THERE’S a quiet, almost unsettling intensity that burns behind the bright eyes of Matthew Steliou, an intensity that provides a contrast to a natural demeanour that pretty much defines the term ‘laid back’. Steliou does not live up to the archetypical image of the successful music promoter. He does not come with a cigar clenched between his teeth, nor is he clad in a sharp suit, or sporting a Rolex. Instead, he projects a rather gentle, modest manner that at first belies full ownership of a steel fist encased within a velvet glove.
The laid back velvet gentleness is natural, the ‘steel’, however, is something he has honed over the years as an essential working aid in the often cut-throat, always fickle business of concert and events promotion. Steliou is also a man on a mission. His avowed aim to broker a positive form of cultural openness, an acceptance and an understanding by audiences, through which they can then begin to appreciate the many thousands of rhythms and myriad of cultures that exist in this wonderful world of ours.
To be honest, few people in their right minds would currently be willing to compare the cultural delights on offer in France with those currently available in Cyprus, but Steliou firmly believes things will change in that direction.
“All of us need help to become more aware of our environment and of our inherent culture. I believe Cyprus has the potential to be as culturally sophisticated as France. We already have a rich patchwork of different nationalities, all drawn from being positioned close to the African shores, Asia Minor, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Turkey: all these countries have an unbelievably rich musical heritage. It’s through experiencing these different types and styles of music that we are able to re-discover and so promote our own unique cultural identity.”
I’m curious to know what it takes to be a successful promoter: is it all to do with how the numbers stack up, or is it about the taking of risks, calculated or otherwise?
“First thing is to understand your audience. What we do at Alma productions is to offer that something different in the way of quality entertainment. Of course, the numbers game is important. You have to be able to run each project so that it certainly doesn’t lose money, and if you and your team do their job well, then you will have a successful event.
“It’s also hard work as the man power and different levels of expertise that go into bringing a group or a soloist over to Cyprus is very high, and like everything else in life sometimes it’s fraught with the usual hiccups.
“Basically, mounting a show is akin to being an expert at doing a jigsaw puzzle without the benefit of the picture on the box. The real beauty of this job is that no two events are the same so one is constantly being pushed to excel in ways that make for both an exciting and deeply satisfying life.”
Alma productions have over the past 18 months have more than honoured their mission, by regularly introducing to audiences a range of new and exciting performers. The successful Tango seminars, held in Limassol, effectively turned on a new generation of aspiring tangueros, with highly skilled Argentinean masters of this dance displaying once again that the Tango just has to be one of the most sensual forms of active coupling outside the bedroom.
From Cape Verde, the land of spice and sunshine, came the barefoot diva, Cesaria Evora. She performed with her full throttle band to two sell-out concerts in Limassol and Nicosia, wowing her audiences with a non-stop repertoire of evocative songs, delivered with her smoky voice that oozed flawlessly through a medley of songs drawn not only from her homeland but also from the rich repertoire of Cuba and of South America.
The Steliou touch will also be very much in evidence come the autumn: in October we can look forward to the unique pleasure of being in the company of some genuinely world-class artists.
Virtuoso violinist Dora Schwarzberg is recognised as one of the worlds leading players and teachers of the violin: she comes to Cyprus in October with an impressive concert history having performed with the orchestras of Kazals, Stern, and Mehta.
Then, if there is one man who typifies the Steliou philosophy, it’s got to be the Cuban septuagenarian Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club, a Grammy award winning vocal artist, who, despite some crushing life blows still triumphed through it all, and never lost his lust for life, or decency as a human being.
Over the years, his music has enriched many a soul, packing halls from Sydney to London or Tokyo, each performance in the sizzling company of his 18-piece band enthusiastically communicates the sheer unadulterated joy of playing.
Few of us these days realise that there are so many different testimonies to the human spirit that this 1,000 years of musical tradition represents. Music has motivated people to sing in church, when bringing in the harvest, lamenting the dead, singing to praise the Gods, to find a sweetheart or march off to war. Music has always been about some real activity of life; to separate ourselves from it takes us far away from some of the most civilising impulses that we posses.
These days, concert going, the hearing and feeling of live music has sadly become something utilitarian; more and more, we seem to seek out selfish sounds, with the social pleasure of ‘sharing music’ with friends and family something disappearing into the past. Music is a unique and precious resource, and we should be thankful that with Alma productions on the scene, we can now look forward to visiting different, exciting, and dramatic live music cultures.
Alma Productions Ltd, Ayion Anargiron 14, P.O.Box 52246, Limassol. 25-822842. www.almaproductions.net
