Residency of Bruno Tomasello & Marina Katsari hosted by Windcraft Music Fest in partnership with Himara International Music Festival
©Chara Savvidou
THE FELLOWSHIP OF AEOLUS through the diary of Bruno Tomasello
From the moment I was chosen by Elli Michael to participate in the artistic residency supported by EFFEA, the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists, up until the day of the Windcraft Music Fest, there was a continuous arrival of new friends in my life, and more or less it went like this:
Nicosia, 09/07/2024
When I arrived in Cyprus and met Elli, I immediately understood how talented she was. She managed to organise a festival truly full of events, not just musical ones, growing it every day for 10 years without ever losing her enthusiasm and smile.
The next day, I met my friend Marina Katsari, who is so good at bringing a story to life through her voice and gestures that, in a day and a half, "The Fellowship of Aeolus" came to life. Even though she was reciting in Greek, I understood the story perfectly and, consequently, when the music had to evolve... We were the story. We were part of it personally every time we rehearsed, and it was wonderful to be part of it.
On the third day, at lunch, I met my new friends Vaggelis Gettos (founder of the Idaeon Project, a band of indescribable power) and Loïc Bléjean (masterful Breton musician and uilleann pipes player) and the bond was created immediately. Vaggelis asked me if I wanted to play some songs with them at the festival, and I accepted. In the afternoon, we immediately went into rehearsals. Together with Hugo Enrique Olivos and Alexis Yiangoullis, powerful alchemy was created, which was really nice to be part of. Politically engaged texts and well-reasoned music, the tradition of Vaggelis' laouto mixed with Loïc's uilleann pipes, Alexis' bass and Hugo's drums... an energy I can't easily describe.
©Chara Savvidou
Katydata, 13/07/2024
As soon as I arrived at the place where the festival was born and evolved, I saw many volunteers who, despite the deadly heat, were happily working to create something truly important together. Among the wonderful people was Elli's mother, Cleo, who helped me and treated me like a son. Thanks to her affection, her concern and her smile, I immediately felt at home.
Shortly after, I met the third musical project in which I participated - the Kardjin Sax Quartet - formed by Charis Ioannou (Cyprus) on soprano sax, myself on alto sax, Lasse Golz (Germany) on tenor sax and Thibault Galloy (France) on sax baritone. What truly incredible musicians… The quartet was created specifically for the festival to perform the magnificent pieces composed by Evagoras Karageorgis. He masterfully adapted traditional Cypriot pieces and his own original pieces inspired by tradition for our quartet. At the rehearsals, we met, and all smiling we couldn't wait to get started... and the alchemy was created magically in this case too.
The concerts day, 14/07/2024
The three projects in which I played were consecutive in the programme, in three different places, and people saw me move like a cricket from one stage to another in disbelief. And honestly, I don't even know how I did it...mount the set, play, dismount the set, run, and repeat three times.
The music, the sharing, the people, the volunteers, the smiles, the enthusiasm...this gave me a crazy boost and, today, I have in my mind and heart how much these three projects have given me and how much the result was truly appreciated by the people who were there and by us who were part of it.
I am deeply grateful to all the people who brought this fantastic festival to life...to which I hope to be able to return because I now belong.
©Chara Savvidou
Himara, 22/08/2024
The Fellowship of Aeolus was presented in a solo version at the Himara International Music Festival (Albania). It was a truly wonderful evening for me. I had the honour of concluding a very interesting festival conceived and created by wonderful people with big hearts, such as Endri Nini, Rea Veizi and Olsi Nini, whom I thank infinitely. My music could not have had a better welcome.
"The Fellowship of Aeolus" comes (perhaps!) at the end of a journey that led me to meet wonderful people.
A special thanks goes to the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists for believing and investing in this project.
I hope the journey of the Aeolus fellowship never ends, my dear friends!
“The Fellowship of Aeolus” is a musical-narrative performance piece developed by saxophonist Bruno Tomasello (Italy) and storyteller Marina Katsari (Cyprus) during their artistic residency at Windcraft Music Fest 10, 10-14 July 2024. The residency was organised by Windcraft Music Fest (CY) in partnership with the Himara International Music Festival (Albania) and supported by the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists – EFFEA, co-funded by the European Union. During his stay in Cyprus, Bruno Tomasello participated in two more musical projects – as an alto saxophonist in the Kardjin Sax Quartet and as a guest on saxophone with the Idaeon Project.
Full performance here