Folk music ensemble Etnika in Turkey

The Maltese folk music ensemble Etnika are in Turkey performing at the fourth GSM Youth Festival. The visit should help publicise Malta's cultural output overseas, said Etnika coordinator and musician Andrew Alamango.

The group are performing a one-hour concert.

The festival, hosted in the Turkish capital Ankara between Friday and December 21 brings together a number of ensembles from Italy, England, Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands in addition to Malta.

The last few months have been eventful for the Maltese ensemble. Following the Etnikafé concerts at Palazzo Vilhena in Mdina, the group featured with the Welsh Rag Foundation at St James Cavalier; it performed during the Malta Broadcasting Authority Awards; and at the Mediterranea Festival in Gozo.

Other overseas performances were held in Gibraltar at a conference on intangible heritage last September, during which they were also guests on the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation TV.

October saw Etnika in Tunisia, participating in the ECUME meeting of conservatories from the Mediterranean basin, the theme of which was Modal Music in the Mediterranean.

Etnika plan to present to the Ankara audience two new zaqq (Maltese bagpipe) players - Walter Vella and Andrew Alamango.

Other traditional Maltese instruments used by the group are the tanbur, frame drum, and the zummara, single reed pipe.

The week-long programme also features Italian band Radicanto, the Electric Fans from the Netherlands, Oojami from Britain and 14 bands from Turkey.

On their return, Etnika will record their latest material, issued since the release of Nafra - their first album and winner of the 2001 Malta Music Awards.

The new work, which is being released in February, should provide an "exciting musical blend", featuring traditional folk musicians and new, including DJ Owen Jay.

In March, Etnika are due to tour Spain, an initiative organised by Sharon Sapienza.