JM International Presents JMI Plus a Creative Europe Programme (CREA)

JM International is delighted to present a renewed collaboration with the EU’s Creative Europe Programme for 2022-2025.

Creative Europe invests in actions that reinforce cultural diversity and respond to the needs and challenges of the cultural and creative sectors. The main objectives of the programme are: to safeguard, develop and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage increase the competitiveness and economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisual sector.

Founded in Brussels, Belgium in 1945 to overcome the divides created by the two World Wars, JMI today represents 230 staff and 2300 volunteers / freelancers in 73 member organisations in 61 countries, outreaching more than 8 million young people through 40.000 local activities annually. Our international programs attract participants from more than 120 countries worldwide. Our vision is a world where every child has access to music, which is very much in line with the EU stated priority of providing access to culture for all people. Given the unprecedented changes in our way of living and our way of work during the past two years, it is of utmost importance to be able to maintain access to culture for all. JMI members work in the entire music industry value chain: from intervention in education and learning, to idea, content creation, production, recording, promotion, marketing, sales, mobility and touring, dissemination and retail and finally live consumption.

The methodology of the JMI Plus project includes: response to the current needs, open and equal participation, cross-sectoral collaboration with new stakeholders, non-formal education & learning, cross-border and European (international) mobility and collaboration, the quality of trainers, green transportation and digital presence.

Based on the methodology, the values and needs of JMI, the following events and activities are in the agenda for the year 2022 on the basis of JMI Network Grant JMI Plus:

• EnCore Accelerando and EnCore Awards (May 2022)

The Encore Accelerando initiative aimed to identify promising project ideas in the field of classical music and to fast track their development by offering training and coaching. The event lasted 3 working days from May 10th to 12th and brought together 20 under-30 individuals from 9 different countries. It took place at the Frank Liszt Music Academy and at the MUPA in Budapest (Hungary). The enCORE Accelerando was 3-days of fun, learning and sharing, where participants had the chance to connect with other young music changemakers from around the world and put their ideas to the test, receiving guidance from industry professionals, who helped them to shape their projects. During the event there were training modules related to project and financial management, fundraising and communications. At enCORE, each participant had the chance to pitch their project ideas to a professional jury, who awarded the best 3 projects with a microgrant of €1000 each, going towards helping shape their dreams into reality. The winning teams will also receive further training, support and promotion throughout the following year by JM International.

The awarded projects were Cōnsentiō [agree, accord, harmonize] by Kristine Botros (Sweden), The Creative Baggage Collective by Serena Huang and Justin Bartlett (USA) and For Who Was Not Born by Dominika Ács, María Valverde and Veronika T-Potzner (Hungary).

• Green Music Note and Climate Change Campaign “Music for the Forest” (June 2022)

Music for the Forest is a new initiative organised by Rainforest Partnership (www.rainforestpartnership.org) and JM International. Music for the Forest is open to all musicians from all over the world who were invited to submit original and earth-inspired songs from different genres - soul or singer-songwriter, highlife or hip-hop, folk, jazz, rock or tango, classical music and every type of music between!

Submitted works were featured on the World Rainforest Day (WRD) Playlist/Event, to be screened during the WRD conference, as well as throughout WRD celebration events around the world! One lucky artist or group could receive the JMI Green Note, an award of €1000 for young artists (under 30) making an impact and contributing to support a social and environmental movement of creating music for the conservation and restoration of our nature.

• JMI Communications Training (June 2022)

The 2nd edition of JMI Communications Training, open to all Communications Staff (or those responsible for Communications) from member and partner organizations, took place in Balatonboglar, Hungary, from June 23rd to June 26th. It was a unique occasion to share knowledge and best practices with colleagues from all around the world. And to receive professional training on the latest developments in content creation and marketing. The training was supported by the MoonJelly Agency and brought together 25 communications professionals from all around the world!

• JMI Global (July 2022)

The JMI Global was a 2-day conference on the 12th and 13th of July at L’Ateneu in Banyoles. The event aims to take attendees on a journey of reflection, discovery and learning, looking at the measures being taken within the international youth-music community to create more resilient and sustainable cultural offerings that enable children and youth to thrive, both personally and professionally. This JMI Global is also a space to discover amazing young talented musicians from around the world. This year’s musical lineup included: Las Lloronas (Belgium), Hanke Brothers (Germany), Faith Mussa (Malawi), VIMMA (Finland) and Trio Oro (Norway), DISCONCERTO by Orthemis Orchestra (Spain).

