Sounds Aotearoa 2011 is New Zealand's only music industry conference, expo and artist showcase all rolled up into a two-day event. The event attracts international delegates as well as music industry representatives from all over New Zealand. It is designed to facilitate exposure, networking, capacity building and business promotion. You won't find a better opportunity in New Zealand to interact with music industry professionals.  

The types of people who are likely to attend Sounds Aotearoa 2011 include: record companies, recording artists, producers and studios, festival and event reps, distribution and marketing companies, media, publicists, students, managers, agents, technicians and engineers, service providers, funding agencies... and more!

Sounds Aotearoa features a conference programme and expo during the day and artist showcases/performances in the evenings. Please visit the website for details.

Sounds Aotearoa 2011 brings together people from the whole spectrum of the music industry so if you've got goals in the national or international music scene Sounds Aotearoa in New Plymouth, Taranaki, is the place for you to be on 16 and 17 March 2011. Stay on for WOMAD New Zealand 2011 which starts the following day (18 March) and you'll experience five days of unique and outstanding music from all around the globe.

More information: www.soundsaotearoa.co.nz.

www.pams.or.kr

The 6th Performing Arts Market in Seoul(PAMS) is held from October 11 to 15, 2010 in Seoul. As a channel for accessing performing arts of Korea and beyond, encountering people from the field, and sharing ideas and know-how, this annual international market is visited by more than 1,500 participants from Korea and abroad.  

Along with PAMS Choice showcases, booth exhibition and networking meetings, PAMS 2010 features special focus on 'Nordic Performing Arts' forum and showcases and 'Creative Cooperation: Conception to Circulation' forum.

PAMS 2010 is timed to coincide with the Seoul Performing Arts Festival, the Seoul International Dance Festival and the Theater Olympics.  

Visit PAMS and broaden your discovery!
Your inquiry is welcome at registration@pams.or.kr or +82(0)2 708 2282

Registration

More info: www.yabous.org

In the early hours of June 30th 2010 Mr Sten Sandahl, after a heroic struggle with cancer, finally had to admit defeat and quietly passed on. How does one sum up a long life, what parting words best befits a sad farewell?

Sten spent most of his life in the service of music. For eight years he was a lecturer at the Department for Musicology at the University of Stockholm and then practised what he taught for twenty five years as producer at Concerts Sweden. He was also, from his early teens to his last months, an enthusiastic musician playing in a number of different constellations of Swedish jazz groups.

Throughout his years at Concerts Sweden his commitment to promoting traditional and world music will be remembered as the most dedicated effort to connect Sweden with the rest of the music world. He relentlessly worked at showcasing Swedish musicians in international arenas. He almost singlehandedly introduced, and eventually built, working networks of festival and concert promoters for world music in Sweden.

Sten was convinced that music is instrumental for man's ability to grow, develop and function as a social being and that we need to acknowledge, while embracing our global community, the values we can find in local traditions passed on from generation to generation. He thus had a particular concern that the emerging global society can result in an impoverishment of the traditional music in all cultures. He worried that old musicians die and disappear with generations of knowledge about their musical traditions without getting a chance to pass their music on to the young. And he noted that while we spend millions to save endangered species of animals, at the same time we allow amazing manifestations of culture to disappear for lack of documentation or reproduction. But Sten wasn't a man to harbour such thoughts without acting upon them. He spent a lot of time and energy on recording projects Vietnam, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cap Verde, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Montenegro, and Macedonia, all released on the Caprice label under the humble title “Music from…”, all resulting in national and international tours for the featured artists.

But academic and professional achievements are only part of what makes a man. Sten did, (as most of us try) his best at being a loving husband and caring father. By his family – and his vast international family of friends – he will be sadly missed.

He was the proverbial man of letters and generous in sharing his thoughts, experiences and personal networks with the rest of us. He was often at the heart of social gatherings, an natural entertainer with many thoughtful observations and, on occasion, a teller of terribly, terribly bad jokes. Now his deeds are done and he has, most regrettably, moved on, leaving behind a void in the lives of many. With whom can we now have the strangely mixed discussions about music, football, bullfighting and what the drunken old Scotsman actually said to the sheep?

He was a good man and a good friend. One I feel most privileged to call my own.

Hans Hjorth

Amsterdam Roots Festival 2010 visited by 60,000 people. 

A long weekend with four successful nights in venues and a full open air free festival day in the Oosterpark.

The  long festival weekend started on Thursday  June 17 with a sold out show in Theatre Carré by Portuguese singer Dulce Pontes with  fado and more. The Sugar Factory hosted four young bands from Africa having their European premiere. On Friday June 20 the award winning  Staff Benda Bilili  gave a spectacular show in Paradiso. The band, some in wheelchairs, with heartwarming Rumba Congolaise conquered the Dutch public  supported by the youthful  Fatoumata Diawara, who (despite her broken foot) came, sang and conquered all.

