Mundial Montreal returns for second edition

October 19th, 2012

Following last year’s launch of Mundial Montreal, we are delighted to announce the festival is back this year, bigger and better!  Mundial Montreal, presented in collaboration with Galaxie your musical universe, is a music conference and festival that showcases the best of world music from Canada. Celebrating Canada’s rich cultural diversity through a variety of showcases and venues, Mundial Montreal hosts some of the most sought-after programmers and tastemakers to participate in ground-breaking networking events, panels and meetings. This year Mundial Montreal increases its programming up to 33 artists, in 10 different venues, and over 100 delegates from both Canada and beyond.
The second edition of Mundial Montreal is an unprecedented opportunity for the public to discover new artists in a series of free and ticketed shows, the best of world music from all over Canada at once, showcasing for Montreal audience, national and international buyers, programmers, labels and journalists. Mundial artists will range in styles such as Bulkan Beat, Salsa, Samba, Rara, Reggae, World Blues, Nuevo Flamenco, laptop Hip hop, Quebecois Cajun Punk, Arabic and Afro-dub.  Additionally, this year Mundial will put a spotlight on “World Music 2.0”, taking an innovative look at how the world music “genre” fits into the digital music world and how hybridizations of different cultures and aesthetics are evolving from the traditional. This year’s Mundial performers include Heavy Soundz (Syli d’Or de la Musique du Monde winner), Harry Manx, Marco Calliari, Nomadic Massive, Rômmel Ribeiro, Socalled, and many more!
Founded by Sébastien Nasra (M for Montreal) and curated by Derek Andrews (Luminato), Mundial seeks to build bridges in the touring opportunities for world music in Canada, and beyond. Nasra’s intentions are clear, "I want to use my M for Montreal experience to serve the world music community in audience development on a local, national and international front. It is also an amazing opportunity for me as a music fan to get up to date with the best emerging artists in the field. Plus, let me tell you: those guys know how to party!  With decades of experience in the world music industry, Andrews’ mandate is also evident, “to create a strong network of producers, grassroots organizations and world music artists determined to expand their horizons, swap trade secrets and inspire a better vision for world music in Canada.”
With all of the conferences in the creative sector taking place in Montreal this same week, Mundial is bringing together delegates from M for Montreal and Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS-Montreal Digital) to take part in a massive launch event on November 13 at la S.A.T.  The event will be sponsored by Louisiana Entertainment who will bring The Soul Rebels and 3 time Grammy-nominated Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole (in collaboration with Festival International de Louisiane). This event marks the expansion of Mundial to include international artists within their programming with a clear intention bridging Quebec artists with their southern cousins. Therefore, local favorites such as Canaille, Marco Calliari, Cécile Doo-Kingué will take part in the opening night show.
The conference will also engage local partners in support of global music including Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, Productions Nuits d'Afrique/Syli d’Or, Vision Diversité, Folquébec, and others. Mundial will partner again with Les Productions Nuits d’Afrique to showcase the winner of their annual contest Syli d’Or de la Musique du Monde. Mundial will also partner for the first time with Vision Diversité and select a “Coup de Coeur” Mundial Montréal dans la Vitrine des musiques métissées de Vision Diversité. The Coup de Coeur Mundial Montréal will showcase on Friday, November 16.
For more information, visit  www.MundialMontreal.com