MoonJune Music Festival Toledo 2023 Featuring Soft Machine, Diego Amador, & More

MoonJune Music and M Films Producciones present a multi-sensory festival of eclectic, international progressive music expanding the boundaries of jazz, rock, global music, and the unknown.

Join visionary presenters Leonardo Pavkovic and Mauricio Aguinaco in historic Toledo, Spain, for four days of extraordinary concerts, roundtable discussions with seasoned music industry professionals, regional gastronomical delights, and the warm camaraderie of a global cast of musicians and enthusiasts.

Featured artists include Soft Machine (UK), Paqueando with Diego Amador & José María Bandera (Spain), Anchor & Burden (Germany, Israel), Dwiki Dharmawan World Peace Band (Indonesia, Israel, Mexico) with special guest Dewa Budjana (Indonesia), Israel Varela Musica Pintada (Mexico), Heledo & His Friends (Uruguay, Israel, Belgium) featuring Xavi Reija (Spain), Amós Lora Band (Spain, Cuba), Jaco Abel Flamenco Eléctrico Trio (Spain), Ana Alcaide (Spain) with special guest Bill Cooley (United States), Fernando Girón Band (Spain, United States), Anthony Garone (United States), Dennis Rea (United States)

Befitting an artist management and record company that epitomizes musical multiculturalism, MoonJune's second annual global gathering takes place in the historic cultural crossroads of Toledo, Spain. With its rich history as the former capital of Castile, the first capital of Spain, and the current capital of the La Mancha region, Toledo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that traces its roots back to Roman times, a place where Christians , Jews and Muslims lived together in tolerance for centuries, hence its nickname, the City of Three Cultures. Fittingly, the 2023 edition of the annual MoonJune festival will take place at Toledo's historic El Circulo del Arte in the former church of San Vicente, founded by KING Alfonso VI shortly after the Muslim conquest of Spain. Once known as the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition, the building has been reborn as a chapel for worship and art creation.

MoonJune Festival Toledo 2023 is a celebration of the creative spirit and international friendship, a gathering of musicians, journalists, music activists and, of course, like-minded music lovers. After a very successful first edition of the festival in Leonardo's hometown of Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, itself a historically important cultural melting pot, in June 2022, the Second International Music Festival - MoonJune Festival Toledo 2023, could not to take place nowhere else than Leonardo's new hometown thus connecting two beautiful historical cities: Toledo (the first capital of Spain) and Jajce (the former capital of medieval Bosnia).

If the musicians come from different parts of the world, also the festival-goers and the so-called 'moonjunistas' come from various parts of the world, and their presence was confirmed by the fans who come from the United States, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, United Kingdom Kingdom, Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Israel, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Confirmed moonjunistas festival goers are eager not only to enjoy the music festival but also to enjoy all the beautiful things that Toledo has to offer, and for many of them this will be their first time not only in Toledo, but in many cases, as well. his first time visiting Spain.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

MoonJune’s guiding principles – or as Leonardo Pavkovic prefers, “modus moonjundi” – are in tune with what legendary British bass player Roy Babbington (Soft Machine and much more) memorably described as “poetic entanglement” - that is, the art of being alert to, and confidently acting on, the affinities and happenstances of the moment, in a spirit of openness, curiosity, and goodwill. MoonJune’s mission is to spread unity, joy, and hope through music, toward the elusive goal of peace and understanding on this troubled earth.

The dynamic personality of the festival’s founder, Leonardo Pavkovic – a resident of Toledo since December 2021 – lies at the epicenter of the Festival’s initiative and its spiritus movens. A unique figure in the worldwide musical milieu, “Mr. MoonJune” has long been one of the most creative forces supporting, producing, developing, and organizing ambitious musical projects the world over.

The MoonJune Festival is a celebration of the creative spirit and international friendship, a gathering of like minded musicians, journalists, music activists, and of course music lovers. After a very successful first edition of the festival in Leonardo’s native city of Jajce, Bosnia & Herzegovina - itself a historically important cultural crucible - in June 2022, the Second International MoonJune Music Festival 2023 could not be staged anywhere else but in Leonardo’s new hometown, thus connecting two beautiful historic cities: Toledo and Jajce.

MoonJune's Music Universe creates connections between different musicians around the world, often from different cultures and musical styles, producing unique and new music, partnering with quality, artistic integrity and innovation, ignoring conservative critics and skeptics who they reject or downplay anything outside of their own restricted gender biases, and looking to where musical innovations have historically always occurred, in free mixing of genre influences.

