Profile:
Albert, a Catalan music journalist born in Barcelona, is one of the most active in the South of Europe. He is a regular attendee of the most well-known music events in the world, including WOMEX and Folk Alliance. Additionally, Albert has the privilege of working in radio ("Hidrogen" at iCAT FM - Catalunya Ràdio), television ("Planeta Música" at Canal 33 - TVC) and several world music magazines (World 1 Music). He is most renowned for broadcasting world music in weekly TV programs and as an activist promoting Catalan culture and new opportunities for fledgling young artists. Albert is a member of World Music Charts Europe and takes part in the UER-EBU World Music Workshop.

Profile:
Ben is a freelance record producer working in all areas of World music. He is the co-founder and A&R manager / house producer for the influential GlobeStyle Records label in London and his production credits include Music & Words (NL), Piranha (D), Polygram (SF), Sony (JP), Xenophile (USA), Rogue (UK), World Music Network (UK), Sony/BMG (CZ), Rice Records (JP), WestPark (D), DoubleMoon (Turkey) which resulted in a great many releases over the years. His work as a producer for Piranha Records include albums of Lusafrican top singer, Bonga (Angola), Klezmer worldstars, Klezmatics (USA), master drummer of the Nile, Mahmoud Fadl (Egypt), king of the PianOriental, Maurice El Médioni (Algeria/France), Nubian allstars, Salamat (Egypt), African mbira queen, Stella Chiweshe (Zimbabwe), award-winning Chama maestro, Chango Spasiuk (Argentina), and Brass stars, Boban & Marko Markovic (Serbia). 2005 saw Ben's production of 'ReCovers' by Tuvan ThroatCult growlfolk band, YatKha, receive rave reviews; and the 2005 Sony/BMG release by the group, Czechomor 'Co Sa Stalo Nove', gained Ben & co-Producer, Rob Keyloch (with whom Ben works in production partnership), a 1.5 times Platinum Disc. Current productions with Rob Keyloch include the award-winning debut album by English all-folkstar big band, BellowHead, the first international album for Turkish roma clarinet-player, Selim Sesler (star of the cult film 'across the bridge'), and first album by Hungarian village fusionists, Napra (already awarded best World music album of the year 2008 by the Hungarian Association of Labels). Ben is the founding director of the premier World music tradefair, WOMEX 1994 - 1997 (and current supervising board-member). A pro-active sitter on various panels, committees and juries, he balances that by standing up to play as string-twanging member of Billy Bragg's fabulous orchestra, The Blokes.

Profile:
Founder and artistic director of Stimmen-Festival & the Performing Arts Center Burghof Loerrach, Helmut has been organising World music programs for 30 years and has worked with singers from all over world including Bobby McFerrin, Meredith Monk, Paolo Conte, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Dimi Mint Abba (Mauritania), Alim Qasimov (Azerbaijan) Sabri Brothers (Pakistan), Susana Baca (Peru), Les Mystères des Voix Bulgares (Bulgaria), Eleftheria Arvanitaki (Greece), Huun Huur Tu (Tuva) and many many others.

Profile:
Currently serving as President of the EFWMF (European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals), Juana has extensive experience working in the field of Arts & Culture. Following 12 years with the Arts Department of the Provincial Government of Zaragoza, Spain, she established her own company, El Espiritu Del Sur, for World Music artist management and promotion. As far as Juana can remember, all of her working life has been linked to her greatest passion: World Music.

Profile:
A music writer since 1968 and radio presenter since 1980, Petr runs his weekly show, Borderline Music, on the Czech National Radio and contributes to the leading Czech papers. He was one of the founding members and producers of the Bonton record company (now owned by Sony Music) and has written books on alternative, contemporary, and world music. Since 1992, he is a member of the WMCE panel (World Music Chart Europe www.wmce.de). In recent years, he has also written for music magazines in Italy, Germany, France and the UK, and contributed to the Global Village programme in Canada. For the past four years, Petre has been lecturing on world music at the Charles University in Prague and, in 2007, he began serving as one of the 7 Samurai jury for the Womex music fair. Along with the London based writer, Ken Hunt, he runs the bilingual, world.freemusic.cz