• JM Jazz World (July)

The Training Cycle “JAZZ” targets cultural operators active in the Jazz field, as well as young jazz musicians engaged in the JM Jazz World program. The training will focus on professionalization, internationalization, becoming agents of change, combining talents and opportunities, entrepreneurial competencies, communication and marketing, and intercultural understanding. The training will be hosted in Groznjan, Croatia for 4 days and engage 25 participants. Potential trainers and artistic leaders are: Luis Bonilla (AU), Sarah Raine (UK), Ricardo van Mildert/MoonJelly (NL).

• Kick-Off Training Event (September 2022)

The training will be held in Brussels, Belgium, targeting 28 people. It will target cross-sectoral organisations and enterprises working to empower the next generation of young European musicians. The event, entitled What the F*ture?, aims to create a moment of synergy between diverse stakeholders in the field of youth and music, a. moment to explore diversity, come together and take stock of where we are and where are going in the next 3-5 years within the sector. In particular, attendees will tackle the following 3 questions:

• Where are things going and what do young people need?
• How can we as a sector best respond to the changing environment and support the next generation of young musicians?
• How can we build better International cooperation between Europe and the world as well as between different actors within Europe?

• IMAGINE MUSIC EXPERIENCE (September 2022)

The 2022 IMAGINE International Final will be held in Brussels, at the Bozar, on September 30th. The IMAGINE training, targeting cultural organisers and operators active in the IMAGINE program framework, as well as the young musicians and musical acts attending the event, will be hosted in MuziekPublique on September 28th and 29th. The trainings will focus on professionalization, internationalization, becoming agents of change, combining talents and opportunities, entrepreneurial competencies, communication and marketing, and intercultural understanding. The International Final will host the performances of over 40 young musicians aged 13 to 21 from Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Brazil, and France!

• 2022 YAM Session and YAM Awards (October 2022)

The 2022 YAM Session will be held in Bruges, Belgium, from 17th to 19th October with the specific aim of fostering recognition of European YAM productions at the global level. The event is open to targeted staff and creative professionals - musicians, programmers, producers, organisers, bookers, educators - working with live music for young audiences. Participants will share best practices on music productions dedicated to young audiences and providing access to quality live music to children and youth. They will develop skills in cross-border collaboration, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, partner finding, international team building, young audiences engagement, global promotion of European products and arts, digital management of international activities, dissemination and marketing of YAM productions.

In the same context, the 13th edition of the Young Audiences Music Awards (YAMawards) will be celebrated and awarded on October 18th. The YAMA honours creativity and innovation in the field of musical productions for young audiences from all corners of the world. The official call is now open and accepting applications until June 20th, with a new exciting category specially dedicated to School Concerts!

• Creative Resilience Training for JMI Committees (December 2022)

The event will focus on equipping cultural operators with skills and competencies to adapt and react to new challenges. The training will enhance their capability to imagine future opportunities and risks, supporting creative foresight and the development of preferable futures. The training will take place in Weikersheim, Germany from December 14th to 17th, with a total of 40 participants from all JMI Program Committees.

• 2022 Fair Play Campaign

Fair Play is a global movement of young artists speaking out against corruption. Fair Play holds a bi-annual competition where young bands can submit original music that tackles issues around corruption in their community. This year we will select the best groups to perform at Fair Play Live, taking place during the International Anti-Corruption Conference or IACC (the world's largest anti-corruption event) from the 6th to the 10th of December 2022, in Washington DC, US.

• And many more…
  • Networking meetings and world events (EMC-IMC, UNESCO, promotional events).
  • A set of study visits to foster the network strengthening and enlargement
  • ArtsImpact Task Force, a cycle of meetings/workshops to provide external validation and recognition to impact assessment
  • A Gender and Diversity Campaign, in continuation of the Play it Loud! Project
  • Euro-Arab Youth Music Conference
  • JMI+ Podcasts
  • JMI+ Toolkits
  • JMI+ Video Blogs
  • JMI+ Radio