Cross-Cultural Musical Collaborations

Challenges & Opportunities

Mina Girgis
Tristra Yeager
David Sanders, by Magiq Lens Kenya
Ankur Malhotra
  • event type:WOMEX 15 Conference
  • date:23 Oct 2015
  • time:11:00 - 11:45
  • city/area:Budapest
  • venue:Conference Room 1, Bálna
  • country:Hungary
  • event posted by:Piranha Arts

Chaired by:

Mina Girgis (Egypt/USA)
President & CEO, The Nile Project

With:

Tristra Yeager (USA)
Moderator, rock paper scissors

David Sanders (Kenya/USA)
Managing director, Mandala Ltd

Ankur Malhotra (India/USA)
Founder/director, Amarrass Records

Cross-cultural musical collaborations are not a new phenomenon, yet they are far from fading away. Every year, the World Music industry witnesses a surge of new projects looking to craft a new sound by marrying diverse musical idioms. The drivers for these artistic enterprises are as varied as their musical participants. Whether this music is designed to respond to an intractable political conflict, to market a beverage brand, or simply to reflect our increasingly globalized identities, all signs point to an expanding market niche. But with artistic and financial potential comes risk. Many music professionals approach these collaborations with a healthy dose of scepticism based on the niche's general track record of producing contrived performances. In this panel, presenters will share different models of cross-cultural musical collaborations.

Photo credit: David Sanders, by Magiq Lens Kenya