French jazzman Bojan Z opens FrancoPhil 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Following the success of last year’s French-Philippine cultural programme dubbed as FrancoPhil, this year’s edition opens with style as the Embassy of France to the Philippines, the Alliance française de Manille and L’Oréal Professionnel set their partnership to promote French culture into motion by bringing French jazz pianist Bojan Z to the Philippines on Thursday, February 28, 2013, 8:00pm at the Ayala Museum.

Bojan Z is one of the most prominent, acclaimed and multi-awarded European jazz pianists today, and undoubtedly one of the most inventive and talented jazzmen of his time. Born in Belgrade in 1968, Bojan Zulfikarpasic learned to play the piano when he was 5.

In 1986, he was given a scholarship to study music in New York and went on to enter the Paris Conservatory 2 years later. He has been based in France for the last 25 years while continuing to travel around the world.

Bojan Z creates his own kind of jazz bringing a modern vibe to piano music by mixing acoustic sounds from modern jazz or classic standards (such as Duke Ellington) with the electro sound of his Xenophone (a modified Fender, an instrument of his own invention) and sounds reminiscent of his native Balkan origins.

For his Asian tour, Bojan Z will play songs from his latest album, “Soul Shelter” (Polydor, 2012), for which he was awarded a Victoire du Jazz for Best Jazz Artist in 2012, and from his second solo album, “Solobsession.” After Manila, he is also set to perform in Cebu on March 2, 2013.

The Bojan Z concert is organized by the the Embassy of France to the Philippines, the Alliance française de Manille and L’Oréal Professionnel with the support of the Philippine International Jazz Festival, the Ayala Museum, LYRIC and the Picasso, Boutique Serviced Residences.

This jazz performance is the first in a line of events for FrancoPhil, the French-Philippine cultural programme. Since 2010, FrancoPhil has been a venue for exchange between French and Filipino experts in culture and the arts while showcasing both up-and-coming and exceptional artists and their artworks to the Philippine public. This year’s line up includes Fête de la Musique, which gathered hundreds to the streets of Makati to celebrate music of different genres last year, and an audiovisual installation by French artist Robert Cahen in cooperation with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila and the Nicéphore Niepce Museum in June.

Bringing Oscar award-winning film The Artist to Philippine cinema for the first time last year, the highly-anticipated 18th edition of the French Film Festival returns with a retrospective of films from French actress Isabelle Hupert while opera aficionados are treated to the staging of “La Vie Parisienne” by Jacques Offenbach, featuring young Filipino singers trained by French experts from the Paris Conservatory. FrancoPhil 2013 ends on a high note as the Jean-Baptiste André Compagnie indulges audiences with comic antics in a modern circus performance in December.

For more information on Bojan Z or FrancoPhil, contact Sabrina Durand, AfM Cultural Coordinator at 895-7585 or visit AfM’s official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Af-de-Manille and the French Embassy’s official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FrenchEmbassyManila