Overview
Moskitto Bar brings music from all across the world to our Stage in the Park, while Ramon Chicharron blends electro-tropical with Latin and Caribbean sounds.
About Moskitto Bar
An only-in-Toronto blend of the music of Ukraine, the Balkans, Iraq, Algeria, Brittany and Canada celebrates the coming together of cultures and music’s ability to unite us and get us moving.
Moskitto Bar began in the woods at Ontario’s OM Festival, with the connection of three talented artists who discovered new musical connections while the mosquitos fed on them, the best Moskitto Bar in Canada with some different blood flavours from all over the world. Tangi Lion brings lively Celtic/Romany melodies on accordion and vocals, Ahmed Moneka (Iraq) brings profound Middle-Eastern soul influence on percussion and vocals; and Yura Rafaliuk adds the Ukrainian/Balkan flavour on cimbalom and vocals. Soon after that, they were joined by Fethi Nadjem, who added a traditional North African/Algerian influence with violin, and vocals. The band continued to grow, adding more talented global musicians, becoming a musical “family,” with Demetrios Petsalakis from Greece on oud, Christopher Kettlewell from Canada on upright bass, Majd Sekkar from Syria on clarinet and Naoki Hishinuma on trumpet from Japan. The band is the personification and the soundtrack brought to life of multi-cultural Toronto and the magic that ensues when artists from different traditions come together in new contexts.
Like their namesake bug, but nicer, they feed off one other musically and gain inspiration through sharing. An ever-expanding, consciously genre-bending experiment, Moskitto Bar isn’t just more than the sum of its musical parts and a platform for musical exploration: It is proof of the magic that ensues when we focus on that which unites us rather than on what separates us. Despite the diverse backgrounds, languages, experiences, traditions, politics and ideas of Moskitto Bar’s members, what unites the group is the deeper connection that music makes possible and their desire to connect cultures for a better future.
In their short history, they have already graced the stages of Koerner Hall, Harbourfront Centre, the Aga Khan Museum, the Opera House, and NAC community events and festivals. They’ve worked with Russian group Dobranotch, Bosnian icon Bozo Vreco and Ukrainian group Burdon Folk Band. Their self-titled debut album came out in April 2019.
About Ramon Chicharron
Winner of two Album of the Year awards (ADISQ, Latin Music Canada) for Pescador de Sueño, Ramon Chicharron is back with a fourth album, Destello de Estrellas. A mix of electro-tropical sounds, guitars inspired by Congolese soukous and Latin and Caribbean rhythms, Destello de Estrellas, is an entry into Ramon’s universe through 12 songs inspired by love, the desire to abandon oneself to fate, and the love and connection with nature. A Montrealer for nearly 15 years, Colombian multi-instrumentalist Chicharron advocates the sincere blending of genres and identities and the erasing of borders.
Dates & Times
July 17
4:30pm – Moskitto Bar
6pm – Ramon Chicharron