The Jazz & World Music Showcase is back

Over 40 musicians and 12 bands will participate in this year’s Cyprus Jazz & World Music Showcase returning to Limassol in a couple of days. The two-day musical event will fill Rialto Theatre with sounds and rhythms from all around the globe on December 8 and 9, organised by the Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture and the theatre. Eight local groups will present their new work on the theatre’s stage while another four will take over Art Studio 55 which is located right next to Rialto.

Foreign festival organisers and professionals from the international music industry have been invited to attend to get to know the Cyprus music scene. The primary goal of the showcase is the subsequent invitation of Cypriot artists to participate in international festivals and organisations abroad, thus creating a platform for the exchange of artists’ experiences and practices at an international level.

This year’s event will be attended by Alkis Zopoglou, artistic director of Cosmopolis Festival Kavala and Mediterranean Festival in Zurich, Thibaud Rolland, artistic director of Nancy Jazz Pulsation, Vangelis Aragiannis, artistic director of Syros Jazz Festival, Dimitris Vasilakis, artistic director of Rhodes & South Aegean Jazz Festival, Anna Tsakona, artistic director of Pulsar Samothraki Art Festival, Araceli Sanchez Munoz, director of Mapamundi Musica, Juan Antonio Vazquez Franco, co-founder and co-administrator of Transglobal World Music Chart and director of Mundofonías and the radio show Mil Mundos and Giorgos Mitropoulos Cultural Editor of Euronews.

Participating this year is a mix of established and emerging local music ensembles. The first night of the showcase will open with the Odysseas Toumazou Trio, followed by the Soulful Groove Collective, Kramas Brass Band and Erica Soteri. After 10pm, the music performances will continue at Art Studio 55 with presentations by Nikos Charalambous and Alexis Sunder before a jam session kicks off.

Day two will begin with Kalesma band. Then the Loud Urban Soul Teachers will take the Rialto Theatre stage, followed by Sonica and Eleonora Roussou. The night, and the 10^th edition of the showcase, will conclude with two side performances by Nama Dama and the Chunky Funky Electro Funk Quartet at Art Studio 55 and a lively jam session inviting more professional and amateur musicians to the floor.

10th Cyprus Jazz & World Music Showcase

Annual two-day event with performances by local bands. December 8-9. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 7.30pm. €10 per day or €15 for both days. Tel: 7777-7745. www.rialto.com.cy