IMC Honours ‘Gaza Sings’: Uplifting Voices and Resilience Through Music
The International Music Council (IMC) is pleased to announce that the 2025 IMC Music Rights Award is given to the project Gaza Sings: Voices of Steadfastness and Hope. The project was nominated and is implemented by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (Palestine).
Born from the rubble of war, Gaza Sings affirms music not only as a human right, but as a lifeline for dignity, resilience, and healing. It offers children and youth access to music making and enjoyment, while empowering 42 musicians and 7 ensembles with opportunities for paid work and recognition. Since its launch in late 2023, the project has reached nearly 40,000 participants – mostly children and youth – across displacement shelters, public parks, tents, private schools, and community centres in Gaza, Cairo (for displaced Gazans), and the West Bank. Amid the destruction of Gaza’s schools, hospitals, studios, homes, and infrastructure, Gaza Sings became a bold act of hope: making space for expression in times of conflict.
Through community-based music education, participatory performances, creative workshops, and digital releases, Gaza Sings reclaims joy, childhood, and collective identity. The impact of Gaza Sings reaches far beyond music. It harnesses the transformative power of collective creativity to foster healing, protect artistic livelihoods, preserve cultural memory, and affirm that Gaza’s story will not be defined by sorrow alone – but will also be carried through melody, rhythm, and resilience. This programme embodies the spirit of the Five Music Rights: the right to express, to learn, to participate, to create, and to be acknowledged. In Gaza Sings, music is not a response to survival – it is a bold affirmation of it.
Background
The IMC Music Rights Award stands as a powerful symbol of recognition and celebration for the dedication, creativity, and impact of all those involved in the nominated programmes. More than just an accolade, it is a call to IMC members and music organisations worldwide to champion the Five Music Rights and turn them into a living reality for people everywhere. The IMC’s annual Music Rights Award is, in fact, granted solely in recognition of a project’s outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the Five Music Rights. The award is not intended to endorse any political position or party. IMC advocates for music’s role in promoting peace and harmony, and political statements made by individuals outside of our organization do not reflect the views of IMC or its members. In all cases, our organization speaks for itself, not through others.
Process
The Music Rights Award is decided through an independent process. A distinguished international panel of respected professionals carefully reviews the nominations and selects a proposed programme laureate, and acceptance of such recommendation is then voted upon by the IMC Executive Board. This process seeks to ensure impartiality and fairness, as IMC members are not involved in the selection process.
IMC President Sheila Woodward comments: “Every nomination for the Music Rights Award this year is deserving of recognition. The work being done across the globe is deeply moving and significant. Our congratulations are extended to the laureates who have touched our hearts with their meaningful endeavours to keep the joy of music alive in times of war and turmoil in pursuit of non-violence and peace.”
Panel Composition
The advisory panel of the IMC Music Rights Award was chaired by Andre Le Roux, Founding Manager & Director at IKS Consulting, and composed by Roula Abou Baker (Manager of Fayha National Choir, Vice President of the International Federation for Choral Music), Angharad Cooper (Freelance Consultant, Director of Operations at Center of Music Ecosystems, Vice Chair at the European Music Council), Susana Ferreres (Vice Head of the Center for Ethnomusicology and Creation in Traditional and Avant Garde Arts, Tres de Febrero University), Dr Benon Kigozi (Vice-President for East Africa of the African Music Council), Federico Rinaldi (IMC Executive Board representative) and Tan Sooi Beng (President of the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance).
Chair of the advisory panel, Andre Le Roux underlines “the unique power of music, culture and creativity to build harmony and counterpoint” and that “now is the perfect time to harness that power and to let exemplary projects lead the way toward a more just, connected, and compassionate world”.
Read the full statement of Andre Le Roux here.
Manal Awwad, Director of the Gaza School for Music, speaking on behalf of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, notes that those “teaching children music under bombardment, in tents and among the rubble” are the ones “who truly deserve this recognition.”
Read the full statement of Manal Awwad here.
The 2025 IMC Music Rights Award will be presented during the opening of WOMEX – The World Music Expo, in Tampere (Finland) on 22 October 2025.
To learn more about how Gaza Sings continues to reclaim joy childhood and collective identity through music, click here for the Edward Said Conservatory of Music which hosts the project.