Young, dynamic and always listening out for new trends, young talents have all the assets to succeed. The important thing, from that perspective, is to put them in the best conditions to realise their aims and innovate their world. To do so, there are growing numbers of programmes to support aspirational young people, and local enterprises are also increasingly committing themselves to working with these young talents, who have the ambition and the courage to revolutionise the market and to move away from well-trodden paths. At the cultural level, too, national institutions are making every effort to support young artists.
Festivals and public platforms enable the general public to discover these talents and to become aware of the work of collaboration between young artists and their mentors. We can give an example that illustrates this point: the Screaming Fields Festival. Its aim is to identify, support and promote young groups and artists from Luxembourg. Much more than just a festival, Screaming Fields accordingly goes beyond the simple framework of a running order for performing artists, offering a genuine pathway for developing the groups and artists involved – an example of support in the field of music.
But these same commitments can similarly be found in the field of agriculture, of food, of what we do day-to-day. So why not bring these fields together, if the challenges and the commitments are the same? Concerned to support not only entrepreneurs in the food sector in Luxembourg, but equally young artists, a family-run Luxembourg enterprise in the food retail sector has linked up with the Screaming Fields Festival, and together established a fresh challenge: a Song Contest. While the festival is primarily aimed at promoting the music of emerging artists, with a support and development programme geared to the music scene, the Song Contest is looking to stimulate innovation and musical creation. It aims to serve as a springboard for the artist emerging as the competition winner.
And this commitment is bearing fruit. Following on from the talented rapper Maz, winner of the Song Contest in 2017, this year’s winner is Ema, a young artist aged just 17, who carried off the prize with her composition and performance of the song “City Ties”. By offering an ‘artist package’, the sponsor hopes to lend a helping hand to the career of this young and talented singer. So in the autumn Ema will start work on producing her song, after which she will record a video clip, before the song is ultimately broadcast over the country’s airwaves and performed live on stage.
Discover EMA, and the reason for backing this unusual partnership.