IMC News
IMC mourns former IMC Executive Committee member and Secretary General Dr. Damien Pwono
(La version française suit le texte anglaise)
Paris 10.03.2023
It is with great sadness that IMC learned of the passing of Dr Damien M. Pwono on March 7, 2023, after a valiant response to colonic cancer, according to the announcement made by his family.
Damien served on the Executive Committee of IMC, including as Vice-President, from 1997 until 2003, when he was appointed Secretary General. In this position, which he occupied until 2005, he initiated among others the IMC World Forum on Music and supervised its inaugural edition in Los Angeles in October 2005.
Damien’s affinity for music goes back to childhood. He attended the high school and university chapter of the Institut National des Arts (INA) in Kinshasa, DRC. With the encouragement of his mentor, the late IMC Honorary Member J.H. Kwabena Nketia, Damien was selected for a fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, where he obtained his Masters and PhD in ethnomusicology.
Throughout his professional career, Damien put himself in the service of others. At the Rockefeller and Ford Foundation, he supported projects and programmes in the field of arts and culture as well as social justice. He later promoted global cultural diplomacy as Executive Director of the Global Initiative on Culture and Society at The Aspen Institute.
Upon his return to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012, he occupied government positions and was Professor at the Institut National des Arts, notably launching a degree in music, before being appointed Director-General of INA in March 2022.
IMC expresses its sincere condolences to the leadership, teaching staff and students of the Institut National des Arts as well as to the President and Executive Committee of the African Music Council and all its members in Africa.
Dr Damien M. Pwono and former IMC President Kifah Fakouri in 2003
C'est avec une grande tristesse que le CIM a appris le décès du Dr Damien M. Pwono, survenu le 7 mars 2023, après une vaillante réponse au cancer du côlon, selon l'annonce faite par sa famille.
Damien a siégé au Comité exécutif du CIM, y compris en tant que Vice-président, de 1997 à 2003, date à laquelle il a été nommé Secrétaire général du CIM. A ce poste, qu'il occupe jusqu'en 2005, il initie entre autres le Forum mondial sur la musique du CIM et supervise son édition inaugurale à Los Angeles en octobre 2005.
L'affinité de Damien pour la musique remonte à l'enfance. Il a fréquenté le chapitre lycéen et universitaire de l'Institut National des Arts (INA) de Kinshasa, RDC. Avec les encouragements de son mentor, le regretté Membre d’honneur du CIM J.H. Kwabena Nketia, Damien a été sélectionné pour une bourse à l'Université de Pittsburgh, où il a obtenu sa maîtrise et son doctorat en ethnomusicologie.
Tout au long de son parcours professionnel, Damien s'est mis au service des autres. Aux fondations Rockefeller et Ford, il a soutenu des projets et des programmes dans le domaine des arts et de la culture ainsi que de la justice sociale. Il a ensuite promu la diplomatie culturelle mondiale en tant que Directeur exécutif de l'Initiative mondiale sur la culture et la société à l'Institut Aspen.
À son retour en République démocratique du Congo en 2012, il devient Professeur à l'Institut National des Arts où il est particulièrement chargé de lancer la licence en musique, et occupe des fonctions gouvernementales. En mars 2022, il est nommé Directeur général de l’INA.
Le CIM exprime ses sincères condoléances à la direction, au personnel enseignant et aux étudiants de l'Institut National des Arts ainsi qu'au Président et au Comité Exécutif du Conseil Africain de la Musique et à tous ses membres en Afrique.
International and US National Music Councils to webcast landmark, joint symposium on political violence against music creators and performers
PRESS RELEASE
February 20, 2023
The International Music Council (IMC), in collaboration with the National Music Council of the United States (NMC), is proud to announce the premiere on March 3, 2023 at 3 pm CET / 9 am EST of a landmark Symposium addressing the recent spike in political violence against songwriters, composers and music performers throughout the world. The webcast, which will be available to viewers at musiccouncil.org, represents a key component of the global March 3rd Music Freedom Day observances. Details concerning subsequent access to materials will be available on the site.
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IMC Statement about music rights in Afghanistan
Paris, 13.12.2022
Despite speculations within the international community about changes in the attitude and behaviour of the Taliban in months before their return to power, we observe with grave concern that when the group re-captured the Afghan state, the Afghan people and musicians were denied their music rights as were Afghan girls and women deprived of their basic human rights to full and active participation in Afghan society and of their right to education and work.
Dr. Ahmad Sarmast nominated IMC Five Music Rights Champion
Paris 05.12.2022
Founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast has been nominated IMC Five Music Rights Champion, rejoining in this role Arn Chorn-Pond, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Ramy Essam and Tabu Osusa.
The Five Music Rights represent the core values of the International Music Council. They have been guiding the work of the IMC and of its network comprising some 1000 music organisations in 150 countries of the world.
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With no explicit focus on culture in the UN 2030 Agenda, opportunities to mobilise the cultural sector, to draw on its reach, insights and energy to accelerate development are being missed. Yet such mobilisation is all the more essential, given the long and difficult road left to travel to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
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