In this past long year, the whole worldwide music ecosystem has suffered tremendously. And as we work towards bridging the gaps, looking for innovative solutions and ways to regain what has been lost collectively due to this global pandemic, now – more than ever – we would like to ask for your support in spreading our message to your friends, colleagues, peer-networks and whoever you think might fit in the WOMEX 21 Programme.

We wish to ensure that we reach out to all artists, conference speakers, film-makers, mentors and music professionals of the global music scene worldwide to apply to be a part of the WOMEX 21 Programme and make it as culturally rich, inclusive and diverse as possible. WOMEX explicitly welcomes proposals from all backgrounds and encourages submissions, especially those that increase the international music scene’s diversity – be it of culture, region, gender, styles, performance tradition, and more.
 
The deadline for Call for Proposals is Friday, 16 April 2021.
Proposal website: www.womex-apply.com
 
Introducing
The WOMEX 21 Jury and Club Summit Curator

We are very excited to announce the official Jury today, also known as the 7 Samurai. Together, the selected Jury will be curating the Showcases and Conference for the official Programme, in our 27th edition of the event that will be taking place in a physical format in Porto, Portugal, from 27 – 31 October 2021.

The official WOMEX Jury system was first established in 1999, and these annually changing jurors – like the constant mix of the WOMEX programme itself – come from all over the world. Representing ten countries, these four women and four men music champions with deep and varied expertise, working as music journalists, label owners, DJs, radio broadcasters, booking agents, festival directors and much more. Each selected Jury member brings with them their unique musical knowledge, background and forward-thinking ideas, inclusive of all sectors and specialism.

The Showcase Samurai:

António Guimarães (Portugal), owner, general manager, AMG music
Charlie Crooijmans (The Netherlands), music journalist, musicologist, radio host
Kerry Clarke (Canada), artistic director, Calgary Folk Music Festival; programmer, Block Heater Festival
Lewis Robinson (UK), owner, Mais Um Records; radio host: WorldwideFM, Soho Radio
Todd Puckhaber (USA), former senior music and event programming manager, SXSW 

The Conference Samurai:

Ana Rodriguez (Mexico), band manager; co-chair, International Music Managers Forum; ceo, Relatable
Amani Semaan (Lebanon/France), co-founder, director, Beirut & Beyond
Club Summit Curator

Juan Ortiz de Zaldumbide (Colombia/Sweden), co-founder, partner, M3 Music; business development manager, WARM Music
Find out more about the Jury
 
Mark Your Calendars
virtualWOMEX Extended Programme In April

We are working on the virtualWOMEX Extended Programme, featuring Films, Conference and Networking Sessions, addressing the global music scene’s most pressing topics and will be releasing more details on our digital programme in the coming weeks. 
The Film programme will run from Friday 23 April to Sunday 2 May 2021 and the Conference and Networking Sessions will take place on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 April 2021.