Ade Bantu is a Nigerian German musician, cultural curator and film producer whose 30 year career has spanned continents and genres. He is best known as the frontman of the 13 piece, awardwinning band BANTU (Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity), the founder of the Afro German music collective Brothers Keepers, and the creator of Afropolitan Vibes - Lagos’s premiere concert series and annual festival.

Ade has released eight studio albums with BANTU - beginning with Fufu (1999) and most recently What Is Your Breaking Point? (2023). The album, “Fuji Satifaction” earned him and his band two Kora Awards for “Best Group Africa” and “Best Group West Africa,” and with Brothers Keepers he won the 1LIVE Krone Radio Award for the single “Adriano (Letzte Warnung).”

Ade has collaborated and recorded with luminaries such as UB40, Tony Allen, Seun Kuti, Megaloh, Xavier Naidoo and Fatai Rolling Dollar, and shared stages and studio sessions with Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Harry Belafonte and many others. He served as a judge on Project Fame West Africa TV show from 2012–2015.

As a film producer, Ade has overseen short films, documentaries, radio and TV productions for clients including Jameson, WDR and Deutsche Welle. He curated “Naija Pop in HD” for the ExAfrica exhibition series in Brazil and produced the “Statues Also Breathe” exhibition project by French sculptor Prune Nourry and the accompanying shortfilm. He is currently in production on two featurelength documentaries slated for 2025/26 release, while touring and crafting exciting new music with BANTU.

Ananya Bhattacharya is the Co-Founder and Director of Contact Base (trading banglanatak dot com), a social enterprise headquartered at Kolkata in India, and working on inclusive and sustainable development through culture-based approaches. An electrical engineer from Jadavpur University (1989), Ananya is a Commonwealth Scholar with Master's in Sustainable Development.

Ananya is a member of the UNESCO Global Facilitator Network working on safeguarding living heritage. Ananya has published several papers and serves on international boards and forums, including ICHCAP, the International Music Council and ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Cultural Tourism.

Ananya is also in several editorial boards of publications on cultural heritage. With over 25 years of experience in safeguarding living heritage, Ananya has worked across India on promoting grassroots creative economies, and community led cultural tourism.

Angharad Cooper is a cultural consultant and producer based in Paris. She works internationally with clients from across the music and culture sector, developing new artistic projects and policy. She divides her time between her work as Director of Operations at music policy NGO the Center for Music Ecosystems, and as a freelance consultant, producer and coach, working on diverse music projects with a wide range of artists and partners.

Sophie Dowden is a freelance consultant for European cultural projects, research and policy. She works on the intersection of culture with DEI&A (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility) and health and wellbeing. She currently manages the Creative Europe projects SWAN and Choral TIES, is part of the researchers' team of the current Europe Beyond Access project and is facilitator of the European Network of Cultural Centres' working group on inclusion and accessibility.

Director of 6MIC since 2019, Stéphane Delhaye has extensive experience in technical management and event production for cultural events. With a Master's in Management of Cultural Organizations and a varied career including technical direction for prestigious venues and artistic tours, he combines financial expertise with organizational skills. Additionally, he has collaborated with political groups and founded his own event services company, showcasing a dynamic and versatile profile.

Silja Fischer studied in Berlin, Moscow and Hamburg. She joined the General Secretariat of the International Music Council in 1993 and has served since 2009 as Secretary General. In this capacity, she is notably in charge of IMC's advocacy action, representation and membership development while overseeing programme strategies and partnerships. Since IMC is an NGO official partner of UNESCO, Silja ensures also the liaison with the UNESCO Secretariat as well as with diplomatic representations of Member States. Besides her great passion for music and its transformative power, Silja strongly believes in strategic collaborations for effective and efficient advocacy work. She represents IMC in various advocacy groups such as the CSO Global Coordination (2005 UNESCO Convention) and the #culture2030goal campaign.

Liaison Officer for Culture at the UNESCO Liaison Office in Brussels and Representation to the EU, Oriol Freixa Matalonga is an expert in international cultural relations and cultural development cooperation with more than 20 years of experience in cultural policies and the management of development cooperation programmes in international organizations of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UNESCO).

Oriol has been active in the academic field, taking part in postgraduate diplomas in international cultural cooperation at several European universities as well as in international forums. He currently coordinates from Brussels the UNESCO- EU partnership on Culture, which dates to 2012.

