Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/659044
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Ghanafest welcomes eclectic musical mix this June Multicultural mix of sounds on the cards for this year's Ghanafest as Renzo Spiteri takes over as artistic director, with the three-day festival taking place over June 10-12 THE sound of French troubadour music, eclectic Estonian music and atmospheric Tuareg arrange- ments will be part of Ghanafest's programme for this year at Argotti Gardens, under the new artistic direction of Renzo Spiteri. The line-up will also consist of estab- lished local musicians. This festival, which will be held on June 10-12, will be converging soundscapes from various musical backgrounds. Sirventés will be performing on the first day. They are quintessen- tial revivalists of the troubadour style and they have, over the years, managed to deliver a protesting or satirical poem that describes very well the violence of past times that France and Europe have passed through, as well as reflecting on the fleeting nature of human feel- ings. Estonia will be the first Baltic state to be represented at Ghanaf- est thanks to Trad.Attack!, who take their inspiration from old ar- chive recordings of Estonian tra- ditional songs and contemporary music. Ezza from North Africa will be closing procedures on Sunday. This powerful trio transforms and brings the Tuareg music off the usual path, blending without any concessions modern rock sounds, African pulse, rhythmic trances and relentless groove. This year's Ghanafest, apart from a wide selection of traditional folk singing and performance that is much sought after and which it- self is part of an old rich cultural tapestry, will offer contemporary Maltese music revived and re- newed with passion or intertwined with other forms of music. Cushion, an Indian fusion band which is based in Malta, offers a very interesting mid tempo fusion of western and eastern chill-out music, mostly inclined towards the sound of India, with dominant sitar licks, eastern inclinations on vocal threads, backed with sub- lime ambience from the keys, and interesting bass and drum pat- terns to wrap it all up. However, apart from the likes of Anoushka Shankar, among Indian influenc- es, Cushion also admits to liking indie and cutting edge rock tal- ents, notably Morceeba. KazinSka is a band as well as an ongoing project embracing Mal- tese roots and world music. The music of KazinSka, as the name suggests, focuses primarily on ska music fused with traditional ban- da marches. Mistura started as an acoustic duo by Malcolm Bonnici and An- tonio Olivari. It debuted in 2012 at L-Għanja tal-Poplu where they won the World Association of Fes- tivals & Artists (WAFA) award for Best New Talent. Ghanafest will see them performing for the first time as a rock band after their short unplugged set in 2014. Ghanafest Malta World Music Festival 2016 is organised by the Arts Council Malta and supported by the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government, MSV Life and TVM. The festival will take place over June 10-12 at Argotti Gardens, Floriana at 19:00. Tickets: €3 and €7 for a three-day block ticket available at the door. Parking available at the Floriana Boy Scouts headquarters, right next to the venue. More information: www.maltaworldmusicfestival.org Percussionist Renzo Spiteri takes over as artistic director for Ghanafest Farrugia sole heavyweight in new formation CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "AD is staying within the European Green Parties and there is no way that the party is going to be absorbed by any formation," the source added. AD has traditionally been a pro-Europe party, with a strong environmental agenda and one of the earliest proponents of civil liberties, such as same-sex unions as well as divorce legis- lation. Farrugia has described her new formation as a "loose coa- lition of individuals wanting to bring about change" that is seeking to participate in the next general election. "Various individuals, from academics to doctors, university students to people active in the grassroots of the two big parties, have come forward and we are work- ing hard to make this a real- ity," Farrugia recently told The Times. TV presenter Salvu Mal- lia has already put forward his name as a candidate in the next election. Farrugia became an inde- pendent MP after breaking ranks with the Labour Party last year in the wake of disa- greement over the govern- ment's poor record on good governance and the environ- ment. In 1989, the then Labour Party whip, Wenzu Mintoff was kicked out of the party af- ter standing up to corruption inside the party, together with then party president Toni Ab- ela. The two men co-founded Alternattiva Demokratika and until 1992 Mintoff held his seat as an independent MP for AD. Since then, various third par- ties have come on the scene, but failed to improve their vote beyond AD's 1.8% garnered in 2013: they included right-wing- ers Azzjoni Nazzjonali, the far- right Imperium Europa, and more recently the eurosceptic Alleanza Bidla. Carmel Cacopardo – AD has had talks with Farrugia