MoonJune's musical offering constantly shines its light across a devastated and commercially bastardized musical landscape never capitulating to "the market," a rare model of musical virtue in times of increasingly cultural bankruptcy.

A SENSORY FEAST

Designed as an immersive, multi-sensory experience, the Second International MoonJune Festival showcases MoonJune talents from around the planet, including distinguished musicians from the United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Spain, Indonesia, Uruguay, Israel, Cuba, and Mexico. The event offers not just a series of concerts but a unique “penta-sensorial” experience blending sounds, flavors, aromas, and audiovisual elements evoking the rich cultural legacy of Toledo and its surrounding La Mancha region, famed for Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes, the Windmills of Consuegra, El Greco, olive cultivation, and much more.

The festival will combine:
• Hearing: extraordinary music performed by exemplary players representing MoonJune’s global diaspora
• Sight: projected images complementing live musical performances
• Taste: the gastronomic richness of La Mancha’s regional cuisine, wine, and olive oil
• Smell: fragrances of Toledo’s unique natural and built environments
• Touch: tactile encounters with the walls and buildings of the ancient town, imbued with mysticism from two millennia of history

In addition to the concerts, the festival will include expert roundtable discussions on the state of today’s post-COVID music industry and more, plus the inaugural “MoonJune de la Mancha Awards” for Lifetime Achievement in performing and recording music (and an outstanding career in the music business).

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

September 28 - Day One - Miradero
Press conference
Live performance: ANTHONY GARONE and DENNIS REA.

September 29 - Day Two - Circulo de Arte
* Roundtable discussion on the music business environment in the post-COVID world, with Derek Shulman, Bill Hein, Leonardo Pavkovic, Markus Reuter, Sid Smith, Adam Baruch.
* Live performances:
• FERNANDO GIRÓN BAND (band members TBA).
• ANCHOR & BURDEN (Markus Reuter, Alexander Dowerk, Bernhard Wöstheinrich, Asaf Sirkis).
• SOFT MACHINE (John Etheridge, Theo Travis, Fred Baker, Asaf Sirkis).

September 30 - Day Three - Circulo de Arte
* Roundtable discussion: “the Flamenco world - yesterday, TODAY and tomorrow” with Jaco Abel, Ámos Lora, José Maria Bandera, Diego Amador, Israel Varela, Maria Nocetti.
* Live performances:
• JACO ABEL FLAMENCO ELÉCTRICO TRIO (Jaco Abel, Júlian Heredia, El Moreno).
• ÁMOS LORA BAND (Ámos Lora, Gito Maletá, Rainier Elizondo 'El Negrón', Bandolero).
• PAQUEANDO featuring DIEGO AMADOR and JOSÉ MARIA BANDERA.

October 1 - Day Four - Circulo de Arte
* Roundtable discussion: “Music and musicians from around the world bridging the world” with Ana Alcaide, Dennis Rea, Israel Varela, Dwiki Dharmawan, Asaf Sirkis, Leonardo Pavkovic, Adam Baruch.
* MoonJune Award: for Lifetime Achievement in Performing and Recording Music and for Lifetime Achievement: Outstanding Career in the Music Business. Presented by Sid Smith and Anthony Garone
* Live performances:
• BELEDO & HIS FRIENDS (Beledo, Ofer Assaf, Pato Muñoz, Xavi Reija, special guest Dewa Budjana).
• ANA ALCAIDE (Ana Alcaide, special guest Bill Cooley).
• ISRAEL VARELA MUSICA PINTADA (Israel Varela).
• DWIKI DHARMAWAN WORLD PEACE BAND (Dwiki Dharmawan, Dewa Budjana, Ivan Nestorman, Ofer Assaf, Yaron Stavi, Israel Varela).

TICKET SALE (ONLINE ONLY via EVENTBRIDE, in USD only)

SINGLE DAYS PACKAGES from July 8, 2023
$35 and up

MOONJUNE EXPERIENCE IN TOLEDO
4 DAY VIP PACKAGES only until July 7, 2023 ($120 - $350)
• 4 DAYS VIP PACKAGE STANDING: $120
• 4 DAYS VIP RESERVED SEATS ROWS 4-13: $150-$200
• 4 DAYS VIP RESERVED FIRST THREE ROWS: $200-@250
• 4 DAYS VIP RESERVED VIP TABLE SEATING: $300-$350

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