The 13-piece band Kassav ' from the French Antilles celebrated on Saturday June 19 their 30-years anniversary during a warm, Caribbean Night in the Melkweg where a crowd of more then 1000 people enjoyed their zouk dance music.  On the second stage Asere presented a new sound by mixing Cuban son and flamenco. Earlier our 'own'  Izaline Calister warmed the audience with her charming latin-jazz from Curacao.

The Alliantie Roots Open Air free festival day on Sunday June 20 attracted about  55,000 visitors to the Amsterdam Oosterpark, where music and audience mixed  to a unique blend. It was party time with La Pegatina from Barcelona and the Colombians of Choc Quib Town, the festival hit of 2010 with their unbridled power hip hop. Highlights were Hanggai with their particular voice acrobatics from China/Mongolia, the tasteful berberrock of Amazigh and the elegant rhythms of Cape Verdean singer Lura.

Music Mayday presented their  project SKOP GAT: young South African talent meets Dutch newcomers. The Alliantie Roots on the Road showcases in two Amsterdam districts had its finale on the Ortel Mobile Urban Groove stage, where the young Afrobeat band Jungle by Night won the prestigious Alliantie Award.

www.amsterdamroots.nl

More info on criteria and applications: : http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/programme/documents/programme_guide_culture_05_2010_en.pdf

Hello DJs and radiomakers,

Since the 13th of April, broadcasting, listening and making music is forbidden in the Somali capital Mogadishu. All the local radio stations had to comply to the wishes of the Islamist militants who are controlling large parts of the country to not risk their lives. Instead of music, radio stations are playing traffic noise, sounds of the nature and gunshots to excite their listeners. The Mogadishu Music Festival is founded to speak out against this barbaric act of banning music. Mogadishu Music Festival is a fictive festival with the purpose to make people aware of these inhuman practices in Somalia. We believe there's such a thing as 'The Right to Listen Music' and that this right is being infringed in Somalia. And not only this right, but also the Freedom of Speech/Expression.

Our concrete manifestation is an international radio broadcast on the 5th of July. Radio stations participating are given songs to play, songs bands dedicated to the festival. Bands that already are 'playing' on the festival are Joanna Newsom, John Grant, De Staat and The Frames. Radio stations will play these and other songs and tell their listeners about the project. Each program is free to give a spin on the project and do it their own way.

We are speaking to Amnesty International for sponsoring and they are willing to help us. An idea is that virtual tickets will be sold and the money raised will go to Amnesty. Much bands and artists are willing to participate and have sent in songs. Radio stations participating are Radio Patapoe and Don Letts on BBC 6. 'Stichting Nedsom', a Dutch foundation who is building schools in Somalia and helping the Somali to get good quality drink water, is interested to help and many other parties like the initiative.

Want to be part of this project? Send an e-mail to info@mogadishumusicfestival.com! More information can be found on our website, http://mogadishumusicfestival.com

2 WEEKS REMAINING TO GET YOUR SHOWCASE APPLICATION IN!

CLOSING DATE: MONDAY 31 MAY 2010.

SHOWCASE APPLICATIONS ALSO AVAILABLE THROUGH SONICBIDS www.sonicbids.com/awme

Time is running out! The Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) 2010 is inviting Roots, Indigenous, World, Hip-Hop, Reggae, and Electronic artists to send in applications to perform at the region’s premiere music industry and conference event, taking place in Melbourne from 18^th - 21^st November 2010.
Now in its third year, the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) will once again take over Melbourne's city streets for three days and nights of the finest traditional and contemporary Indigenous, roots and world music on offer!
With two distinct components, AWME brings together industry representatives from all over the world to talk shop and sample music from the region, while also offering punters one of the most eclectic public festival programs in the country.
By day, AWME is a trade fair, which attracts prominent and influential festival bookers, talent agents, record labels and media for workshops, panel discussions and industry networking.  By night, AWME transforms a variety of Melbourne venues into a festival showcase in which delegates and music fans rub shoulders and sample some of the most exciting roots music on the planet.

Featuring more than 50 performance groupsand attracting national and international representatives, AWME aims to raise the profile and commercial opportunities for contemporary and traditional roots/world music groups from Australia, the Pacific and beyond. AWME provides artists the unique opportunity to perform to and network with music industry delegates from Europe, North America, Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

Please refer to the website for further information, criteria and details regarding the application process.  www.awme.com.au

We hope that this program will contribute to promoting interaction between the EFWMF and Korean music groups by helping Korean performers establish a presence at EFWMF events and by supporting festival programs that feature Korean music.

Eight EFWMF festivals applied for the grant. The invited Korean groups include “Sonagi Project,” “Gut Performance - Mr. Dong-ho Choi,” “Dulsori,” “Be-Being” and “Ahn Sook-sun.”  

