El Balcón
A Montreal balcony open onto Veracruz: six musicians, wooden and stringed instruments, and son jarocho as the starting point of a journey through Greece, Turkey and the Balkans — without ever plugging in a single cable
Biography
El Balcón is a collective formed in Montreal in 2018, bringing together six musicians from varied cultural backgrounds around the world's traditional musics: Charles Cantin (vocals, jarana), Nominoë Crawford (violin), Valeria De Marre (vocals, zapateado), Joshua Greenberg (guitar), Nicolas Lafortune (cajón, percussion) and Alexandre Marchand (double bass).
It all starts with son jarocho, the festive tradition of the state of Veracruz, in Mexico — its jaranas, its requinto, its tarima where rhythms are danced with the feet. From there, the repertoire opened up to Greek, Turkish and Balkan melodies, in fully acoustic arrangements developed collectively.
First interpreters of traditional pieces, the band now writes its own works: after a first EP in 2018 and the albums el Balcón (2019), La Bruja (2020) and Contracorriente (2021), Errante (2025) confirms a singular identity. A semi-finalist at the 2023 Syli d'Or world music awards, the collective toured across Canada in the summer of 2026, from the Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
Stages and milestones
Formed in Montreal in 2018 · First eponymous EP, December 2018 · Semi-finalist, 2023 Syli d'Or world music awards (Productions Nuits d'Afrique) · Summer 2026 tour: Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac (June 11), Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 17-19), Blue Skies Festival (Ontario)
Upcoming dates
- Wednesday November 18, 2026 — Vitrine officielle — Mundial Montréal 2026 (soirée) · Petit Campus, Montréal (Canada) — Official page ↗
Public dates — collected from the artist's official channels on November 9, 2026.
Discography
El Balcón (EP, 2018) · el Balcón (2019) · La Bruja (2020) · Contracorriente (2021) · Errante (2025)
Calendar
- Saturday, November 14, 2026, 8:30 p.m. — La Petite Boîte Noire, Sherbrooke
- Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 9:15 p.m. — Mundial Montréal 2026, Petit Campus, Montreal (official showcases)
Show formats
- Acoustic collective — six musicians, vocals and zapateado: traditional repertoire and original compositions
On video — their Mundial Montréal 2026 showcase
The official presentation video of El Balcón for Mundial Montréal 2026: Wednesday, November 18, 2026 · 9:15 p.m. · Petit Campus, Montreal. Video © Mundial Montréal — provided to Festival TV in the festival's official media kit.