WCF Performing Artists

Elitsa Todorova

Drum & Bass / Folk / Pop

Main Stage - Bulgaria

"I am honoured to be part of the World Culture Festival for the sole reason that giving back selflessly is what makes life worth living. In today's crazy, money hungry, materialistic world, very few people find peace in their hearts, mind and soul. To be able to be part of something so special which unites people from every race, religion and walk of life is inspirational and I will carry this experience in my heart forever."

Elitsa Todorova develops a percussions-playing style of her own, combining quick ostinate rhythms on the tarambuka with synhronized tarambuka with synchronised playing and singing. The result is a mosaic of unique

movements and impeccable musical improvisations. She plays traditional percussion instruments in a most non-traditional way. The singer easily mixes traditional folklore with jazz, drum and base, ethno-motifs, classics and spontaneous improvisation. The result is fascinating. A magnetic voice and percussion tell us their folklore-jazz story. In her repertoire Elitsa Todorova plays instruments like the tarambuka, drums, maracas, clavess, old silver coins, shepperd'schimes, horses' bells, a magical thunder-wand, guirro, chimes, but of all musical instruments the best, in her opinion, is human voice. Through combining authentic Bulgarian folk songs with the energy of percussions Elitsa Todorova presents in a most touching way the core, the potency and the emotional power of Bulgarian culture.

Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov were the participates in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest! Their amazing song "Voda"("Water") brought to the country fifth place, a position that Bulgaria had never reached before.

For the WCF Elitsa wiil perform the same song “Voda” – 1000 dancers will present authentic folk dances on the stadium in national dresses during the song.

Awards:

Elitsa Todorova has been awarded with the following awards:

2010 December: WALK OF FAME in Bulgaria / Golden star for E.Todorova & S.Yankoulov

2010 September: Green Star Award See Me for song Earth

2009 May: Special Eco award for song "Earth" the green song of Bulgaria

2008 April: BG Radio Music Awards:

Special award, golden statuette:

BG Ambassador of the Bulgarian culture across the world

Golden statuette for Bulgarian song for 2007 - "Water"

Golden statuette for Bulgarian 2007 December: GRAZIA magazine's award "Woman of the year in category Music"

2007 October: Crystal Lyre Award in category Pop and Rock Music

2007 June: Statuette for the best video of the song "Water" - MAD TV Greece in Athens

2007 June: Statuette "Orpheus"–Smolian city

2007 May: An award of honour from the Bulgarian Parliament and from the Ministry of Environment and Water

of Bulgaria.

2005: Statuette "Golden Phenomenon"- for phenomenal achievements in the area of singing and instrumental arts and for the presentation of the Bulgarian culture across the world.

2005: Crystal Lyre Award in category Jazz

2005: Award from the Republic of Austria for the big contribution to the popularisation of the Bulgarian jazz music in Austria, in accordance with the European program "Step across the border"

Since February 2008, Elitsa Todorova has become an official representative of the Eco-campaign „Let's plant a tree"!

The Idan Raichel Project

Contemporary World Music

Main Stage - Israel

The Idan Raichel Project burst onto Israel’s music scene in 2002 changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance that resonated strongly in a region of the world where headlines are too often dominated by conflict. With an enchanting blend of African, Latin American, Caribbean and Middle Eastern sounds coupled with sophisticated production techniques and a spectacular live show, the Idan Raichel Project has become one of the most unexpected success stories in Israeli music history. The architect of this unique recording project is keyboardist, producer and composer Idan Raichel. Originally from Kfar Saba Israel, a small city near his current home of Tel Aviv, Idan was born in 1977 to a family with Eastern European roots. Known around the world, especially in circles of Jewish, Ethiopian and Israeli communities, the Idan Raichel Project regularly sells out concerts in large performance venues. Since the international release, the Idan Raichel Project has headlined at New York’s prestigious Central Park Summer Stage, the Kodak Theatre in LA, the Sydney Opera House and performed across Europe as well as in Mexico City, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Singapore and Mumbai. Future touring plans include South Africa and south America. Wherever they perform, the Project unifies the audience in a celebration of that which is unique about the cultures of the world as well as that in which we are all alike.

Ira Losco

Pop / rock

Main Stage - Malta

Born in Malta, Ira Losco started her career when she joined a college band, named Tiarain 1999. At the age of 28 she is the best selling artist in her country for 3 consecutive years. Ira Losco is not only a great success story in Malta, having released 3 number 1 albums (2 of which won best album), a string of chart toping singles and winning every conceivable award from `Image Icon` to `Best Artist` but has also taken her music to various countries around the world. Over the years she has developed into an artist with a powerful and distinct voice alongside her energetic live performances. Undoubtedly though, her unique selling point is her magnetic charisma which gives her "star" quality.

