From 24 November to 15 December 2025, members of the International Music Council gathered online for the organisation’s 41st General Assembly, elected a new leadership and adopted an ambitious work plan for the next two years. IMC will continue strengthen its three pillars: as a value-driven advocacy body, as a network of networks and as a project organisation. It will scale up its actions enabling a world where everyone can enjoy access to music, where they can learn, experience, create, perform, and express themselves through music, and in which artists of every kind are recognized and fairly remunerated.

Jesse Boere (Netherlands/UAE) was elected President.

Jesse Boere is a globally engaged music professional and policy strategist from the Netherlands with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of culture, education, and policy. Active in international music organizations and networks since the early 2010s, he has contributed to governance, project development, grant writing, organizational reform, and youth participation. In doing so, he has developed expertise in cultural policy and administration.

«Music is one of humanity’s most powerful connectors, and the IMC has championed that truth for more than 75 years. It has a monumental past, and it deserves a monumental future. To meet the realities of a rapidly changing world, our organization must continue to evolve. Its structures, networks and approaches must reflect today’s global landscape. I believe deeply in the IMC’s mission to promote the value of music in the lives of all people. As its President, I am committed to ensuring the organization has the structures and capacity it needs for the decades ahead.» , Mr. Boere says.

Based in Abu Dhabi for over a decade, Boere now serves as Instructor of Music at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), where he works within one of the world’s most diverse academic communities, engaging daily with students and faculty from over 120 countries. From 2015 to 2019, he served on the Executive Board of the International Music Council. Through his many different roles, he built lasting relationships among artists, policymakers, and institutions—connections that continue to shape his work and his ongoing collaboration with IMC, most recently demonstrated through his support during the 2024 UNESCO World Conference on Culture and Arts Education in Abu Dhabi.

The IMC General Assembly also elected a new Executive Board composed of Ruben Binam (Cameroon), Alessandra Fernandez Alves Da Costa (Brazil), Keld Hosbond (Denmark), Benon Kigozi (Uganda), Emily Kuo Vong (China-USA-Portugal), Bo-Wah Leung (China / Hong Kong), Obeida Madi (Jordan), Mirco Patarini (Italy), Bertalan Temesi (Hungary).

Outgoing IMC President Dr. Sheila C. Woodward commented : «In closing this chapter of service to IMC, the world’s leading music organization, I am grateful for the trust of our members and for the honor of working alongside my esteemed colleagues who served with me on the Executive Board. IMC’s future is in good hands, and I wish the incoming President and Board members every success in pursuing the rights of all humans globally to participate in music with full flourishing. UNESCO’s constitution opens with these words: „Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.“ We stand at a critical time in history, facing crises of war, terrorism, poverty, migration, environment, and more. By reaching across cultural and national divides, we have the means, through music, to foster understanding and respect for human dignity. As we educate future generations in the promotion of social justice and liberty, we allow music to be the great healer, the bridge that bind us together across borders, and the sustainer of lasting peace.»

16 December 2025
Foto & Sujet: IMC