The music of the Caretas, a family affair that creates a quarry

AvignonThe Careta siblings, Santi Careta (1976) and Alba Careta (1995), are part of a musical lineage rooted in Avinyó, a town in Bages that for one week a year becomes a sonorous heartbeat. Santi is a guitarist, composer, and producer, and Alba is a trumpeter, singer, and composer. Both have released albums—together or separately—and their music has led them to give concerts in countries such as Germany, Austria, Hungary, and China. They occasionally coincide in the studio or on stage, and one thing they never fail to do is attend the music workshops organized in Avinyó every summer for the past twenty-three years. The TeMA Festival is the evolution of a modest initiative that now combines music workshops, a jazz and modern music residency, music teacher training, jam sessions and concerts. This year's edition will be the twenty-third and will take place from July 12 to 18.

The gathering that transforms Avignon every summer and turns it into a musical epicenter was born thanks to a few music-loving families from the village. Dolors Arnaus, the mother of the Careta brothers, is one of the predecessors of the project, which last year reached 170 participants in the workshops. She says that the person who planted the first seed was local pianist Montserrat Vilar, who lived in Austria and organized a music class during her summer stays in the village. Arnaus, who has also been involved in organizing the workshops from the beginning, says that several families brought their children to the classes Vilar organized because she made such high-quality music. The first edition of the workshops, very homey and small, was in 2002; they were not held in 2003, and they resumed in 2004, and now they are still being held.

It all started with an awareness-raising course and an instrumental course. The students rehearsed for about two weeks and, at the end, showed their work to the public. Arnaus's daughter, Alba Careta, was one of the first students. "At first, we advertised it in schools and it was for the children of Avignon," Arnaus explains. Guitarist Arnoldo Moreno, husband of Montserrat Vilar, used his contacts at the festival he organized in Austria to bring international artists to the workshops. Moreno was the one who asked Santi Careta, Dolors Arnaus's other son, to take charge of the modern music section. From that moment on, the workshops began to take on a different dimension, with a much larger audience and students from all over Catalonia, and guests appeared. "We let our imaginations run wild," Santi explains. They would look for artists who toured near the town to invite them to attend. The students would work on the guests' repertoire and present it every night. Alba remembers when the jam sessions They were held in the town's venues, and locals were involved in setting up the stages and spaces. He says the bars were packed and Avinyó became a unique cultural hub: "People were introduced to music they might not have heard before, and in places they'd never have before."

In the first editions, students stayed at the inn, the Cal Gras cultural hostel, and also in the homes of families who voluntarily hosted them. The teachers were in the homes of the organizing families, who also cooked and took care of the entire festival. "You experience it from the inside out. It's a transformative experience on many levels," says Santi Careta. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the jazz and modern music workshops are no longer held in the town, but at the La Plana Foundation. "We had to make a difficult decision, but a necessary one, and it has worked out very well," he explains. La Plana is a space with a capacity for 150 people and a philosophy of life that fits well with the festival. They started by scheduling all the events at the new location, but, since last year's edition, they decided to hold the closing concert in Avignon. "We wanted to recover what we had," says Alba Careta, who adds that the town has missed the music in the streets. "We even did jams in the pool," she recalls smiling.

Avinyó's musical quarry

The Friends of Music of Avignon association is the legal entity that supports TeMA and is responsible for the creation of the Avignon Music School. "We ourselves," Santi Careta emphasizes. "Those who were taking classes became part of the organization, became teachers, and then guests." He says that during the jazz and modern music week, students from past editions have become great professionals, such as Andrea Motis, Rita Payés, and Alba Careta herself. Dolors Arnaus is excited.

"It's a summer week where music is about having fun," says Alba Careta. "It's after you see who you've played with," Alba adds. The prehistory of TeMA

Thanks to professionalization and subsidies, the festival and its educational offering have been able to continue. Dolors Arrnaus, who represents the association and is in charge of management, is the one with the most experience and the most comprehensive vision of the project. "She's someone who works all year," says Santi. Dolors plays the guitar and cello, and before the workshops, she had already organized musical gatherings and a festival with people from the town. "All of this comes from here; it's the prehistory of the workshops," explains Santi. "I probably also get it from someone who made it my life," adds Dolors.

This year's edition will be held from July 12 to 18 and is dedicated to Queralt Guinot, one of the souls of the project who died in March. She was in charge of coordination and communications for the festival, and the organizing team misses her. "It's a year in which we mourn," says Dolors Arnaus. The closing concert is dedicated to Guinot and will feature artists he loved: Clara Peya, Judit Neddermann, Quim Moya, Rodrigo Laviña, Astrio, and Hip Horns. "It will be a very moving concert," says Alba Careta. And, as a new feature from last year, there will be an inaugural concert with some of the music residency faculty. It's open to everyone and will include performances by Santi Careta, Quico Pugès, Cesc Badía, Aina López, Josep Cordobés, and Aina Plans.

Musical brothers

Abor & Tynna

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Angus & Julia Stone

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Estopa

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George and Ira Gershwin

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Ginestà

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Haim

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Beyoncé and Solange Knowles

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Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn

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Judit and Meritxell Neddermann

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Oasis

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Pimpinela

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Rachel Agatha and Abby-Lynn Keen

British singer RAYE, the stage name of Rachel Agatha Keen, stands out for her agile, nuanced voice and her stage presence reminiscent of legends like Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. Her sister Abby-Lynn Keen, known artistically as ABsolutely, also has a career as a singer and producer. Raised in London in a musical environment, with her father as a producer and her mother as a choir singer in church, they are known for their creativity and versatility within pop and R&B.