“ALFA – ALLIANCE FESTIVALS ASSOCIATIONS” is an International Cultural Collaboration Agreement for the development of joint activities, Seal of Quality for festivals, work team and alliance between organizers of music and dance festivals with the aim of obtaining resources and a better connection between the four parts of a musical or dance event: 1.- THE ORGANIZERS, 2.- THE ARTISTS , 3. – THE AUDIENCES and 4.- THE MEDIA, making the mechanisms for promoting festivals and artists and the international dissemination of their activities more efficient.

ALFA has been founded by associations and international cultural agents from Lithuania, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and Romania.

The Joint Commission or “International Advisory Committee” is in charge of advising and supervising all joint activities and events, as well as the studies and work carried out by ALFA to achieve the purposes of the Agreement.

International Advisory Committee

ANNE MARIE DAVID (France)

ALFA AWARD 2020

Anne Marie David is one of the great French singers, also known as “The Crystal Voice” due to her delicate interpretive power.

She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, although not representing her country but Luxembourg. She also came in third place in 1979, this time representing France.

The same year of reaching first place in Eurovision she recorded her first album, entitled “Comme un enfant”. That year she also won the “Charles Cross Music Prize”, which is the highest recognition award for a singer in France.

Also very important in her career was her selection to play Mary Magdalene in the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar”, in its French version. This increased the popularity of Anne Marie. So much so that the Third Network of French TV proclaimed her his godmother.

In 1984 she returned to the musical theater with “Le vent torubillon”, a play for children that received a great reception from the public and was a success for her career.

She has participated, as a guest artist in the galas of the 25 and 50 anniversary of Eurovision, in 1981 and 2005, that last year as presenter of a part of the festival.

In 1987 she was at the Viña del Mar Festival (Chile) where she represented France, coming in third place.

She has traveled all over Europe and has dazzled audiences in many countries with her beautiful voice and her elegance in interpretation.

In 2010 she was invited by ORFEUM Organization of European Music Festivals to participate as a jury and guest artist at the Universong – The Canary Islands International Song Festival, held in Tenerife. Also invited by Orfeum, she has been a jury at the Viva la Música Festival in its 2017 and 2020 editions. She has also been invited as jury member and guest artists to other international music festivals: Malta Hit Song Festival (Malta), Canzoni dal Mondo (Italy) and Istanbul Songs Festival and many others important music and cultural events.

KENAN DOĞULU (Turkey)

ALFA AWARD 2020

One of the most prominent names in Turkish pop music, Kenan Doğulu’s rise to stardom coincided with his debut album in 1993 and he enjoyed immense success ever since as a singer-songwriter, producer, philanthropist and occasional actor. His career highlights include 14 studio albums, 9 singles, 59 music videos, countless awards for best album, best song, best music video and thousands of concerts that attracted hundreds of thousands of people.

His albums sold more than 15 million copies; including “Festival” which became the best selling album of the year in 2006, with its first single “Çakkıdı” holding the record of the most downloaded song of all time. His other accolades include more than a dozen number one hits, albums and videos. His popularity landed him appearances in successful advertising campaigns. Doğulu composed and performed the Turkish entry for 2007 Eurovision Song Contest “Shake It Up Shekerim”, finishing in fourth place.

In his career spanning for more than three decades, Doğulu gained further attention for his collaborations with other artists and composing songs in different genres; including a film score for “Unutursam Fısılda” for which he won a SİYAD award and a jazz album “İhtimaller”. He has combined electronic, pop, ethnic and house genres for his latest album “Vay Be” in 2018. He lent his voice to several animation movie characters and took part in more than one hundred charities for WWF, UNICEF, TEMA, TEV, TEGV, Koruncuk Foundation among others, focusing primarily on nature, children and education.

GÜLÇİN ERGÜL (Turkey)

ALFA AWARD 2020  

Gülçin Ergül is a pop, funk, R&B music singer, songwriter, composer, dancer, choreographer, actress, TV personality and a yoga teacher.

She was the lead singer of Turkey’s legendary award winning girl-band named Hepsi in early 2000’s and she is still continuing her solo music career for ten years. Her subsequent studio albums with her girlband and as a solo artist through the 2000s and 2010s; HEPSI 1 (2005), HEPSI 2 (2006), ŞAKA (2008), BRAVO (2011), BİR TANECİK AŞKIM (2015), ARABESK (2018).

