Dear Europe! We are excited to announce that the OPEN CALL IS NOW CLOSED. With an impressive number of applications from more than 19 countries, the jury will now come together and use their expertise to decide who is the best fit for our creative leadership class.
This being said: Introducing our updated and final jury panel for EMBTF Vol. 2 we want to express an especially warm welcome to Alexandra Ampofo (Employee Resource Group leader at Live Nation UK, Promoter at Metropolis Music and Founder of Acoustic Live & Women Connect). Together, our industry experts bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, ensuring that the most innovative ideas will join the Task Force Vol. II.
And here again the whole jury list:
- Alexandra Ampofo, Nine Elms, UK, Employee Resource Group leader at Live Nation UK, Promoter at Metropolis Music, Founder of Acoustic Live & Women Connect
- Anne Meldal Nørgaard, Copenhagen, DK, Rektor at Danish Songwriting Academy
- Debra King, Manchester, UK, Director Brighter Sound, Chair of the Board Music Cities Network
- Josh Greenberg, Copenhagen, DK, Start-Up Founder / Strategy Consultant / Creative Advisor / Ex Spotify & Red Bull Music
- Nina Finnerud, Oslo, NO, Music Norway, Head of UK and Nordics
- Oskar Strajn, Amsterdam, NL, Project manager and Booker at ESNS
- Ralph H. Christoph, Cologne, DE, Director c/o pop Convention
- Sandra Perens, Tallinn, EE, Event Manager at Music Cities Events, A&R Manager/partner at Tier Music Publishing, Partnership Manager at Arvo Pärt Centre
Alexandra Ampofo
Alexandra is a promoter at one of the UK's leading gig promoters, Metropolis Music, part of the conglomerate of live music giants, Live Nation Entertainment. She has worked on the shows and tours of some of the world’s leading talent’s such as; Rema, Tiwa Savage, Amaarae, Shenseea, Goldlink, Kojey Radical, Etta Bond, JMSN, Jordan Rakei and Ghetts to name a few.
With over 8+ years experience, she has been making her mark on the live music industry. Founding Acoustic Live in 2013, an award-winning events company, dedicated to the manifestation of acoustic talent. She has built a dedicated community, providing a powerful platform that offers artists a chance to flourish.
Anne Meldal Nørgaard
Principal @ Danish Songwriting Academy with more than 10 years of experience from the media and music industry. Former PR and Senior Product Manager for the artists Christopher, The Minds of 99, Barbara Moleko, Nabiha, Nicklas Sahl, Lord Siva, Statisk, Soon, Daniel Schulz and others.
Nina Finnerud
Nina has a large international network after leading Music Norway’s London office since 2012. She is now based in Oslo and is in charge of the UK and the Nordics, as well as coordinating Music Norway's capacity building programs and leads our industry recruitment strategy. Nina has a background in Arts from the University College of Creative Arts in Canterbury and started her career in the music industry as a label assistant for Rocket Girl Records. Later, she headed the press department at Cargo Distribution in London where she worked with international artists and labels such as The Slits, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wire, Dave Davies etc. Nina also has experience from the Norwegian Embassy in London, where she worked with music in the press, culture and information department.
Josh Greenberg
Driven by an insatiable appetite to discover, create and change culture, J/G has built a diverse quiver of resources throughout his career development, global experience, constant education, relationship management and entrepreneurial hustle. He has been trusted to help grow and steer the musical interests for some of the most iconic and innovative brands of all time, in Red Bull (2001-2015) and Spotify (2016-2018), during critical periods in their evolution - developing a reputation as an “innovator” and “futurist“. His 90’s American, DIY-engrained youth instilled a culture of end-to-end music artistry and management: overseeing the creation, production, performance, promotion and presentation of art as brand and business; both on his own and for those who have trusted him to help them along the way. Applying these foundations, he’s won hearts and minds by authentically balancing the intersection of artistic expression and commercial interest through the lens of creative brand and business strategy. Today, he extends his experience, network and service to International partners across the entire music value chain with his creative strategy consultancy in Copenhagen, Green Mountain Lodge, as well as teaching Music Management Marketing and Communications strategy at the Danish National Rhythmic Music Conservatory.
Debra King
Debra is an experienced creative producer and arts director with a wide-ranging knowledge of music, the arts, education, culture and community participation at a local, national and international level. Debra is currently the Director of Brighter Sound a cultural producer of music programmes, pioneering new ways to explore creative music with musicians, music creators, artists and young people. Brighter Sound regularly commissions and produces work and provides a platform for artists’ development.
Oskar Strajn
Oskar Strajn is one of the bookers of ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), Europe’s largest live music industry event based in Groningen, the Netherlands. He works closely with the Music Moves Europe Awards, the yearly music awards given during the festival every year, as well as the ESNS Radar&Analytics coordinator.
Ralph H. Christoph
Ralph H. Christoph is one of the founders of the c/o pop festival in Cologne. The former journalist and editor (including SPEX - Das Magazin für Popkultur) was program director of the c/o pop festival from 2004 to 2007. Since then, he has been responsible for international relations and the strategic direction of the overall c/o pop brand. In 2014, he took over the management of the c/o pop Convention. From 2013 - 2016 he was also responsible for the program of the INTERACTIVE Festival. For various partners and institutions, he also initiated and supervised numerous projects in India, China, Brazil and Colombia, among others.
Sandra Perens
Sandra has a degree in cultural management and an MBA from the Estonian Business School. In 2011, next to her studies, she started working as a concert and festival promoter at Musiccase OÜ (now Shiftworks), starting out as an Assistant to the CEO and ending up as the Program Manager of Tallinn Music Week, one of the largest showcase festivals in the Nordic countries.
At the same time, Sandra also worked for the music export office Music Estonia as international Projects Manager and as a Project Manager for songwriting camps. She has also been the Assistant to the CEO and Ticket Sales Manager of Weekend Festival Baltics, the largest dance music festival in the Baltics. From there, she moved on to Sony Music Entertainment, where she worked as the Marketing Manager for the three Baltic countries. Today she works as an Event Manager at Music Cities Events, runs a publishing company Tier Music Publishing alongside her business partner Thea and helps out at the Arvo Pärt Centre as Partnerships Manager.