Mila Georgieva is one of the most active Bulgarian professionals in the field of culture management, dedicated to the promotion and internationalisation of the Bulgarian music scene across Europe and beyond. A graduate of the National Music School in Sofia as a classical pianist, she went on to study Mass Communications, Music Production, and Music Management at New Bulgarian University. She is the co-founder and Head Producer of SoAlive Music Conference (SAMC), the leading music industry event in Sofia. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Bulgarian Music Association (BMA), where she oversees international activities. As part of BMA, she was also the Project Manager for the Creative Europe project MOST – The Bridge for Balkan Music.

In 2023, Mila founded the Tales of Sinemoria Foundation, a cultural organisation focused on regional development through arts programming. The foundation is currently developing the Tales of Sinemoria Festival. She is also a board member of the European Music Council (since June 2023), and has worked with A to Z Foundation (organisers of A to JazZ Festival) as an international relations and project manager.

Sonja Greiner is the Secretary General of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat and a member of the Board of the World Youth Choir Foundation, as well as governance advisor to the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM).

With her German father and French mother as well as her two brothers, she spent several years of her childhood and youth in Peru and Ecuador, Latin-America, and thus learnt three languages at the same time. She later spent one year in United Kingdom (as Au Pair) and one year in Metz, France (as language assistant). After studying English, French and Spanish in Freiburg, Germany, and doing two years of teacher training, she first became the manager of the International Chamber-Choir Competition and the festival Musica Sacra International in Marktoberdorf (Germany) at the beginning of the 90ies. She later became deputy Secretary General and then Secretary General of Europa Cantat (European Choral Association since 2011).

Sonja Greiner was a board member and Treasurer of both the European and the International Music Council between 2000 and 2013 and was elected Honorary Member of the International Music Council in 2015.

Music journalist, radio producer and organizer of the music life in Poland, Joanna is the vice president of the Polish Music Council Board. After graduating from the University of Warsaw she started working in the Polish Society for Contemporary Music as well as in the Polish Radio Channel 2. Since 2013, she has been the delegate of the Polish Radio at the IMC International Rostrum of Composers and in April 2023, she was honored with the ‘Golden Microphone’ for her ‘tireless promotion of contemporary music’. Her collaboration with the EMC started in 2015 from the Share & Learn: Audience Development Workshop organized in Warsaw and 2016 European Forum of Music in Wroclaw. Since 2018 she has been a member of the EMC Board.

Audrey Guerre is the coordinator of Live DMA, the European network for live music associations. Her experience in studies, job opportunities and personal beliefs early led her to specialise herself into European cooperation and live music. She now provides Live DMA members with a political monitoring, tools, and opportunities to meet & exchange best practices. She also represents their interests to European institutions and partners. Audrey Guerre is the current Chair of the European Music Council.

Sanni Kahilainen is Head of Communications of the Finnish Musicians’ Union. She is also Executive Vice President of the International Music Council (IMC), representing the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), and Vice Chair of Freemuse.

With a background in musicology, sociology, and gender studies, she is passionate about music, freedom of expression, and advancing equality within the industry. Her work sits at the intersection of music, rights, and policy, with a strong focus on advocating for performers' rights and equity both in Finland and internationally.

Alongside her work, Sanni engages in human rights activism across various causes and communities in Finland and beyond.

Frank Kimenai (Rotterdam, NL) is researcher & senior consultant at KEA. He specializes in the music sector, but brings in broad knowledge on the CCI’s in general, especially around topics like sustainability and resilience. Frank feels most at home at the intersection of culture, economy, policy and the social domain. A formal training as an ecologist, and 25 years of sector experience, allows him to further develop the CCI’s as a complex ecosystem. Next to his work at KEA, he conducts a PhD research on the resilience of music ecosystems at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Within this research, Frank is currently focusing on future proofing the music sector as a complex system. He is particularly interested in systemic transitions and the role of grassroots initiatives in creating more fair, equitable, sustainable and resilient futures.

In the past, Frank works extensively with the European Commission on the development of their music sector policy, and also with several European associations, such as the Federation of Music Conferences, the European Music Managers Association, and the European Music Council. On a national level, he is a frequently asked advisor for several CCI and cultural funding institutes on topics like innovation, international strategic development and artistic career development.

