Help French-Australian singer Pauline Maudy orchestrate her European dreams with Vetex

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Pauline Maudy, who you might know from her group MZAZA, is fundraising to go Belgium and collaborate with the Orchestre International du Vetex and to return to world music conference WOMEX. Read our interview with her about these opportunities and how you can help (BONUS any donations, made to Pauline via the Australian Cultural Fund, are tax deductible!)

THE COLLABORATION WITH L’ORCHESTRE INTERNATIONAL DU VETEX

Pauline, you’re fundraising to finance a very special project: a collaboration with l’Orchestre International du Vetex. How did this collaboration come about?

I met Piet de Via Lactea, the agent who organises tours for l’Orchestre International du Vetex (and Manu Chao!), at WOMEX (a world music conference) in Finland in 2019. I was there to organise a European tour with my group MZAZA, a tour which unfortunately had to be cancelled because of the pandemic. Piet is very nice, and we found we had a lot in common, in terms of musical values and tastes, so we kept in touch. In 2023 I was invited by another producer to collaborate with musicians in Sicily, and this gave Piet the idea of inviting me to work with the Vetex, an orchestra with whom I share many musical and cultural references.

Tell us a little about this orchestra and what you’ll be doing with them.

The Orchestre International du Vetex is an orchestra of musicians from Belgium, France and the Balkans, with a strong brass section. It’s been around for 20 years and has played over 900 concerts! For our collaboration I’ll be working mainly with lead composer Thomas to adapt and create pieces of music that we can play together and give us the opportunity to tour in the years to come. The collaboration takes place in Tournai, Belgium, in an artistic residency called La Petite Fabriek.

How is this international collaboration a unique opportunity to exchange skills, develop your career and strengthen your presence in Europe?

For me, the best way to learn is to work with other musicians and composers. In fact, many of my projects are based on collaboration. But the opportunity to work with a European band with certain musical and cultural knowledge is obviously rare in Australia, which makes it all the more important for me. And of course, establishing new networks and an audience abroad takes a lot of financial resources and work, so this collaboration is an opportunity for the Vetex and me to help each other and benefit from our established networks.

WOMEX

Given that you’d already be in Europe (and we all know the distance from here to there), you’ll be attending the WOMEX conference with the aim of sharing your music with new audiences. You’ve already been in 2019 which led to two residencies in Europe and a European tour (which was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID pandemic). Tell us a little about this conference?

WOMEX is quite simply the trade show for world music. The show travels every year, but always takes place in Europe. It brings together agents, labels, artists, venue and festival programmers from all over the world. So it’s the perfect event to meet up with our international colleagues, look for partners, create new networks, and showcase our work. And of course, when you’re based on the other side of the world in Australia, the opportunities to renew ties with the industry are few and far between.

Tell us about the two residencies that resulted from the last conference you attended.

The residency in Sicily was a project of the Darshan production company, which brings together 5 European musicians for a few days of intensive collaboration before presenting the pieces at the Alkantara Festival. I loved the experience. Here’s a short video of the performance.

The second residency will be in Belgium with Vetex! It will be longer and will allow us to concretize the pieces and our collaboration.

Your fundraising will help finance the trip and your stay in Europe. It’s a fundraiser with the Australian Cultural Fund. Tell us a little about how and why they decided to participate in your fund-raising campaign.

I applied through their website and my project was selected to receive what’s called “matched funding” from Creative Australia, which means that up to a certain amount Creative Australia will give me what my supporters contribute! The ACF is a great platform for cultural projects because it allows tax-deductible donations. It encourages a culture of philanthropy that exists less in Australia than in America and some European countries.

Why should people choose to donate money to your project?

I encourage people who value culture and music to donate to my project and others if they want to continue to enjoy it. It may not sound like it, but maintaining a career in music is a huge job that requires a lot of resources! The economic climate in music is very difficult right now, even more so than since the birth of streaming, and I know a lot of artists, venues and producers who have abandoned their careers since 2020. So it’s very important to support our artists (more than ever) and ask the government to do the same. This project in particular is worth the investment – it’s a project that will create work opportunities for me and at least 15 other talented musicians dedicated to their work, that will help me develop my career in Europe considerably, and that will produce lively music that I hope you’ll enjoy.

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We thank Pauline Maudy for this interview and hope she makes her fundraising target. We can’t wait to see/hear the fruits of her collaboration with l’Orchestre International du Vetex!

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HOW TO DONATE TO THE PAULINE MAUDY x VETEX /WOMEX FUNDRAISER

Help Pauline Maudy participate in these wonderful opportunities with Vetex and WOMEX by donating to Pauline Maudy’s fundraiser on the Australian Government Australian Cultural Fund’s website via this link.

NOTE: All donations over $2 are tax deductible in Australia

Read our previous interview with Pauline Maudy about her show “Take me to Paris” here and about her band MZAZA’s album “The Birth and Death of Stars” here

PAULINE MAUDY TAKE ME TO PARIS SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND TOUR

If you are on the Sunshine Coast, in Maryborough or in Ipswich, Pauline Maudy will be seeing you in June touring her show Take Me to Paris through Red Chair and will be accompanied by some amazing musicians. Dates are below, make sure you book quickly as capacity is limited!

Friday 14 June | Majestic Theatre, Pomona | Tickets: themajestictheatre.com.au

Saturday 15 June | Eudlo Hall, Eudlo | Tickets: events.humanitix.com

Tuesday 18 June | Brisbane City Hall (lunchtime concert) | Free Event

Thursday 20 June | Maleny Community Centre, Maleny | Tickets: events.humanitix.com

Friday 21 June | Brolga Theatre, Maryborough | Tickets: brolga.ourfrasercoast.com.au

Saturday 22 June | Coolum Civic Centre, Coolum Beach | Tickets: events.humanitix.com

Friday 28 June | Ipswich Civic Centre, Ipswich (dinner & show) | Tickets: ipswichciviccentre.com.au

SEPARATE SHOW: Pauline will also be performing at Brisbane Festival on 17 September JUST ANNOUNCED

MZAZA NATIONAL TOUR

MZAZA is embarking on a “The Birth and Death of Stars” national Australian tour to the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, including dates for our full theatre show, workshops and concerts! There are a few other dates which haven’t yet been announced and they are working on further dates for 2025.