She has performed in a various countries, in front of audiences reaching 4,000 to 80,000, playing main support to well renowned international acts such as Elton John, Katie Melua, Maroon 5, Akon Mel C, Ronan Keating, Bob Geldof, Tokyo Hotel, Gigi D’alessio, Claudio Baglioni, Sohne Mannheims, Silbermond, Duran Duran, Enrique Iglesias, Bob Sinclair, KT Thunstall, as well as the yearly event ISLE of MTV amongst other televised concerts on major TV channels. Her songs have also been covered by a number of international artists and she has been asked to collaborate with various well-known international artists. She was also invited to be guest of honor at the prestigious festival – Sanremo held in Italy every year.

Currently based in Malta, UK and Italy, Ira Losco has also committed herself for the last 8 years to helping others in need such as YMCA- the homeless and various NGOs around the world such as amnesty international, RED, anti bullying campaign, anti racism , OSCIA, children diagnosed with Cancer and many others.

Her favourite phrase “never forget where you’re coming from” is a testimonial of her honesty, gratitude and humility. She is also the face of Vodafone, Guess, Mazda, Volvo, Sennheiser and Taylor guitars.

Outlandish

Hip-hop

Main Stage - Denmark

"The 2nd of july we are playing at The World Culture Festival in Berlin. The festival gathers around 70.000 people from 150 different countries. Together they are celebrating the diversity through music, yoga, dance and a lot of other activities. They have been doing this for the last 30 years, so we are very honoured by the invitation.

We are looking forward to celebrate the diversity with everybody attending, since Outlandish always have been supportive when it comes to dialog and community."

Outlandish is a multi-award winning hip-hop group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, they consist of Isam Bachiri (born in Denmark and of Moroccan background), Waqas Ali Qadri (born in Denmark and of Pakistani background), and Lenny Martinez (born in Honduras and is of Cuban and Honduran descent).

Outlandish's hip-hop/R&B/soul/ Club/ Electronic music sound takes influences from their various backgrounds (Moroccan/Arab/Amazigh, Pakistani/Punjabi and Latin American), and although their songs are primarily in English, they usually feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu/Punjabi, Danish, and Arabic. All these influences make the music of Outlandish somehow unique and this is easy to notice from the variety of genres covered in their albums.

Outlandish has just released their new single ” TriumF” and will soon ready to relaese their 5th album “ The Cornershop Carnival”. A musical mix of the current clubscene, hiphop and soulfull music.

Bharathi Avireddy

Dance

Main Stage - Germany / India

Bharathi Avireddy is a professional solo dancer and teacher in Indian classical dance styles Bharatha Natyam and Kuchipudi. Bharathi, born in a musicians’ family, carved her own niche by forging ahead in the field classical dances, apart from dabbling in her family’s chosen path.

She started learning Bharatha Natyam at the age of 9 from her first Guru Mrs. Uma Sampath. Her present Guru is Mrs. A. Rama Krishna in Visakhapatnam. Bharathi moved to Germany in the year 1994 and her thrist to classical dance encouraged her not only to perform dance but also give classes. She started Indische Tanzakademie in the year 1997 in Wiesbaden and now she is teaching in Frankfurt and in Rome. She has not Indian students but also students from many European countries. Her students appreciate her for that she gives more flexibility in learning these two forms of classical dances as she believes in “Art is Divine and Divinity is love,” she says, anything whoch is done in the form of Art need to be done with a loving heart. This makes her also to excel in the form of Folk and Fusion dances.

Not very long ago, Bharathi cast the traditional Kuchipudi dance- drama into a new mould --- while retaining the traditional dance form, the drama was adapted into deutsche, packaging therein the German/European ethos. The experiment was a huge hit and was lapped up by the discerning German audience.. For details, please access,

http://www.derindischetanz.de/eng/teacher.php

Bulgarian Folk dance

Folk dance - Hora

Main Stage - Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Cultural Performance demonstrates the Hora, a traditional dance which comes in many shapes from circles to other curving shapes. There are more than five types of horo that are usually danced at every wedding, differing in rhythm of the music and steps taken. No two horo dances are the same and there are probably over one hundred types of horo dances in the Bulgarian folklore. The horo dance plays a social role in Bulgarian society, for fun, contest of skill or for show, leading to the development of the variety of horo dances. There are also very sophisticated dances that cannot be learned unless one is fluent in many of the simpler steps.