“Dulsori” has been invited to four festivals – the Czech Republic’s Colors of Ostrava (slated for July), the International Petra Festival and the Heraklion Festival in Greece, and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark – and should enhance the efficiency of Korean performers’ European tours through joint program at all four festivals.  

Sfinks Mixed of Belgium requested “Gut Performance - Mr. Dong-ho Choi” and “Ahn Sook-sun” after two years of research conducted by its art director Patrick De Groote, who visited Korea in 2009-2010. The related programs will likely be based on the director’s well-rounded understanding of Korean music and performers. “Ahn Sook-sun” will be also presented at the Brave Festival of Poland under the auspices of Sfinks Mixed.  

“Be-Being” has been invited to the Uppsala International Sacred Music Festival. Part of a Buddhist music project, it will introduce unique Korean religious music to European audiences.

Austria’s Festival Glatt&Verkehrt has invited “Sonagi Project.” The Korean production was designed specifically for this festival, which celebrates world, contemporary and jazz music. Glatt&Verkehrt promotes collaboration among musicians from all over the world through joint projects with local cellists.

The 2010 KAMS-EFWMF Tour Grant will support the aforementioned festivals and performers to contribute to their co-prosperity.

Jury:    

Hee-Sun Kim (Professor, Kookmin University, School of Education)

Woo-Chang Hwang (World Music Journalist)

Yeon Woo (Director of International Dep. Korea Arts Management Service)

Korea Arts Management Service www.kams.or.kr

Brave Festival in Wroclaw, Poland (2 – 10 July 2010) Brave Festival, organized since 2005 by The Song of the Goat Theatre in Wroclaw, Poland, is a festival of brave people, people who speak about where they come from, what their values are and what their tradition and spirituality is. It is a festival about a world which is vanishing and will die if we do nothing to hold this process back, at least a bit. It is not about works of art, but about art through which it is possible to save and protect thousands of forgotten, abandoned and forlorn cultures and people. That is why we called it "Brave Festival - Against Cultural Exile". More info: www.bravefestival.pl

Esperanzah in Floreffe, Belgium (6 – 8 August 2010)
Esperanzah! is an invitation to dance, to dream, for people of all colours to come together with open minds, in the unique, prestigious setting of the Abbey of Floreffe, near Namur in Belgium.
Three stages will host more than 30 groups from all over the world, artists with recognised talents as well than some to be discovered.
Esperanzah! is also a friendly place to wander between the “Place aux Possibles”, the cinema festival, works of art, conferences, a kids’ village, craftsmen and world restaurants, street performers, 24-hour Radio Esperanzah!… two camping sites.
Esperanzah! is a festival which, through the mobilisation of numerous NGOs and partner associations, is committed to a different world. More info: www.esperanzah.be

Uppsala International Sacred Music Festival in Uppsala, Sweden (4 – 7 November 2010)
The Uppsala International Sacred Music Festival is a completely new element in the Swedish and Nordic world of music - a festival which ignores genre boundaries and looks for other points of intersection in our inward musical being, a festival devoted to spiritual music and the spirituality of music, whether sacred or profane, a festival open to music from all religions, cultures and ages. The Festival takes place at All Saints, at the end of October and beginning of November. More info: www.ukk.se

ASSOCIATED MEMBERS

Australasian World Music Expo in Melbourne, Australia (18 - 21 November 2010)
Now in its third year, AWME is the Australia-Pacific region's premier music industry conference and showcase of Indigenous, roots and world music, and a major event which cements Melbourne's reputation as Australia's live music capital. Bringing together musicians, industry representatives and festival audiences from across Australia and around the globe for three days of the finest music from the Australasian region and beyond. 
By day, AWME is a trade fair which attracts some of the world's most prominent and influential festival bookers, talent agents, record labels and media for workshops, panel discussions and industry networking.
By night, AWME transforms a variety of Melbourne venues into a festival showcase in which delegates and music fans rub shoulders and sample some of the most exciting world, Indigenous, roots and folk music the planet has to offer. More info: www.awme.com.au 



'Le Kolatier' African Music Market in Douala, Cameroon (17 - 20 November 2010) 
Every two years at Douala (Cameroon), the best musical groups from Africa and Indian Ocean, selected by a committee of professionals perform at the African music market.
Le Kolatier welcomes professionals from various countries and from every level in the music business (labels, publishers, festivals, venues, agents, institutions, journalists…). Additionally, other activities are organized during the event: tradefair, conferences, workshops, networking. The city of Douala, major entry harbour for Central Africa, offers an incomparable and wide range of cultural and culinary activities. Between two editions, Le Kolatier helps the musical groups by featuring a professional framework (promotion, training, search for opportunities of touring), in order to make them more capable of arousing the interest of festivals and venues. More info: www.lekolatier.org