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Angels In Harlem Gospel Choir
One of the most famous gospel choirs in United States, this group travels the globe, sharing its joy and faith through music, and raising funds for children's charities. The inaugurate this year's Festival Mil·lenni with a special performance entitled 'Remembering Michael Jackson'. December 9th, 9pm; L'Auditori; €18 to €363 of 9
Astrud and Brossa
Astrud are one of the most influential Spanish indie-pop bands; here they join forces with Brossa for a reworking of their songs. January 22nd, 9pm; L'Auditori; €224 of 9
Fangoria
This popular electro-pop band from Madrid have a new album out 'Absolutamente' (2009), which is an ideal soundtrack for those in the mood for dancing and partying.December 28th, 9pm; Palau de la Música Catalana; €18 to €485 of 9
Manel and Joan Miquel Oliver
Mallorcan Joan Miquel Oliver (pictured) is a poet as well as a composer and guitarist. He will give a joint performance with Manel, a Barcelona-based folk pop and indie pop band. January 15th, 9pm; Palau de la Música Catalana; €15 to €286 of 9
Maria Dolores Pradera
Maria Dolores Pradera is a well-known Spanish actress and singer who specialises in traditional Spanish and Latin American music.December 29th, 9pm; Palau de la Música Catalana; €18 to €687 of 9
Nacho Vegas + The New Reamon
Nacho Vegas is the leading Spanish indie/folk-rocker of his generation, well-known as both a solo artist and collaborator, having worked with a number of successful groups and artists. Supporting will be The New Reamon, whose MySpace page intriguingly describes his genre as "tango, a cappella and Christian rap".January 9th, 9pm; Palau de la Música Catalana; €18 to €328 of 9
Coro Uganda Natumayini
The Children of Uganda Natumayini Choir will sing and perform traditional dances from Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. The show is part of a humanitarian project that aims to help orphaned children and to raise funds for their education.December 27th, 7pm; Palau de la Música Catalana; €12 to €309 of 9
The_Matthew_Herbert
The Matthew Herbert Big Band has recently released a new album 'There's Me and There's You', Herbert's second collaboration with the band and has been described as a seductive and sophisticated collection of protest songs. The band is likely to play songs from both its recent and previous albums.December 12th, 9pm; Palau de la Música; €18 to €45The Festival Mil·lenni is an odd creature. First off, there’s the name. The event started in 1999 to welcome in the new millennium, so it all made perfect sense back then, but today... Perhaps the organisers are planning to hold it for the next 991 years. That wouldn’t be a surprise because they seem to like events that go on and on and on. This year’s festival lasts almost five months, which is presumably a good way to coordinate the diaries of the 32 acts taking part, but that’s a long run by anyone’s standards. And, apart from it clearly being a ‘music’ festival, it’s a difficult event to categorise; to say the line-up is eclectic feels like the last great understatement of 2009. The presence of Michael Bolton, playing his first-ever Barcelona concert (January 14th) and Greek-Egyptian icon Demis Roussos (February 4th) suggests that it is a retro easy-listening extravaganza. But the festival’s second concert, taking place this month on the 11th, features Russian Red, AKA the young, strikingly pretty Spanish singer Lourdes Hernández, who sings cool folk pop in English with a memorable (and unaccented) Cyndi Lauper-esque voice.
Of the other 29 acts, it’s like a giant audio pick ‘n’ mix. Some of the participants seem to turn up to the Mil·lenni year in, year out (I’m looking at you Michael Nyman, February 24th), while others are fresher on the music scene (Melody Gardot, April 14th and Joss Stone, February 11th). Non-English language artists are well represented, too, with fado singer Dulce Pontes (March 4th), sarsuela from Angeles Blancas (December 30th) and flamenco from Tomatito (February 5th). Local performers include Catalan rumba maestro Peret (February 11th) and Mallorcan singer Maria del Mar Bonet (April 6th). Elsewhere, hippy chick Joan Baez will play old and new material (March 2nd), while Woody Allen will be getting his clarinet out yet again—and looking for audiences willing to pay up to €98 to see him do it (March 28th).
11 Festival Mil·lenni
Palau de la Música Catalana, L’Auditori and Gran Teatre del Liceu
December 9th to April 20th, 2010; €12 to €98