Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
MedSet is a project born from the common desire of an artist [Akim El Sikameya] and a festival director [Sete Sois Sete Luas] to give life, by music, to this idea of a Mediterranean culture, common to all people who live around, and stronger than any political division.
Before being Portuguese, Spanish, Algerian, Italian or Greek, we are Mediterranean.
- and to prove it, Akim El Sikameya, worldwide famous singer and violinist, wanted to reunite in an exceptional creation, seven musicians, met during different festival editions in Sete Sois Sete Luas : the confrontation between each of their directory makes come in to sight, beyond the differences, a common culture of song and rhythm, that the artists, during their collective work, try hard to reinforce.
All through its history, the Mediterranean, from one shore to the other, became the earth of thought exchanges, muses and beliefs. This either threw coalitions or friendships between kingdoms and people, or either threw battles and dominations between empires. These exchanges happened in diverse layers of society, and in diverse fields, such as culture, science or politic.
In these exchanges, music has always obtained a privileged place amongst the people who lived on Mediterranean grounds: Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Cretans, Greeks and Romans, then Arab-Andalusians. These people have established the foundations of a learnt music and a huge heritage, which passed on to future generations.
Its really starting from the 16th century that each kingdom and locality diversified itself more in all its cultural identity, in order to give birth to completely opposite musical languages, but drifted from the same source.
The works played and singed during this show shall reflect this common heritage and variety of languages.
Should they be traditional or original, they will be arranged by a common and contemporary work, which will remodel them in this free melting-pot arrangement.
Akim was born in Oran, the music capital of Algeria. At the age of 8, he starts learning the violin and Arab-Andalusia singing, a music born in Spain, from the meetings and exchanges between the three monotheists cultures. This learning gives him not only the basics of a solid music culture, but also and especially a life philosophy, based on a melting-pot experience.
Custodio Castelo was born in music, at Almeirim. At the young age of seven, he builds himself his first instrument, and at sixteen, while listening to the recordings of Amalia Rodrigues, he discovers the sound of the portuguese guitar, which he has never abandoned since.*
Mara Aranda, composer, poet and valencian singer has done strong literature and art studies, and has been writing songs since her youngest age.
Great protector of the Mediterranean culture, she got known by taking part in numerous projects such as Cendraires, LHam de Foc, or Aman Aman.
Riccardo Testi, pioneer of Italian ethnic music, is both composer and instrumentalist. Since his beginnings in 1978, he dedicated himself to the diatonic accordion, trying to enlarge the classical vocabulary and technique of this instrument, to more modern universes, and confront with passion his Tuscan heritage to other music styles (Basque, French, Madagascan, Jazz ) ; he was the first Italian to dedicate a hole album to diatonic accordion.
Rita Botto was born in Catena, city of the Etna. Self-taught and versatile singer, with astonishing voice capacities, she has instructed singing at the Modern Music school of Ferrare, then at the Baule dei Suoni theatre school at Bologne, when she nowadays lives.
Vasilis Papageorgiou was born in Ioannina in 1978, in a musician family. He has been living with traditional epirote music since his youngest age, and starts to learn the clarinet at the age of 13. Very quickly, he interests himself in Byzantine music. He therefore leaves for the Athens University, in order to improve his knowledge and study ethnomusicology. He then decides to dedicate himself to the traditional music, and more precisely clarinet.
Links
