EFA: Sir Jonathan Mills announced as President of the EFFE International Jury

The European Festivals Association is proud and honoured to announce the President of the EFFE International Jury 2017-2018: Sir Jonathan Mills. He will chair the second edition of EFFE - Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe, implementing the EU’s ambition to establish a new European Label for Festivals.

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ECA EC Newsflash January 2017

Dear reader
Here are the January news from the choir world.
Please forward this newsletter to your singing friends, members of your association, or translate the news which you find essential into your own language.

Sonja Greiner, Secretary General
on behalf of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat

La traduction française >> ici
Deutsche Übersetzung >> hier
English Version >> here

Newsletter REMA - January 2017

Dear Reader,

We wish you a very happy new year!

With this newsletter, we are delighted to send you information about upcoming REMA activities, especially the REMA Awards, the next European Day of Early Music as well as news from the member organisations of REMA.

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SOUNZ: A look back at 2016

SOUNZ Executive Director Diana Marsh looks back at the year...

Dear Friends,

With our second year in Creative New Zealand’s Toi Tōtara Haemata arts leadership programme coming to an end, I am again excited and impressed by the contribution our funders, partners, staff and supporters have made to New Zealand music being heard wide and loud.

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IMZ Customer Newsletter January 2017

Your monthly update on performing arts releases,
live streams, previews and specials - directly from the producers. Brought to you by the IMZ International Music + Media Centre, the international business network promoting performing arts through audiovisual media.

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ECSA position paper on draft copyright directive

The draft copyright directive published this autumn by the European Commission was welcomed by ECSA as a first step in the right direction. The ECSA board of directors sets out a more comprehensive feedback on behalf of the community of European music creators in a new position paper.

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PFI: Pour le soutien aux politiques culturelles en Ile-de-France

Après la fermeture de Culture O Centre en 2016 et la liquidation en cours du Transfo en Auvergne, ce sont plus de 70 emplois et les missions portées par les organismes associés de la Région Ile-de-France qui sont aujourd’hui menacés de disparition.

La Plate-forme interrégionale (PFI) regroupe 16 structures régionales (agences régionales du spectacle vivant et missions voix), véritables espaces d’expérimentation qui agissent de manière structurante dans la mise en œuvre des politiques publiques de la culture, en appui des collectivités territoriales, en particulier des régions, en faveur du développement et de l’aménagement culturel des territoires.

Dans un contexte de profondes mutations et de réorganisation des territoires, la PFI tient à rappeler son attachement à la nécessité d’assurer la continuité de ces missions et de ne pas perdre les compétences et savoir-faire acquis au fil des ans.

Nous attirons l’attention de tous – élus, collectivités territoriales et responsables culturels – en particulier sur les coopérations existant entre les structures régionales en matière de mutualisation des compétences et des ressources, de conseil et d’accompagnement des artistes, des enseignants et responsables des pratiques artistiques amateurs, ainsi que des porteurs de projets, notamment au travers de dispositifs infra et interrégionaux.

Ces partenariats sont le fruit de nombreuses années de collaborations et d’un savoir-faire auquel l’ARIAM (une des toutes premières agences régionales) et ARCADI ont pris une part importante, tant au niveau régional, au bénéfice des acteurs culturels et de nombreuses collectivités du territoire, qu’au niveau interrégional, au travers des coopérations initiées par ces structures ou auxquelles elles ont pris part sur l’ensemble du territoire national.

La baisse, voire l’arrêt, de la subvention régionale pour les agences de la région Ile-de-France nous apparaîtrait comme l’expression d’un appauvrissement culturel du territoire et, à ce titre, très préoccupante. Nous sommes convaincus de la nécessité de pérenniser des outils et des services proposés aux acteurs culturels et au public par les organismes territoriaux pour créer des synergies et des dynamiques collectives et accompagner les collectivités dans la mise en œuvre des politiques d’aménagement culturel des territoires.

Anne-Marie Jean, Présidente

Being a Musician is a Human Right

The Finnish media have recently reported about a musician who applied for asylum in Finland and got a negative decision on grounds that he should change his profession in order to survive in his home country. The Finnish Music Council cannot accept the outrageous argumentation of the decision on refusal of entry, made by the Finnish Immigration Service.

In the decision, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) takes it as a fact that the person concerned has been persecuted and assaulted in his home country due to the profession of musician. The decision states that it is not taken as a fact that the person concerned would be threatened in the future, provided that he relinquishes the profession of musician. The decision states that the musician's profession is not an innate, unchangeable or otherwise essential characteristic for a person’s conscience or the realization of their human rights.

The Finnish Music Council (FMC) finds the argumentation of the decision in fundamental contradiction with human rights. Migri requires that the musician, when returning to his home country, submits to oppression and deprivation of the freedom of expression in order to survive, and looks for another job that does not threaten his life.

The logic of the decision is hard to understand. The required sacrifices hit at the heart of the person's conscience and human rights. The musician is required to give up on crucial human rights in order to survive and to enjoy the remaining, restricted human rights. If the logic of the decision was followed across the board, it would eliminate the need of the institution of asylum.

The solution offered in the decision might well be the only way for the musician to survive, if he was forced to return to his home country. But as the content of an authority's decision it does not stand up to scrutiny, especially from the perspective of human rights. The requirement of relinquishing a profession repeats the same restriction of the freedom of expression and human rights, that the musician has faced in his home country.

FMC finds it essential not to require persecuted artists to relinquish their profession. A civilized state should advocate human rights and freedom of expression.