The Marranzano World Fest (MWF), now in its 7th edition, has become a well-established event for researchers and enthusiasts of musical instruments and vocal techniques from popular traditions in Sicily and around the world. It serves as a significant gathering for learning and exchange among individuals, generations, and diverse cultures, with the goal of preserving the depth of our cultural traditions while projecting them onto the international contemporary scene.

The main purpose of MWF as a cultural project remains to inspire an increasingly broad and diverse audience to rediscover and appreciate traditional music in Sicily through cultural exchange with musical traditions from other regions worldwide. The event, initially held biennially since its inception in 2005, celebrated its tenth anniversary with the 6th edition last year and now transitions to an annual recurrence. The project, conceived by the musician and ethnomusicologist Luca Recupero from the MoMu Mondo di Musica Association, is produced by the Associazione Musicale Etnea (AME), a historic concert institution founded in Catania in 1973, in collaboration with the University of Catania, which will host the next edition of MWF from July 14 to 17, 2016, within the broader framework of the “Porte Aperte” project.

Having focused on instruments of various organological categories (idiophones, membranophones, aerophones, chordophones, and vocals) in its first 5 biennial editions and dedicated the tenth anniversary to innovations in the world of musical instruments and oral tradition vocal techniques, this new edition centers on folk dances from Sicily to Siberia, including the Salento region and European and Balkan folk dances. Dance, an elective context for instrumental music in the popular world and traditional cultures worldwide, is above all a moment of encounter, exchange, and collective sharing among people, generations, languages, and diverse cultures.

During the upcoming edition, participants will have the opportunity to learn, practice, and delve into Il ballettu, contraddanza, and various Sicilian folk dances, comparing and alternating them with the tarantella pizzica of Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, a historic group dedicated to the research and revival of Italian folk songs. The event will also feature the ritual circle dances ohuokhai of Siberian musicians from Yakutia, thanks to a cultural exchange project with the Russian Embassy. Hungarian dances by the Dorombos Banda trio and Italian and European folk dances by Lassatilabballari, a group of researchers and musicians from the Tavola Tonda School of Folk Music in Palermo, will also be part of the experience.
The three concerts on stage will feature extraordinary international guests, including the Chinese virtuoso Wang Li, the Ukrainian singer and designer Makoviya, the Indian researcher Sameer Thakur, and numerous Sicilian artists and researchers. Among them are the Sicilian Short Fencing Company, popular musicians from the Peloritani Mountains Salvatore Vinci and Felice Currò, folk dance expert Margherita Badalà, marranzano builder Carmelo Buscema from Monterosso Almo (RG), pioneers in the research of folk music in Sicily like Fabio Tricomi and Puccio Castrogiovanni, alongside young talented artists like Giorgio Maltese and Giuseppe Roberto.
Equally interesting will be what happens beneath the stage after the concerts: every evening, there will be space for traditional dances accompanied by acoustic instruments, allowing everyone to experience a “new” way of enjoying evening gatherings in the summer nights, putting into practice the lessons from the numerous workshops held during the day. Another important element of the festival is the Vibrazaar – MWF’s musical market, where visitors can find marranzani and dreamcatchers from around the world, as well as other Sicilian and international handmade musical instruments, and savor wonderful dishes of multicultural cuisine.
As part of the MWF project, there is also a multimedia exhibition on the history and geography of dreamcatchers from around the world. This exhibition is a collaboration between the University of Catania, the International Puppet Museum A. Pasqualino in Palermo, and the Khomus Museum in Yakutsk (RU). The exhibition’s opening, on Thursday, July 14, at the Machiavelli Theater of the University of Catania, will kick off the entire edition with an ethnomusicological conference followed by a traditional aperitif and an inaugural concert by young musicians from Sakha-Yakutia.
This year’s edition also includes a preview concert as part of the “SCIUSCIA. Il vento che tira in Sicilia” series curated by the University of Catania. The featured band is Ipercussonici from Catania, with the participation of the renowned singer Sainkho Namtchylak from the Republic of Tuva (Russia).

Artists

Preview

Festival

Contacts

Infos about Festival
and parallel activities:
info@marranzanoworldfest.org

Artistic production e direction
MoMu Mondo di Musica
info@mondodimusica.it
www.mondodimusica.it

Esecutive production and administration
Associazione Musicale Etnea
info@ame.ct.it
www.ame.ct.it