeable local partners.
Many relevant questions about how to get the most out of your time at WOMEX / in Thessaloniki were asked and some great tips were given out - all of which you can still view on the rock paper scissors Facebook page: www.facebook.com/rps.pr
And of course if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact us at
FUTURE MUSIC FORUM: 20-21 SEPTEMBER 2012 (AD)
The main objective of the Future Music Forum is to gather the leading minds in the world of digital / social media / music distribution, mobile and progresive music services to share views on how music is being shared in today's digital age and discuss new developments in music technology. Ultimately our goal is to provide musicians and music industry professionals alike with the tools to help monitor these advancements for future projects. The 3rd edition will be taking place at the Museu D'art Contemporani De Barcelona, MACBA on 20-21 September 2012.
www.futuremusicforum.com
Kind regards from your WOMEX team.
WOMEX 12 Thessaloniki, Greece | 17 - 21 October 2012
womex@womex.com
www.womex.com
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