Fête de la musique

At a Fête de la musique, amateur and professional musicians perform together in public spaces. It was first celebrated in 1982 as a small music festival in Paris. The event is usually held every year on June 21, the calendar beginning of summer, in more than 300 cities in Europe.

It provides an opportunity for musicians from the region, regardless of their genre or repertoire, to present themselves to a wide audience. After a long period without performances and concerts, artists are particularly interested in presenting their music at the Fête de la musique. Due to the pandemic, this year the music festival will exceptionally take place in Mannheim on July 17 and will be broadcast as a live stream. Visitors can look forward to varied live concerts that offer the opportunity to get to know new bands and styles.

Program & schedule
The stage on Toulon Square (C5) will feature performances from 14:00 to 22:00.
In the afternoon, there will be performances by local schools and school bands.
At 18:30 Christian Specht, Mannheim's 1st mayor and chairman of the Institut Français Mannheim, will welcome the audience.

During the evening, the following bands from Mannheim and the surrounding area will play:

Henny Herz
Popacademic Henny Herz is one of the most accomplished songwriters on the Munich scene. Seemingly weightless, she moves between the feather-light melancholy of a Norah Jones and the profound introspection of a Laura Marling. Without fear of abysses she creates her personal and poetic songs. Virtuoso vocal control, great harmonic awareness and thoroughly experimental use of loop and effect pedals make Henny Herz a fascinating stage figure.

Pulse Project
The formation Pulse Project of Popakademie students fuses different cultures and musical styles in a fascinating way: A fusion of Arabic and Western music leaves room for oriental melodies, complex unison passages, up to improvisations that use rock, jazz or even reggae elements. Thus, due to the origin, as well as the individual musical training of the musicians, the band is inspired by various musical traditions, but presents them in a completely new guise.

Vie au Carrée
These are four students of the Popakademie who found each other in the squares of Mannheim and decided to reflect exactly this "life in the squares" in the language of music. Behind singer Lisa Biggel and her guitar is Lars Quincke on keyboards, Hannah Wiese on double bass/e-bass and Felix Burtscher on drums/percussion.

Katia Belley
Katia Belley is a passionate singer and songwriter and an enthusiastic vocal coach. Born in France, she is a graduate of the Popakademie and has been performing on stage at home and abroad for over 20 years. Currently, Katia Belley works as a background singer and songwriter for Beatrice Egli, with whom she has performed numerous shows. She is also a background singer for "Ultimate Whitney - The Tribute Show to Whitney Houston by Silvia Dias."

LEOPOLD
With an extraordinary voice and extravagant outfits, Popakademie graduate LEOPOLD belongs to a new generation of self-confident artists. Musically inspired by great talents like Janelle Monáe, Lizzo, Prince and Beyoncé, he impresses with stunning voice, musical changeability and powerful choreographies. He breaks down gender barriers and politically advocates for true equality, acceptance and visibility of LGBTQIA+, among other things. Leopold is causing great applause not only in Germany, but also internationally. And also at renowned festivals such as the Berlinale, the Stuttgart Jazzopen or the SonneMondSterne Festival LEOPOLD fascinated the audience.

Seat reservation at kultur@if-mannheim.eu!