4th IMC World Forum on Music

26 September - 1 October 2011, Tallinn, Estonia

Music and Social Change

Speakers and participants from Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, the Arab world and the American continent met to discuss the correlation between music and social change. Keynote speakers have been Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO, and world-renowned Senegalese singer, Youssou N'Dour.

The Forum focused on five areas which are of crucial importance to the world of music:

  • Music as a tool for social change
  • Current challenges and opportunities for music education
  • Music distribution and export
  • Music and development
  • Youth: informal spaces

For the 4th edition of the World Forum on Music and its 34th General Assembly in 2011, the Executive Board of the International Music Council chose to go to Tallinn, Estonia, to join the city's celebrations as Cultural Capital of Europe 2011. It was the first time ever in the 60-year history of the International Music Council that Estonia hosted an IMC activity. The city of Tallinn joined the illustrious list of cities that  hosted IMC General Assemblies and conferences over the past 60 years, such as Brasilia, Budapest, Hamburg, Melbourne, Moscow, New York, Paris, Petra, Prague, Rome, Seoul, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Toronto.

The 4th World Forum on Music was again an outstanding opportunity for IMC members to meet directly with each other and IMC leadership, and to engage with expert advisors from the fields most relevant to their new endeavors. The Forum connected IMC member organisations with each other and with experts in various aspects of organisational and industry development, to illuminate the discussions and possibly become directly involved in project. It also involved a broad audience of music people other than IMC members, and indeed other people engaged in and being in position to make decisions regarding the improvement of the conditions under which music is celebrated – created, performed, disseminated, taught and learnt, preserved, shared, etc. - in various parts of the world. For the staging of the 4th World Forum on Music the International Music Council has joined forces with the European Music Council and Estonian Music Council as well as the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Participants

The Forum participants consisted of

  • Invited speakers and presenters (from the world of music, but also from governments, intergovernmental organizations, development agencies, foundations, and the business sector)
  • A broad audience of people from all aspects of music, including members of IMC member organisations and those from the broader music community.
  • Representatives of Estonian music organisations
  • Music students and musicians from Estonia

The majority of participants are important multipliers as they represent networks with a large membership.