Feria B! will offer two separate events for the first time: performing arts in October and music in November.
The change is in response to a request from the sector to focus the attention on specialised programmers and to encourage booking abroad.
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Professional Music and Performing Arts Market of the Balearic Islands
The director general of Culture, Catalina Solivellas, and the managing director of the Institute of Balearic Studies (IEB), Pere Malondra, today presented the new features of the 8th edition of the Professional Music and Performing Arts Market of the Balearic Islands, Fira B! 2023, which will be held for the first time as two separate events. On the one hand, from the 9th to the 12th of October will be reserved for professional performing arts shows and conferences; and on the other, from the 2nd to the 5th of November, the musical performances and the corresponding professional conferences will take place. “The change obeys a demand from the sectors to concentrate the attention of specialised programmers”, explained Solivellas.
Fira B! will offer 55 concerts and 26 performing arts performances in Palma to showcase and promote the latest and most representative creations by artists from the islands.
Solivellas stressed Fira B!’s commitment to ensuring that all the islands are represented in the programme. “The fair brings together, apart from the cultural and professional sector, also the territorial sector,” he said. “The change with the separation of music and performing arts and some very solid professional conferences confirm the commitment of this government to the projection of the cultural sector of the Balearic Islands with the showcase that Fira B! represents”, he added.
Interest in participating in Fira B! has grown with an increase in the number of proposals received for both musics, up to 580 (312 in 2022), and performing arts, which have reached 300 (241 in 2022).
As for the performing arts programme, on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 October, there will be mainly text theatre and new languages, while on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12, it will be the turn of movement, dance, circus, street theatre and visual theatre. Performances by Aurora Bauzà and Pere Jou, and the companies Daus, Ovnipresents, La re-sentida and Moviments, among others, have already been confirmed.
The musical programme will include different styles such as pop, rock, indie, jazz, electronic, classical and urban music. Among the scheduled performances are Bilo, Litore Quartet, Jose Carra, Manel Fortià Trio, K12, Pere Navarro Trio, Alexandre Delange, MDMar, Glymur, Reïna, Rudymentari, Tamar Su, Superkoloritas, Ovella Negra, Lia Kali, Xisk, Ana Lua Caiano and KamBrass Quintet, among others.
As for the performing arts programme, Fira B! will feature text theatre, dance, circus, new languages, physical theatre and street theatre. The performances will be held at the Xesc Forteza Theatre, the Catalina Valls Theatre, the Mar i Terra Theatre, the Principal Theatre, the Sans Theatre, Espai el Tub, Teatro del Mar and the Plaça Major.
The performances will be held in Palma’s Teatro Principal, the Xesc Forteza Theatre, the Mar i Terra Theatre, the Casal Solleric, Can Balaguer, the Archive of the Kingdom of Mallorca, the Plaça Major and Ses Voltes, thanks to the collaboration of Palma City Hall and the Consell de Mallorca.
Professional conferences
The director of the IEB, Pere Malondra, pointed out that Fira B! is also a meeting place for professionals to foster the promotion of the islands’ artists abroad. “The Fira B! Professional Days will allow the entire artistic community of the Islands to present their projects to local and foreign programmers and professionals, as well as to establish synergies and collaborations with other artists,” said Malondra.
The professional conferences will be held at the Mar i Terra Theatre and there will be a meeting point for artists and agents from the sector at Can Balaguer.
The performing arts sessions will include a meeting of the national playwrights’ associations, a round table on the Statute of the Artist, the Corredor Mediterráneo workspace, collaboration with Hivernem Tàrrega and various creation and residency spaces, presentation of national and international networks, a workshop given by COFAE, etc.
The main theme of the music sessions will be the periphery, with a visit by a delegation of Portuguese and Czech professionals, and spaces for thought on themes such as synchronisation and artistic residency and collaboration as a driving force for creativity. There will also be workshops related to the topics discussed and presentations, all conducted by professionals and experts from the performing arts sector, the music industry and interspersed with short exhibitions.
Within the framework of Fira B!, the congress and assembly of the Plataforma Jazz España (PJE), the association that brings together the most important jazz festivals in Spain, will also be held. In addition to bringing together some fifteen jazz programmers from all over Spain, PJE will announce the Jazz España 2022 award.