Gozo is the little sister island of Malta, where ARC Research & Consultancy, one of the 6 partners of the EU funded project is based. ARC has invited the 5 project partners Escola Superior de Musica de Lisboa, Ente Musicale di Nuoro, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, University of Ljubljana (Academy of Music) to meet in the small town of L-Ghrab, counting 1500 inhabitants, rather than in the capital of Malta, La Valletta.
Davinia Galea and Mario Frendo, co-founders of ARC, shared their vision of the Mediterranean, which is also made of very local village settings, not only the big cities. ARC’s goal is to foster the meeting with local communities via art and culture and impact their lives too. Over the last month, they have built a fruitful relationship with the Mayor and cultural operators of L-Ghrab, in order to organise a Medina session and a concert there.
For the representatives of the 6 partners, it was the first in-person meeting since summer 2019 after a long series of online meetings. This gave all of us the chance to rediscover the human, artistic and emotional aspects of the projects and values we defend.
The Medinea Gozo session had started almost 2 weeks before. 9 young improvisers from France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Tunisia guided by Fabrizio Cassol, composer and jazzman were invited to experiment with techniques of collective composition, within an ensemble, with the aim of leading to the creation of a common musical production that also reveals individual singularities. What a challenge.
The concert took place in L-Ghrab on March 31st and was live-streamed on Facebook. Many locals and representatives from institutions based in Valletta attended the concert.
During the partner meeting which took place during the day, the partners focused on the first Medina On Air session to take place 2 weeks ahead, from the 12 to the 15 April 2022. Throughout the last months, they have designed this online training for young musicians which would fit their specific needs in these times of (post-)pandemic.
Many practical issues were debated and resolved and the communication campaign was launched. The partners are now looking forward to the next events which will take place in Aix-en-Provence and Nuoro this summer:
In July in Aix:
-Partner Meeting
-Medinea On Air conference
-Medinea session and concert
-Symphonic session and concert
In Nuoro in August:
-Medinea session and concert