Profile:
Marie-José is Vice President of Zone France, a professional French-speaking network for World Music, which is a member of the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals. She is also the founder of SUDS, à Arles, a one-week, World music festival in France. She got her start as a communications executive with Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d'Arles, a position she held from 1977 to 1989 and has since worked in the art and music world in numerous professional capacities. In 1989, she began organising photography exhibitions for renowned artists such as Koudelka, Hervé Guibert, Isabelle Muñoz and Gilles Peress, among many others. She also worked as a press-attaché for art publisher, Marval, in Paris, and as a communication officer for "Danse, Musique et Théâtre à Nîmes", before taking charge of executive production at Festival Mosaïque Gitane alongside Chico from the Gipsy Kings (in Nîmes and then in Arles). Marie-José is a recognised expert in the field of World music and cultural arts, often called upon for debates, panels and selection committees for musical commissions.

Profile:
Since it's founding in 1998, Dubi Lenz has been the Artistic Director of the Tel Aviv World Music Festival, which is a member of the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals (EFWMF.) He spent one year as the head of the board and three years as the Editor of the Forum's International Newsletter. In 2004, he was appointed to the preparing committee for the Forum Cultural Mundial in Sao Paolo and, in 2006, the international board of this Forum in Rio de Janeiro.
Dubi is a member of the Israeli Education Ministry's Music Committee as well as a member of the Music Committee of The Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation. In 2007, he served as Artistic Director for the Israeli International Music Exposure programme, undertaken by the Israeli Foreign Ministry for 40 "buyers" from festivals around the world. He was also the Artistic Director for the very successful 2006 music celebration, "La Fete de la Musique", organized by the French Embassy in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Municipality. To the general Israeli public, Dubi is most renowned as a music broadcaster for the IDF National Radio in Israel, a position held since 1973, and his 15 year tenure as the head of the music department at the station. Today, in addition to his other capacities, he continues to host a popular, weekly World Music radio show which he launched in the late 70's. Dubi also works as a lecturer of World Music at Israeli universities and lectures on Israeli World Music abroad.

Profile:
Erwin is the Artistic Director for Mundial Productions, where he has worked for seven years. This position has allowed him to combine his passion for cultural education and programming with Mundial's unique approach to international artist development and global cultural exchange. Erwin is responsible for the artistic development of all Mundial activities including Festival Mundial, Via del Mondo, cultural education programmes, international exchange programmes, and cultural and development programming worldwide.

Profile:
Since 2000, Christine has been the Director of Content & Programmes at WOMEX - the World Music Expo. In addition to coordinating all programming content, she is the Executive Producer for the WOMEX conferences and showcases as well as its offspring activities including Porto Musical. Christine began her career as the Manager of a French travel agency based in St. Petersburg, specializing in business and cultural travels. This role inspired her to organize concerts for Russian artists abroad and, eventually, took her on board the German culture ship, "Stubnitz", a mobile cultural platform that travelled throughout Europe.

Profile:
Brazilian music, and its links and relations with other cultures, has been the playing field for this instrumentalist, arranger, composer and producer. As a musician, Benjamim has participated in several formations that range from soloing (piano) to symphonic orchestras in Brazil and abroad. Some of his most recent collaberations as a musician and arranger include Jobim Sinfônico, Samwad - Rua do Encontro, Milágrimas, Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica, Paulo Moura and Monica Salmaso. Currently, Benjamin is working with The Orquestra Popular de Câmara, The Choro Ensemble Moderna Tradição and Abaçai, in addition to directing the label, Núcleo Contemporâneo, specialising in the recording of Brazilian instrumental music. Benjamin is credited (as a musician or producer) on more than 130 albums, coordinates projects for institutions such as Itaú Cultural and the São Paulo State Secretary of Culture, and developes programs for SESC, CPFL and CCBB. He is the musical curator for the Mercado Cultural da Bahia and is a member of the European Forum for World Music.