The 7 Samurai have been announced: meet the WOMEX Jury members

WOMEX - The World Music Expo, which takes to Porto between 27th and 31st October, announced the jury of its 27th edition, also known as “Seven Samurais”. The group will actually have eight independent jurors that will be responsible for the curatorship of showcases and conferences of the most relevant musical and development projects in the global music scene.

The jury comprises four women and four men from 10 countries, experts in the music scene and with a vast experience in the field. They are journalists, agents, producers, DJ’s, radio announcers and festival directors. In charge of the showcases are the Portuguese manager and producer António Miguel Guimarães, of AMG Music; Dutch journalist and musicologist Charlie Crooijmans; Canadian artistic director and programmer Kerry Clarke, of Calgary Folk Music Festival and the Block Heater Festival; British radio announcer Lewis Robinson, of WorldwideFM and Soho Radio; and also the American Todd Puckhaber, former music director and event programmer of the South by Southwest festival.

As for WOMEX conferences, the jury comprises the Mexican Ana Rodriguez (copresident of the Managers International Music Forum and director of Relatable); French Lebanese Amani Semaan (cofounder and director of Beirut & Beyond) and also the Swedish Colombian Juan Ortiz de Zaldumbide (cofounder of M3 Music and agent of business development at WARM Music).

Since 1999 that the WOMEX Festival jury is organised following a rotating format; so, each year, the members of the jury are different.

It is worth recalling that last March, the organisation of the event, namely Piranha Arts and AMG Music, challenged musicians, bands, DJ’s, producers and filmmakers to submit proposals to be include in programming. Applications are ongoing until 16th April, at the WOMEX official website, and comprise four categories: Showcase (concerts), Club (DJ sets), Films (documentaries on music) and Conferences.

WOMEX Festival is one of the most relevant music support and development projects in the global music scene. The event will introduce thousands of music makers and music lovers from over 90 countries, in the Invicta.

The World Music Expo is scheduled to happen in Porto, at Porto Customs, from 27th to 31st October.