Paris, 01.10.2023, International Music Day
The International Music Council (IMC) is pleased to announce that the 2023 Music Rights Award is given to the Santuri Electronic Music Academy (SEMA) from Nairobi, Kenya. The project was nominated by the Goethe-Institut Nairobi.
The IMC Music Rights Award is a symbolic and active recognition of the effort that is brought by each actor involved in the nominated programmes. With this Award, IMC encourages its members and other organisations to give active support to the Five Music Rights proclaimed by the organisation.
“We are absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious accolade, and with it a level of validation for the work we have been trying to implement over the last 10 years. The IMC Music Rights Award is perfectly aligned with our goals as an organisation, which we define as ’enabling East African music practitioners, especially those with limited opportunities,to learn, experiment, innovate, collaborate and showcase their craft both regionally and internationally’. In the last 3 years we have worked to provide music education to almost 200 artists through our SEMA program,maintaining 55% non-male participation. To receive this award encourages us to persevere with this important work, and to continue innovating to create amore equitable music industry for all” says David Tinning, Co-founder and Managing Director of Santuri East Africa.
Santuri is a music innovation hub which offers music production courses, workshops, showcases, panels, cultural preservation activities and community focused events and seminars.
The hub provides the opportunity for Santuri students and community to express themselves fully – in any style, genre, or approach. The courses encourage musical exploration through various techniques of learning by doing, and students have produced work that spans pop, fusion, ambient, experimental,house, techno, hip-hop and traditional styles.
Santuri offers a full rounded learning environment that combines the practical elements of music creation with cultural and community-based modules. Students attend film screenings, panel discussions, deep listening sessions and special guest lectures on specific musical topics. They also have access to Santuri’s library of books and periodicals on music culture and technology.
Students can develop their artistic practice through use of cutting-edge production and performance equipment – both hardware and software. In addition, Santuri has created linkages for residencies, events and platforms that have led to significant opportunities for the community. This ranges from European tours to online showcases and more.
IMC President Alfons Karabuda commented: “I am impressed by the quality of the nominations received for this edition. I would like to express our gratitude to the members of the advisory panel for the hard work and for the choice of Santuri, an outstanding example of the Five Music Rights in action.“
The advisory panel of the IMC Music Rights Award was chaired by Ms Christine Semba (Consultant / Head of WOMEX Academy) and composed by Dr Sheila Woodward (IMC Executive Vice-President), Ms Melody Zambuko (Country Director, Music Crossroads Zimbabwe), Ms Reem Kassem (Acting Head Performing Arts, Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi, Dr. Anothai Nitibhon (Vice-President, SEADOM), Mr Michalis Karakatsanis (Vice-Chair, European Music Council) and Mr Martin Fraile (Artistic director, Orquesta Filarmónica de Río Negro).
The 2023 Music Rights Award will be presented during a special ceremony on the occasion of the 40th IMC General Assembly and Visa for Music’s 10th anniversary edition (Rabat, Morocco 21 -23 November 2023).