Chandrika Tandon

World music – Grammy Award Nominee

Main Stage - India/ USA

Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon celebrates the grace that exists in our innermost selves. Her musical and spiritual journey has been guided by great masters from Carnatic, Hindustani, South American and Western traditions.

Her second album, SOUL CALL, a 2011 Grammy nominated album, combines an ancient Sanskrit chant with eight classical Indian ragas with western and eastern musical arrangements. Continuous recitation of the mantra’s eight syllables - Om Na Mo Na Ra Ya Na Ya- is said to form a protective armor during cell renewal in the eight vital centers of the body.

Both her albums were recorded in India and the US, Soul Call incorporates world-class musicianship and production. The album combines traditional Indian sounds such as sarod, sitar, and esraj with Western instruments such as piano, electric bass, and classical guitar. The instrumental arrangements are by Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, a global sarod maestro.

Soul Call is a not for profit initiative – 100 pct of the proceeds will benefit organizations in the fields of community building, arts and spirituality. Soul Call has partnered with over 40 organizations to date. Thousands of copies of Soul Call have already been sold in the US by word of mouth alone.

Chandrika conducts free weekly community choirs in Queens and Manhattan for over 150 people, bringing together the seniors and community in song. She has composed an innovative repertoire of ancient Sanskrit chants in choral harmonies and contemporary raga based music. Chandrika also leads chanting sessions for thousands of people in meditation and yoga retreats.

In other spheres of life, Chandrika Tandon is an active participant in business, global education and spirituality. She chairs Tandon Capital Associates and the Tandon Foundation, and serves on the board of Trustees of NYU, NYU Stern School of Business and NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. In 2009, Ms. Tandon received the Walter Nichols medal for representing the highest ideals of business, service and integrity from NYU Stern - whose prior recipients include Rockefeller, Greenspan and Welch.In 2010, Ms. Tandon was inducted into The Sir Harold Acton Society of New York University in recognition of her efforts on behalf of higher education. She also plays a leadership and advisory role in the American India Foundation, Indo American Arts Council and Pratham.

Bulgarian Folk dance

Folk dance - Hora

Main Stage - Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Cultural Performance demonstrates the Hora, a traditional dance which comes in many shapes from circles to other curving shapes. There are more than five types of horo that are usually danced at every wedding, differing in rhythm of the music and steps taken. No two horo dances are the same and there are probably over one hundred types of horo dances in the Bulgarian folklore. The horo dance plays a social role in Bulgarian society, for fun, contest of skill or for show, leading to the development of the variety of horo dances. There are also very sophisticated dances that cannot be learned unless one is fluent in many of the simpler steps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_dances

Lithuanian folk dance ensembles

Folk dance

Main Stage - Lithuania

Lithuanian student folk dance ensembles from country’s all Universities - over 300 dancers – will dance in the World Culture Festival in Berlin. After celebrating the 16th Baltic students’ song and dance festival “Gaudeamus” in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on the eve, the students will present their joint dance composition “Lithuanian folk dance suite“ in the Olympic stadium in Berlin. Several folk dances from country’s several regions are united in one joint swirl and burst from students’ young hearts. Lithuanian dances are reserved and sentimental, but when they are combined with student energy and experience, then they are inspirational and rollicking. Lithuanian academic youth dancers want to leave beautiful memories about their country and culture.

http://www.theilc.net/

Voix pour la Paix

Choir

France

“We are so happy to participate in the World Culture Festival, this amazing event will be an opportunity we would have never dreamt of... We will sing together with thousands of people from all around the world, and contribute to world peace with our voices!”

Maximiliano Miguel Cristiani

Tango Dance

Main stage - Argentina

“The Art Of Living has been working for peace in the world for the last 30 years. I want to celebrate this huge work and be part of this wave of promoting peace, love and human values. The World Culture Festival is a unique opportunity to meet people of cultures from all over the world, to work together for that change - Let the hug of tango embrace and unite us all.”

Tango … "a feeling that is danced". The spirit and magic of a traditional and popular dance that Argentina will bring to Berlín. Tango is a unique, sensual, romantic and elegant dance performed in time to the typical music that has captured the attention of the world for the last decade. The group from Argentina is composed of 40 tango dancers that will delight the audience with the charm of the tango movements and the energy of its hug.

30 Piano Concert

Main Stage - Netherlands