Appendix 6 - International Music Council

WOMAD was originally inspired by Peter Gabriel: "Pure enthusiasm for music from
around the world led us to the idea of WOMAD in 1980 and thus to the first WOMAD
festival in 1982. The festivals have always been wonderful and unique occasions and have
succeeded in introducing an international audience to many talented artists.
"Equally important, the festivals have also allowed many different audiences to gain an
insight into cultures other than their own through the enjoyment of music. Music is a
universal language, it draws people together and proves, as well as anything, the stupidity
of racism."
As an organisation, WOMAD now works in many different ways, but our aims are always
the same - at festivals, performance events, through recorded releases and through
educational projects, we aim to excite, to inform, and to create awareness of the worth and
potential of a multicultural society.“ (Source: http://womad.org/)
Creole is a German national world music contest for newcomer bands and musicians. The
goal of the contest is to promote global sounds from and in Germany, challenging mixtures
of traditional music cultures on the one hand and pop, jazz and contemporary music on the
other hand. A network of experienced culture agencies and organisations has come
together, in order to help these new music forms to become more popular and present in the
society, to bring the makers from all over in Germany together and to award the best bands
and bring them to the listeners. The contest is open to all groups, whose work is dedicated
to crossing borders, transcultural links and intercultural encounter. The contest is open
equally to adaptations of European and non-European music. The first level of the contest
is regional, and their winners meet for nation-wide contest round.
6.3 Identity
Very often music styles and forms are related to identity, either for a single musician or for
a particular social group. In this section we will consider some examples where music or
musical identity is explicitely seen as an expression of identity of a social group.
6.3.1. National musics
Western European self-conception as "nations of culture" is strongly linked to the
tradition of European classical music. Particularly in Germany and Austria this musical
style is seen as national tradition. This tradition historically grew to an aesthetic tradition of
the upper classes, especially the "Bildungsbürgertum" (traditionally educated middle-class
intellectual). Due to the comprehensive introduction of its canon in the public education
system in Europe, it is often understood as THE model for all music.
Russia, Belarus, Ukraine – narodnaja muzyka – national music style, were formed
on the basis of local musical traditions during the soviet era. These music standards were
formed as a kind of "comfortable" folk music and were exploited to praise the magnificence
of the Soviet way of life. An official "folklore sound" was imposed, a regime-friendly
repertoire sanctioned, a training network for ‘culture workers' created. The difference to the
original musics of local traditions grew. National music styles were heavily promoted by
the state media, whereas local musical traditions were generally ignored. As a result, these
local traditions are nearly totally unknown in the society today. Though there is a growing
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