The month of June may be better know for its traditional connection with the Mnarja feast but, for a good number of years now, it is also the month that brings with it a celebration of folk music – Maltese folk, as well as that of other countries and cultures.
Starting this Friday, Għanafest 2013 kicks off at its established home, the Argotti Gardens in Floriana, with a programme that once again promises a diverse line-up of folk music with a Mediterranean flavour that touches on different parts of the music spectrum.
Each participating act will be contributing in its own way to the celebration of diversity that exists in our region’s folk music, collectively offering a rich programme of għana, Maltese music bands and foreign folk bands.
In line with this year’s Islands theme, this year’s edition will feature acts from Crete, Corsica and Sardinia along with a number of local acts and, of course, the traditional għana itself, which will run throughout the festival.
At times poignant and mournful, at times funny – it’s not exactly wailing, but it’s not exactly singing either. It does, however, push the għannejja to come up with some memorable verses, and in doing so keeping alive an age-old tradition while also sharing with the audience a unique opportunity to experience the different styles of għana.
The foreign participants at this year’s festival include Sardinian musician Andrea Pisu. Pisu plays the launeddas, a typical Sardinian woodwind instrument made of three pipes. Pisu will be bridging various genres of music, from free jazz to rock, classical music and blues.
Zamballarana is a group of musicians from Pigna, an idyllic little town in the mountains of western Corsica. Founded in 1997 by Jerome Casalonga, the band gives the traditional island sounds a global touch, mixing them with other contemporary and Mediterranean musical forms.
Although he is of Irish descent, Ross Daly has lived on the island of Crete for the past 35 years. Revered as one of the foremost experts on the island’s rich musical tradition, he claims that music is “the language of my dialogue with that which I perceive to be sacred”.
He will be playing a selection of tracks culled from over 35 albums of original compositions that he has released as well as his own arrangements of traditional melodies collected during his travels.
The Maltese talent this year will bring a special and rich mix of the traditional and the contemporary, with No Bling Show presenting their hip hop/għana fusion project featuring young refugees in collaboration with Marc Cabourdin.
Artistic director Ruben Zahra will be leading his Nafra folk ensemble in a performance based around a study of a Maltese type of lyre; a pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed instrument that also appears in traditional Greek island music, although the Maltese version seems to have its roots in Italy.
Nafra’s performance will also feature oriental Tunisian violinist Mohamed Lassoued and Ettore Castagna playing the Maltese lira.
Last but not least, upcoming Maltese band KażinSka will give a contemporary rendering of Maltese festa music, a case in point of Maltese heritage occupying hip status.
Għanafest Malta Mediterranean Folk Music Festival 2013 is supported by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture and Local Government. Sponsors of the festival include MSV Life, Marsovin, Phoenicia Hotel. The festival will be held on June 7, 8 and 9 at 7pm at Argotti Gardens, Floriana. Tickets cost €3 per day or €7 for a three-day block ticket available at the door. Parking is available at the Floriana Boy Scouts headquarters, right next to the venue.
www.maltafolkmusicfestival.org