She was born in Istanbul in 1985. She completed her education at MSGSU State Conservatory Ballet and Contemporary Dance Departments. She then continued to work on different dance routines with important choreographers from all over the world. Gülçin then started taking private singing lessons during her high school years and still continues to do so. She played the character “Gülçin” in the tv series called HEPSİ 1. She toured Turkey and worked with turkish singer Sezen Aksu and Kenan Doğulu. She won more than 10 important awards with the group. She left the group in 2009.

After 2 years, she released her first solo album BRAVO! (2011) and it became number one in Turkish Billboards Music. She worked with the world-famous dancer and choreographer “David Hernandez” for “Ara Ara”, who also has worked with world stars “Kylie Minogue” and “Mariah Carey”.

In 2015, she released her second solo album BİR TANECİK AŞKIM. It’s music video reached over 40 million views on Youtube. She also featured in a hit song AĞLAT BENİ with the Turkish singer Harun Kolçak and it reached almost 90 mn views on YouTube. She became the face of AVON, PEPSI, PENTI and featured in the covers of magazines “Trendy”, “Dream You” and “WoMen”. Also, she recorded jingles for many brands such as Star TV, Medipol University, ShowTV, Tamek, Radio Fenomen and Radio Bilyoner. She recorded featuring songs with Tuna Kiremitçi, What Da Funk, Sinan Ceceli.

In 2018, she released her conceptual project album ARABESK which she reinterpreted old Turkish songs with her own style. She also has 5 singles.

Gülçin became one of the main judges for the Turkish version of “ALL TOGETHER NOW”. She will release her upcoming Turkish album on October. Also her first international english album is on the way.

LOS PEKENIKES (Spain)

ALFA AWARD 2020

Legendary Spanish musical group created in 1959. They began their journey making rock & roll versions of traditional themes of Spanish music and also with Spanish versions of well-known themes in English.

Ignacio Martín Sequeros, Alfonso Sainz, Lucas Sainz, Juan Pardo, Junior, Pepe Barranco, Tony Luz, Eddy Guzmán, Felipe Alcover, Jorge Matey, Pepe Nieto, Félix Arribas, , Pablo Argote, Álvaro Serrano, Salvador Domínguez, Pedro Luis García Vega, Luis Eduardo Aute, José Vicente Losa, Raimon Gómez, Toni Obrador,  are great musicians who have been part of this important band.

Their great success in 1960 with their version of “The Four Muleros” made the band decide to dedicate themselves to performing instrumental rock. Tracks like “Hilo de seda”, “Time and rhythm”, “In front of the Palace”, “Hot sand”, “Trickster and dancer”, “Close to the stars” and many others, are part of his greatest hits, as well as “Popcorn”, his version of “Popcorn”

They were the opening act for “The Beatles” at the legendary concert in Madrid of the great British and universal band.

More than 60 years of excellent music.

 ASFALTO (Spain)

ALFA AWARD 2020

ASFALTO is one of the great rock bands in Spanish and, without a doubt, the flagship of progressive rock in Spain. Created in 1972, it has been, in the last 48 years, followed by hundreds of thousands of fans and has been master and inspiration for other great groups that emerged in later decades. Creators of their own style and always offering their audience musical excellence in their careful record productions and concerts.

Current musicians: Julio Castejón (Lead vocals and guitar), Paul Castejón (multi instrumentalist), Arturo García (Drums), Nacho de Lucas (Keyboards) and Pablo Ruiz (Bass).

Their contribution to rock in the Spanish language and their career for almost five decades deserves a special distinction and a reminder of all their emblematic hits: “Días de escuela”, “Rocinante”, “Capitán Trueno”, … among many others.

Singles: Jenny / Reasons (Action, 1972) I want / First dance (Action, 1972)

Albums: Asfalto (Chapa Discos, 1978), On the other side (Chapa Discos, 1978), Now!! (Chapa Discos, 1979), Leave it like that (Chapa Discos, 1981), More than an intention (Snif, 1983), Cronophobia (Snif, 1984), Long-distance runner (Snif, 1986), 1972 – 1987 … 15 years of music (Snif, 1987), Just for the money (Libélula Records, 1990), Planet of the Fools (Libélula Records, 1994), Utopia (Desktop Edition, 2008), At last alive! (Legend Records, 2009), Unpublished (Lazsound Music, 2011) 12Music (The Fish Factory, 2011), The color of the invisible (Imagina Music, 2014), Chronicles of a rare time (Rock Estatal Records, 2017), Sold out (live album, 2017)

More info at: ASFALTO

CONGRATULATIONS to the five awarded artists

ALFA – Alliance of Festivals Associations

Awards sponsored and supervised by

European Music Festivals Organization 

With the collaboration of Tabaiba Media Design & Visual Communication