Kiko Veneno, Obrint Pas and Kepa Junkera to headline at Fira Mediterrània 2013
The event in Manresa joins the Platea Jove scheme with local theatres for the first time The fair will be offering combined tickets for three of the shows at the Kursaal which form part of the Mediterrània programme
The event in Manresa joins the Platea Jove scheme with local theatres for the first time
The fair will be offering combined tickets for three of the shows at the Kursaal which form part of the Mediterrània programme
The Fira Mediterrània de Manresa, with an impact on the arts and the economy of the town and the Bages area worth €13M, has revealed some of the names who will be performing at the sixteenth edition this coming November. This year’s guest artist, Jordi Savall, is joined by Kiko Veneno, originally from Figueres, the band from València Obrint Pas and the Basque Kepa Junquera, as well as the mega-production ‘Músiques en terres de cruïlla’ [literally, ‘Musics in Lands of Crossroads’], featuring leading artists like Carmen París from Aragón, the Quicos from the Ebro valley, Pep Gimeno ‘Botifarra’ and Pau Alabajos from València, Miquela Lladó from Mallorca and Claudio Gabriel Sanna from Alguer (Sardinia). The Fira will be offering a combined ticket or Toc, which includes three of the shows at the Kursaal. For the first time, the fair will be part of the ‘Platea Jove’ scheme aimed at youth audiences. Moreover, the firm commitment of private initiative, which is taking on a large part of the risk of the shows at the Kursaal, and the signing of Estrella Damm as a sponsor, will contribute to Mediterrània’s economic sustainability.
At one of the Fira’s top venues, the main hall at the Kursaal, this year’s opening performance will be by Jordi Savall & Hespérion XXI on Thursday 7th November. This will be followed by Kiko Veneno & Cordes del Món, with the world premiere of an orchestral version of the Figueres musician’s hits in a co-production with Taller de Músics, under the musical direction of the always active Raúl Fernández ‘Refree’ (Friday 8th November). After this come Obrint Pas, a band from València who have grown up alongside the Fira Mediterrània and are now on their farewell tour, appearing at the theatre, an unusual format for them, on Saturday 9th November. Finally comes the production led by the Agrupació Musical Senienca, an ensemble from the small town of La Sénia, with a glittering selection of performers including Carmen París, Pep Gimeno “Botifarra”, Quico el Célio, el Noi i El Mut de Ferreries, Claudio Gabriel Sanna, Pau Alabajos, Miquela Lladó, Montse Castellà and Pep Vila. This will be one of the last concerts of this year’s Fira and will take place on Sunday 10th November. In it the different performers will make clear how the regions which meet in the mountains of Els Ports form an authentic cultural crossroads. With the band and Jota music as leitmotivs, they will bring together all the Catalan-speaking territories to show that a shared culture knows no boundaries.
Big names at the Teatre Conservatori, too
One of the other vanues for which the Fira Mediterrània has now released part of the billing is the Teatre Conservatori. On Saturday 9th November this will be hosting the Basque accordionist Kepa Junkera, remembered for one of the most memorable concerts ever at the Fira, performed together with Maria del Mar Bonet. This year he will be sharing the stage – and a project – with the harpist Josep Maria Ribelles. The two of them have prepared a musical event where wind and strings play at courting one another. This lies at the heart of the production Triki-Arp, in which the sounds and emotions of the Cantabrian Sea and the Mediterranean are mingled.
The evening before, on Friday, the Teatre Conservatori will be offering its first Platea Jove performance within the Fira Mediterrània. This is a lively circus show by the Franco-Catalan CridaCompany. The artists Jur Domingo & Julien Vittecop are artists with the hearts of travellers and the souls of poets, fervently committed to experimenting with silence, sound and bodily states. This young circus company, modern and daring, with one foot in France and the other in Catalonia, presents the Spanish premiere of its latest creation.
The ‘Toc de la Mediterrània’ combined ticket includes Jordi Savall, Obrint Pas and the joint production on Sunday. Both Toc and the individual tickets for these first shows go on sale from Thursday 29th August through the Internet, by telephone at 93 872 36 36 and at the Teatre Kursaal box office. Advance ticket sales will be at an average discount of 20% and will be available until Thursday 31st October.