Alain Weber (artistic director)
Alain Weber | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation(s) | artistic director, musical advisor, producer |
Alain Weber is a French artistic director, musical advisor, producer and stage director. He is the artistic director of several festivals including, Sacred Spirit Festival of Jodhpur and Nagaur, the Fez World Sacred Music Festival,[1][2] Les Orientales d’Anjou Festival in Saint-Florent le Vieil and Angers and the Al Kamandjati Festival.[3] He is also the artistic director of Zaman Productions, which he set up in 2001 to promote artists and projects.[4] Alain Weber is currently the world music advisor to the Philharmonie de Paris.[5]
Career
Weber began his career in the late 70s with the discovery of the music of Upper Egypt, where he decided to create, with the help of the Ministry of Culture (Egypt), the group, Musicians of the Nile, one of the first traditional Arab music ensembles to tour the world led by Metqal Qenawi Metqal.[6][7][8]
He has produced shows and creations in historic venues such as the Opéra Garnier in Paris, the Jardin des Tuileries, Mont Saint Michel, Bâb Makina in Fez,[9] the Mehrangargh Fort in Jodhpur, the Palais de Bettedine in Lebanon, the Carthage Festival, the Palais Hicham in Jericho, the Church of Saint Anne in Jerusalem and the Almaty Opera House in Kazakhstan.[4][10][11]
After working as a program producer for Radio France (France-Culture and France Inter) and as a music critic, he turned his attention to discovering other Eastern musical ensembles. After discovering the Roma origins of the musicians of Upper Egypt, he set off on a quest for the origins of "Gypsy" or "Roma" music, which led him to Rajasthan, where he created the Divana ensemble with Gazi Khan Barna and Anwar Khan Manganiyar.[12]
He later initiated the "Les Tsiganes du Monde" project at the Florence Festival (1991) and at the Opéra Garnier as part of the Paris Quartier d'été festival (1992), bringing together Gypsy and Roma ensembles from the Orient to Spain. This project led him to work as a musical advisor on Tony Gatlif's film "Latcho Drom" and other projects.[12][13]
- ^ "China suspected of pressuring the Fes Festival of Sacred Music into excluding a Tibetan artist". Le Monde.fr. 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ^ "Dispatch from Fez: Sounds and scenes from the World Sacred Music Festival". Los Angeles Times. 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ^ "Le sommet des Orientales, samedi et dimanche à Saint-Florent-le-Vieil". Ouest-France.fr (in French). 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ^ a b "Edinburgh ffi Jury 2023 – Film Fest International". 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
- ^ Zawisza, Marie (2015-10-31). "How music is the real language of political diplomacy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
- ^ "Musicians of the Nile". Real World Records. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
- ^ "سلاطين الفن الشعبى فى مصر يكتبها عادل السنهورى.. الريس متقال.. حامل لواء الفلكلور الصعيدى.. ألف ولحن أغانيه بنفسه رغم عدم إجادته القراءة والكتابة.. هولندا صنعت له تمثالا فى أكبر متاحفها.. غنى فى أوبرا باريس". اليوم السابع (in Arabic). 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
- ^ Weber, Alain (1979), Music of Upper-Egypt, N.Y.C. [i.e. New York City]: Folkways Records & Service Corp, retrieved 2023-06-16
- ^ "The "Musiques Sacrees du Monde" festival: Fez: an African reflection - Qantara.de". Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
- ^ "Page 4 - Weekly highlights 6280". www.leconomiste.com. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ^ "Sur les traces de Marco Polo - culturefrance.kz" (in French). 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ^ a b Joncheere, Ayla; Vandevelde, Iris (2016-10-01). "Representing Rajasthani roots: Indian Gypsy identity and origins in documentary films". Romani Studies. 26 (2): 151–174. doi:10.3828/Rs.2016.9.
- ^ "Saint Florent le Vieil". Saint Florent le Vieil (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-17.