North Sea Round Town announces the Artist in Focus and first adventurous programmes for upcoming festival

27 June - 14 July 2024, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

With great excitement, fringe festival North Sea Round Town (NSRT) announces their new Artist in Focus to be bassist and composer Alessandro Fongaro. Between June 27th and July 14th 2024, Fongaro will tour the city of Rotterdam with his ‘dream project’ - ‘The Hunters In The Show’ and various collaborations and performances.

The 19th NSRT edition kicks of on Thursday 27 June 2024 with the premiere of the ‘The Hunters In The Show’, presenting Alessandro Fongaro’s new work and compositions for a large ensemble, consisting of an incredible group of (inter)national artists, featuring a string quartet formed by George Dumitriu (RO/NL), Yanna Pelser (NL), Pablo Rodriguez (ES/NL), and Thomas van Geele (NL); saxophonist Nicolo Ricci (IT/NL), pianist Marta Warelis (PL/NL), and drummer Jim Black (US), one of the most in-demand drummers in avant-garde jazz.

During Jazzahead and part of the partner country focus on The Netherlands this year, Fongaro will perform with his latest project Pietre (NL) on Apr 11 | 22:45 - 23:15 hr. | Hall 7.2 and on the Sunday 14 April | 11:30 - 12:15 hr. | Velo Lab, Bremen during the jazz bike tour. Participants can experience a preview of Fongaro’s ‘dream project’ - ‘The Hunters In The Show’ alongside violinist George Dumitriu.

The ‘artist in focus’ trajectory with North Sea Round Town, documents and presents the culmination of a year of personal artistic development, which re-questions the musical and artistic values Fongaro means to put forward when composing and performing. Simultaneously, he threw himself into the world of photography parallel to his musical work. This new flow of inspiration manifested in a program that mirrors his musical exploration of the quest for 'Home,' capturing the evolving perception of the places he has lived in and left behind.

NSRT connects artists, makers, audiences and communities within Rotterdam. Annually, the festival invites an extraordinary talent as their Artist in Focus, offering support and guidance on their journey of researching and developing new creations and a ‘dream project’ with Rotterdam as their playground. The ‘dream project’ is a special production created from scratch to be presented during the festival in an unconventional set-up. After the project’s premiere, NSRT supports the performance to further develop beyond the festival and travel outside of Rotterdam. Alessandro Fongaro’s trajectory for NSRT 2024 can be followed on northsearoundtown.nl

About North Sea Round Town

Fringe festival North Sea Round Town (NSRT) is a city-wide festival that continues to develop as an adventurous playground for rising jazz stars and beyond. For two and half weeks, the festival connects artists, makers, audiences, and the city of Rotterdam with over 325 concerts on 125 locations varying from (jazz) venues and public squares to churches, (former) swimming pools, art galleries, nursing homes and many more. The city forms a challenging scenery and the connecting factor for rising stars and contemporary acts on a local and (inter)national level. The keyword here is collaboration, because NSRT is a festival where everything revolves around joining forces with new young voices and collective making. Discover the best jazz, soul, R&B, funk, improv, electronica, hip-hop and pop in Rotterdam.

According to journalist Henning Bolte (All About Jazz) “the festival brought some close encounters with amazingly open, talented, and courageously collaborating musicians of an astonishing new international scene here in The Netherlands.”

North Sea Round Town 2024 | Thu 27 June - Sun 14 July*
3 weeks | 350 concerts | 125 locations in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
www.northsearoundtown.nl

*Also outside the festival period, North Sea Round Town is increasingly frequent. Keep an eye on our calendar for new programmes throughout the year.