Cyprus Rialto World Music Festival
14th Cyprus Rialto World Music Festival
Rumba Attack
With the Cyprus-based group Rumba Attack begins at Heroes Square on Friday July 12th, the Cyprus Rialto World Music Festival. Rumba Attack performing original instrumental material in their distinctive Flamenco- Rumba style, blended with sounds from Middle Eastern origins, Rock and Bossanova. During their live shows they regularly feature guests including vocals, cretan lyra, trumpet, ute, saxophone and various percussion, and they have collaborated with local dance schools.
Performances include Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival, Cyprus World Music & Jazz Showcase, Fengaros Festival, TedXLimassol, 100 Guitars Concert, Rialto Ethnic Music Festival, Afro Banana Festival, Windcraft Music Festival and Pafos Ethnic Music Festival. Rumba Attack are currently recording their debut studio album due to be released in the following months.
Musicians: Constantinos Lyras – guitar, Memnon Aresti – guitar, Savvas Thoma – cajon / percussions
Reggetiko Project
Reggetiko Project is a musical meeting of very different music backgrounds. Its base is the fusion of folk elements, from jazz to reggae featuring Indian and Armenian music. They have released two albums, which they have presented in several festivals and venues all over the world.
Most recently, they completed a tour in Cyprus, Germany and Italy (Ferrara Buskers Festival), while they recorded their third album with Milcho Leviev, the legendary 3-Grammy awarded jazz musician.
Musicians:
Theodore Koumartzis - baglamas, melodica
Linos Tzelos - guitar
Marios Podaras - violin
Nikos Varelas - cajon
Sokratis Votskos - woodwinds
Ioannis Vafeas Trio
Three important musicians of the Cyprus Jazz Scene, united their forces to form Ioannis Vafeas Trio. On this musical journey, renowned drummer Ioannis Vafeas is accompanied by pianist Christos Gerolatsitis and bassist Michalis Messios. Their aspiration is to add- each one from his artistic point of view-their personality and talent by bringing the sound of the original jazz music.
Vafeas and Messios have a long background together characterized by superb musicianship and creativity. Their common understanding and connection, on and off the stage, enables them to easily interact and bring their enthusiasm to their audience. The young and talented jazz pianist Christos Yerolatsitis completes the trio with his talent and energy. The three artists have been performing at important festivals and concert halls in their homeland and around the world for many years.
At the Rialto World Music Festival Ioannis Vafeas Trio will present original compositions by Glafkos Kontemeniotis and other Cypriot composers, as well as songs from the international jazz repertoire.
Ioannis Vafeas – drums
Michalis Messios – bass
Christos Gerolatsitis – piano
Choral Crossroads
Rialto World Music Festival collaborates with Choral Ethno Crossroads 2019 and present the outcome of the summer camp, organized by the Limassol Cultural Movement "Epilogi". At the camp, that will take place in Limassol from July 17 to 22, fifty young 18- to 30-year-choral singers from Europe and the Arab world, representing their choirs, join forces with young choral singers from Cyprus and all together create a big ethno choir.
Through their synergy, young choral singers have the opportunity to get acquainted with the choral music of each country represented in the international Ethno choir, and discover the similarities and the diversities of each other’s traditions and cultural heritage. At the same time, they create together an original concert program that combines the musical traditions of participating countries.
The work "To Neron Pethimismeno" by Dimitris Lipertis and Costas Cacoyannis will be presented in a premier, as well as the work of the Argentine composer Santiago Vero, entitled "La Magia del Río".
Angelina Nikolaidou, conductor of Epilogi Choir, has the Artistic Direction of the Choral Ethno Crossroads 2019.
Havana Noche
A six-member cuban band transmitting the energy, enthusiasm and passion of Latin music. The band was formed in Cyprus by drummer percussionist Constadinos Paouros and participate musicians from Cuba, Colombia, and Cyprus. Their music is based on authentic Cuban music genres such as son cubano, salsa, timba and cha cha.
Band members and instruments
Constadinos Paouros: timbales, drums, vocals
Αlex Εdward Rodriguez: piano, vocals
Μichalis Michael: trumpet
Costas Challoumas: upright bass
Alejandro Gonzalez: congas, vocals
Special guest - Pedro Son Caliente: vocals
At Rialto World Music Festival Havana Noche will play covers from Βuena Vista Social Club, Dizzy Gillespie, Poncho Sanchez, Chucho Valdez.
Refugees for Refugees
The Rialto Theatre, supported by the UNHCR in Cyprus, invited the group Refugees for Refugees to participate at the Rialto World Music Festival. The group brings together renowned musicians from Syria, Tibet, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Belgium who are united by their desire to create links between their music. The group has developed an original repertoire at the crossroads between their different traditions.
The idea for the creation of the band started in 2015 aimed to do an album uniting refugee musicians. Muziekpublique assembled a group of virtuoso performers from different regions of the world who have put down roots in Belgium and who hope to make their voices heard through their music. Their objective was to reveal talents and cultural treasures that have become virtually invisible in Belgium. The CD Amerli released finally in May 2016, with the participation of 20 musicians. After the release, the band was formed with ten of them, under the artistic direction of Tristan Driessens, belgian musicologist and Turkish our player.
Musicians: Asad Qizilbash: sarod, Aren Dolma: vocals, Fakher Madallal: vocals, percussion, Kelsang Hula: dramyen, vocals, Mohammad Aman Yusufi: dambura, vocals, Simon Leleux: percussion, Souhad Najem: qanun, Tammam Al Ramadan: ney, Tareq Alsayed Yahya: oud, Tristan Driessens: oud
Rialto Residency
The Rialto World Music Festival continues this year its activities of Rialto Residency. Since 2012 the institution of Rialto Residency takes place in villages in the district of Limassol. A music program of cohabitation where Cypriot musicians meet and collaborate with guest artists from abroad. Through residence and joint study of artists, develops a renewed reading of various musical traditions, aiming at a new joint approach.
For the second consecutive year Rialto Residency travels to the beautiful village Lofou, in collaboration with Lofou Community Counicil. Coordinated by saxophonist Hayden Chisholm from New Zealand, this year’s residency collaborates also with Windcraft Loud organisation and focus on wind instruments. The objective of the residency is to explore the technical capacity of wind instruments and their potential orchestration patterns and combinations within an ensemble. The residency will also focus on musical traditions in which wind instruments play a leading role, such as the music of the Balkans and New Orleans.
Rialto Residency will take place in Lofou from the 28th of July to the 1st of August in collaboration with Windcraft Loud cultural association and the Lofou Community Counicil. To present their collective work, participants will give a concert οn the 1st of August in Lofou and later on the 11th of August at Windcraft Music Fest at Katidata village.
Elli Michael - saxophone
Christos Zenios - saxophone
Nicolas Georgiou - saxophone
Christos Loizides - trumpet
Yiannis Koudounas - trumpet
Stephen Walkley - trombone
Lefteris Lefkatis - percussion
Christopher Constantinou - percussion
