News Trac Cymru

Horizons tour, 27-30 October 2013

Horizons tour, 27-30 October 2013

Calling all Welsh & Wales-based bands / solo artists...

Make your application by 12 April to WOMEX for a showcase – and qualify to be part of the Horizons tour in October.

In October 2013, WOMEX comes to Cardiff – and hundreds of world-class, international artists will descend on Wales. This year, for the first time (subject to funding), four of the international showcase acts will be selected to tour the theatres and arts centres of Wales – 16 performances in 16 locations over 4 days, in a Creu Cymru / Theatr Mwldan initiative, with funding from the Arts Council of Wales (decision pending).

Touring alongside the international bands will be four Welsh / Wales-based outfits. In order to qualify for consideration you must have applied for a WOMEX showcase – so make sure your application is submitted to WOMEX (http://www.womex.com/realwomex/main.php?id_headings=239&id_realwomex=15) by 12 April.

Then also submit the following information to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it plus hard copy (print & discs) to Creu Cymru, PO Box 242, Aberystwyth SY23 9AX by 29 April:

- biography (100 words)

- 3 to 5 tracks in MP3 / CD format

- technical rider, including backline

- selected press reviews or other text info (if available)

- links to artist-related online content (YouTube, Facebook etc.)

- full instrumentation

Decisions will be make asap after WOMEX announce their showcase roster (likely to be mid/late June).

Any queries, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

WOMEX 13 SHOWCASE & CONFERENCE JURY ANNOUNCEMENT

From the WOMEX website: O Wefan WOMEX

"Every year, WOMEX invites 7 esteemed members of its global community to join the WOMEX Jury. Otherwise known as the 7 Samurai, these seasoned music professionals work on the Showcase and Conference selection: while 5 Samurai focus on shaping the Showcase Festival line-up, the other 2 Samurai address the Conference programming.

The 5 Showcase Samurai are:

- Miriam Leah Brenner (USA/The Netherlands), Kokako Music
- Alan James (UK), Hold Tight
- Valentin Langlois (France), Helico
- Ankur Malhotra (USA/India), Amarrass Records
- Fruzsina Szép (Hungary), Sziget Festival

The 2 Conference Samurai are:

- Eva Kiltz (Germany), VUT Association of Independent Music Companies
- Faisal Kiwewa (Uganda), Bayimba Cultural Foundation

Photos and bios at: http://www.womex.com/lnk/jury"

WOMEX 13 CARDIFF : Call for Showcase, Conference and Film Proposals

WOMEX is launching its annual call for programme proposals, inviting the finest artists, speakers and filmmakers from around the globe to become part of the foremost event in the world music industry calendar - WOMEX 13 in Cardiff, Wales, UK, from Wednesday, 23 to Sunday, 27 October 2013.

The deadline for all proposals is Friday, 12 April 2013.

(Photo by Kenan Zonnema)

There are two kinds of opportunity, a mainstage showcase and a Horizons showcase.

Calling all world music artists and DJs… It's time for Showcase proposals for WOMEX 13. Come perform at the premier world music Showcase event on the planet. If selected by our Jury, you'll play in front of the largest audience anywhere of international world music concert and festival bookers (over 730 last year), labels, distributors, journalists and industry professionals - everyone you need to help launch, re-launch, sustain and expand your career.

Performances in all world music forms and styles are welcome for our 45-minute sets - traditional, classical, modern, popular, electronic. Whatever you do, wherever you come from, our Jury wants to hear the best from all artists who deserve wider audiences and have the professional standards necessary to tour.

Horizons, a new partnership between the music organisations of England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, will host the local stage at this year’s WOMEX in Cardiff. It will showcase some of the best world music talent from across the British Isles and Ireland.

(Wales Millenium Centre, by Phil Boorman)

Artists from these countries who submit a bid to the WOMEX Showcase Festival, will have an additional chance to secure a valuable showcase slot on the Horizons Stage. There is no separate application process. Artists from these Horizons nations not selected for showcase by the WOMEX Jury, will automatically be eligible for consideration for the Horizons Stage, with the selection being made by a panel of Horizons appointed music experts.

Horizons members are Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Ireland, Culture Ireland, Cerdd Cymru : Music Wales, Creative Scotland and Scottish Music Industry Association. The partnership is supported by British Council.

Wales @ London, March 10 2013

A whole day celebrating some of the very best of Welsh folk music at the home of the EFDSS.

Calan : Jamie Smith's Mabon : Les Barker : RagFoundation : Alaw : Jack Harris : Bragod : Parti Cut Lloi : DnA : CerddCegin : Blanche Rowen & Mike Gulston

A family Twmpath/Ceilidh with Grassie Busville, clog dancing workshops with Huw Williams and family craft sessions making a flatpack Mari Lwyd

There are concerts throughout the day and evening, from big high-energy bands like Calan, Jamie Smith’s Mabon and the Rags to award-winning London based singer-songwriter Jack Harris.

Les Barker (alternative Poet Laureate and self-declared born-again Welshman) will be familiar to many from the folk festival scene. Since moving to Wrexham he’s not only learnt Welsh but has mastered the intricacies of writing poetry in the ancient bardic discipline of cynghanedd - find out how and why! He'll be giving a talk and also performing on the main stage.

Lots to do for all the family! Learn about the Mari Lwyd tradition - a seasonal custom involving a horse's skull on a pole, songs and a verse contest; Wales' equivalent to the Padsow Obby Oss - and make a mini-Mari to take home. Try Welsh dancing at the Twmpath (ceilidh) or the clogging workshop.

Early music enthusiasts can trace the origins of string music and mediæval cerdd dant back to Pythagoras in a lecture-demonstration by Robert Evans of Bragod, who also give a lunchtime performance of their show Adar/Birds.

Meanwhile downstairs, random acts of music will be happening, with tunes and songs from DnA, Cerdd Cegin and Blanche Rowen & Mike Gulston plus sessions and singing, including members of harmony group Parti Cut Lloi bursting into song in the bar at some point. So bring your instruments and your voices if you’d like to join in.

Tickets are available through www.ticketline.co.uk

or www.musicglue.net/cecilsharphouse

More details from:  http://www.trac-cymru.org/Table/Wales-in-London/

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