Luiza Moroz is the Policy Adviser at Culture Action Europe, focusing on topics such as EU funding for culture, working conditions of artists, and artistic freedom.

She previously worked at the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, where she helped introduce the concept of creative industries into the governmental agenda and establish the sector's analytical and statistical framework. She has also worked on European integration in culture and completed a traineeship at the European Commission. 

In 2018, Marc du Moulin joined the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA), which gathers 59 associations of music authors across Europe. Co-funded by the Creative Europe programme, ECSA's core mission is to promote the rights of composers and songwriters at European and international level, with the aim of improving their social and economic conditions, as well as their artistic freedom.

Marc has a comprehensive knowledge in copyright and European law and an in-depth understanding of the functioning of the creative industries. He previously worked in Brussels for the European Film Agency Directors, the Motion Picture Association, the European Commission (DG CNECT) and for Eurocinema. Marc holds a Master in UK-EU-US Copyright Law from King's College London and a Master in European Studies from the Catholic Institute of Paris.

Mr Ernesto Ottone R. is the Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO. Prior to this position, Mr Ottone R. served as Chile’s first Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage from 2015 to 2018. As Minister of Culture, he created a Department of First Peoples, a Migrants Unit and strengthened copyright laws and heritage protections.

During this time, he also chaired the Regional Centre for the Promotion of Books in Latin America and the Caribbean (2016 – 2017). From 2011 to 2015, Mr Ottone R. served as Director-General of the Artistic and Cultural Extension Center of the University of Chile, which manages the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, the Chilean National Ballet (BANCH), the Chile Symphony Choir and the Vocal Camerata.

From 2001 to 2010, he held the position of Executive Director at the Matucana 100 Cultural Center in Santiago. Mr Ottone R. holds a Master's degree in Management of Cultural Institutions and Policies from the University of Paris IX Dauphine (1998) and a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from the University of Chile.

Gilles Pelayo is the Head of the Unit managing the Creative Europe - Culture' EU funding programme at the European Commission's Education & Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Gilles has been working for over 25 years at the European Commission, first in positions dealing with the Union's external relations (democracy & human rights promotion in the Western Balkans; relations with Latin America), in the Home Affairs department (in particular the fight against corruption), and before his current position, leading the Unit managing the Citizens, Equality, Rights & Values programme.

Member of the European Parliament since 2024, she has made culture a common thread throughout her professional and political career.

Before serving as Deputy Mayor in charge of culture in Paris's 11th district, she worked in the field of audiovisual production, particularly in documentary filmmaking.

Ensuring universal access to culture for all Europeans is, in her view, a key priority. In response to the liberal deregulation of cultural content, she advocates for the promotion of a European cultural exception.

Ole Reitov is co-founder and Chair of Freemuse – an international organisation defending musicians' and artists' rights to freedom of expression. He is appointed member of the 2005 EU/UNESCO expert facility. Ole worked globally as music journalist for 30 years for The Danish Broadcasting before co-founding Freemuse. He has been consulted by IFACCA, IFA, Swedish Arts Council, EUNIC, UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights and lectured worldwide on artistic freedom.

Guillermo Rodríguez is a pianist and cultural policy adviser based in Brussels and Madrid. He is the co-founder of the Spanish Federation of Music Students and actively collaborates on advocacy, youth participation, and capacity-building initiatives with organisations such as the European Association of Conservatoires, the European Performing Arts Students' Association, or the Spanish Hub of Culture Action Europe.

He leads initiatives that aim to strengthen the cultural sector's ecosystem and foster stakeholder engagement in policy-making, including Ágora and Estado del Arte in Spain. He also coordinates youth participation programmes such as La Movida and LabThyssen, the Young Friends Programme of the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, and contributes to external quality assurance in higher music education as a MusiQuE – Music Quality peer reviewer.

Since 2022, he has served as Head of Cultural Policy and Cultural Democracy at Kubbo. In March 2025, he joined Harmon to continue his work in cultural policy.

Carole Tongue, former MEP for London East (1984–1999), served as Deputy Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party and as Culture Committee Coordinator for the Socialist Group. She authored a landmark 1996 report on public service broadcasting and, in 1995, founded a UK TV/Film union-creator consortium. She launched Creatives4Europe in 2015 and founded the UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity in 2007. Since 2014, she has been Chair of the European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity.