2011 IMC Five Music Rights Awards

In the setting of the 4th IMC World Forum on Music, the International Music Council staged the award-giving ceremony of the IMC Five Music Rights Awards on September 27th 2011. The IMC Five Music Rights Awards were once again given to programmes or projects that support in an exemplary way one or more of the five musical rights enunciated by the International Music Council. The Awards are a way to encourage IMC members and other organisations to give active support to the musical rights.

This Award is a symbolic and active recognition of the effort that is brought by each actor involved to the nominated projects and programmes.

The IMC Five Music Right Awards ceremony offered the stage for an inspiring exchange of knowledge and experience when the winning projects and programmes were presented to the audience. An overall winner and two second winners were honoured and three other projects received a special commendation.

The overall winner of the 2011 IMC Five Music Rights Award is Music. Play for Life.The Australian programme focuses in a unique and comprehensive manner on
promoting and enhancing school music education in a nation state. Consequently, every young person in Australia is its beneficiary. The programme hence supports the right for all to learn musical languages and skills, subsequently also, due to its content, the right for all to express themselves through music, and to have access to musical involvement through participation, listening, creation and information. Music. Play for Life is a programme of the Music Council of Australia and has cooperation from the Australian Music Association, the Australian Society for Music Education and the Australian Music Therapy Association.

The IMC Five Music Rights Awards 2011 were furthermore presented to Hearts in
Harmony in Barcelona and Teaching Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong
Schools.

Hearts in Harmony in Barcelona aims at including people with various handicaps

and disabilities in choral music making. It builds on two very important principles; that those with defined disabilities be integrated with musicians and other music making people who have not had their possible disabilities defined; and that those responsible as leaders and conductors for the integrated ensembles through specialised studies be prepared to create a natural unity of those making music. The programme therefore focuses more on abilities than disabilities. The project is hosted by the Secretariat de Corals infantils de Catalunya and was nominated by two IMC members: Moviment Coral Català – Mediterranean Office for Choral Music, and European Choral Association - Europa Cantat.

Teaching Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong Schools focuses on a form of music
which is unique, and which needs special attention and care as not to be forgotten. At the same time it provides young people with a demanding and indeed expressive musical language. This requires collaboration on a high level between, highly specialised performers, music educators, researchers, and students. In this way it benefits close to one million students and some 5000 teachers.
The programme stands out as a strong source of inspiration for those who have the courage to embark upon more complex and demanding musical journeys. The programme is hosted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education and was nominated by the International Society for Music Education (ISME).

In addition to the three Award winners, the following three projects received a
Special Commendation:

Espace Akto (African Academy of Choral Music, Democratic Republic of Congo) for the excellent opportunities it offers to a large population to making choral music and for continuously developing their artistic quality and enhance their choral ambitions.

The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq
for the inventive and forward-looking ways in which it enables boys and girls to participate in collective music making.

The Polifonia Network for Music (European Association of Conservatoires)
for the invaluable impact this programme has had and is still developing in Europe and beyond in the field of higher music education.

The ceremony was accompanied by music performances by the Flemish jazz trio
De Beren Gieren from Ghent – UNESCO City of Music, in collaboration with the
renowned Estonian jazz guitarist Jaak Sooäär.