The organisers of Womex — which takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 28 October to 1 November 2009 — have invited Freemuse Programme Manager Ole Reitov to speak at the inaugural concert Wednesday evening alongside the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen. For many years Ole Reitov introduced world music to Danish listeners as a host at the national radio of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

Freemuse also organises a network meeting at Womex in order to highliight initiatives related to freedom of musical expression of musicians:

• François Mauger will tell about the Mondomix campaign for the release of Lapiro de Mbanga
• Helge Westbye of Grappa will talk about the new Freemuse CD album ‘Listen to the banned’  (See press release on the right)
• Serrano Productions from Bilbao in Spain will tell about their amazing annual festival against censorship


Campaign, report, Freedom Day
Freemuse Vice Chair Daniel Brown and Freemuse Executive Director Marie Korpe will join the panel and present several current and future initiatives of Freemuse. These include:

• The Freemuse campaign for the release of Lapiro and his recent nomination for the Freedom to Create Prize
• Heavy Metal from China to Morocco — the forthcoming Freemuse report
• Music Freedom Day 2010 on 3 March
• Visa issues for promoters and artists

Freemuse invites Womex delegates to share ideas and suggestions on:
• How the music industry can take more responsibility and upgrade its profile on social responsibility?
• How new projects related to freedom of musical expression can be developed?
• How we can ensure sustainable funding for the work we do?


JOIN FREEMUSE AT WOMEX

Freemuse Network Meeting
Thursday 29 OCTOBER at 17:15 to 18:00
Room 17

Freemuse stand: B4–167
staffed daily from 12 to 16 pm