Saturday, June 07, 2014

Fes Festival of World Sacred Music - News Update

The preparations for the opening night of the 20th edition of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music are well underway, with rehearsals and set decoration taking place at the Bab Al Makina venue


Elsewhere, the festival organisation is confident that everything will be in place for the hundreds of visitors arriving this coming week. Guest houses report being booked to capacity and local restaurants are expecting a good festival season.  Many restaurants are serving evening meals earlier than usual in order for patrons to eat before the evening concerts.

The festival office has been busy gearing up to support the journalists coming to cover the festival and have most press kits and media passes available now. There are a large number of local press, radio and TV reporters as well as 14 French, two American, and Lebanese journalists expected to attend. Unfortunately the media information is not available in English which is a perennial problem. However the Festival website does have information in English.

The View from Fez are an official Festival Media Partner and will have a team of six journalists covering a majority of the events.

Set decoration and rehearsals are in full swing 

The Opening Night - Friday June 13

The opening concert at 21h00 on 13 June at Bab al Makina entitled Manteq at-Tayr in Arabic, Conference of the Birds : Journey of Cultures. This work encompasses the journey of different world cultures in their quest for direction and of their transformation as they encounter various exchanges. Performance inspired by The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-Din Attar, translated by Leili Anvar and published by Diane de Selliers.


Concept and artistic direction of the production is by Layla Skali-Benmoussa and Faouzi Skali, with stage direction, stage design and libretto by Thierry Poquet.

Credits:
Translation: Leili Anvar, France/Iran
Musical composition: Arash Sarkechik, France/Iran
Abeer Nehme from Lebanon is the lead singer
Musical direction: Alain Weber, France
Costumes: Léa Drouault
Choreography: Juha Marsalo, Finland
Décor: Vincent Monnot, France

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1 comment:

Jean Allen said...

I am coming to this festival for the first time, and am so thrilled I can hardly sleep! I first visited Fes five years ago for the Sufi festival, and vowed I would return for this one. I am an avid reader of your blog - it is so entertaining, useful, and a great way of keeping up with Fes. Thank you so much!
Jean