Preparing the fourth Estepa Mediterrània

Casa de la Música de Manresa and Fira Mediterrània Foundation are already preparing the fourth Estepa Mediterrània

For the fourth consecutive year, Fira Mediterrània is to have its own “Off” section, featuring a broad range of daring and innovative musical performances hand-picked from the emerging Mediterranean west coast underground scene.

The period for presenting proposals for Estepa Mediterrània, the “off” section of Fira Mediterrània, opens on 5 April and closes on 5 May. The section runs parallel to the main Fira event, due to take place in Manresa from 7 to 10 November 2013. This will be the fourth consecutive year for Estepa Mediterrània, which remains loyal to the principles set by promoters Casa de la Música de Manresa and Fira Mediterrània Foundation when it was first set up.

These principles consist of giving Fira Mediterrània its own “Off” section with content agreed between the promoting Foundation and Fira artistic management (similar to the majority of European performing arts festivals). The “off” section seeks to include work based on transgressing, broadening and rephrasing the concept of what it means to “be Mediterranean” in the Fira music programme. The section also aims to embed and nourish the festival’s roots in the city and in its permanent music network by programming concerts in spaces across Manresa where music is performed live throughout the year, and by featuring local performers ready to make the leap onto the professional music scene. Lastly, Estepa also wants to encourage even greater participation by the general public and by audiences from other more specific sectors (especially young audiences and those with a keen interest in underground music and its relationship with professional and more mainstream circuits).

This year, both organisations are confident that their joint purpose and effort will result in an Estepa Mediterrània with a greater number of venues and concerts. Their intention is to grow and consolidate the project and be able to offer more alternatives, concerts and content, most of which will be free of charge, making the festival more accessible for the general public and for specific sectors like young audiences, who are more likely to feel the effects of the current economic situation.

Music projects can be submitted from 5 April to 5 May via the websites of both Fira Mediterrània and Casa de la Música de Manresa. Selected artists will be notified on 21 June and the programme for the fourth Estepa Mediterrània will be published in early July.

article posted by:David Ibañez, Fira Mediterrània Manresa