Nabil Bey Salameh
Keynote speech: Home in the In-Between, on Friday 26 September at 11:00, Teatro Piccinni
Nabil Bey Salameh is a Lebanese-born Palestinian singer-songwriter, ethnomusicologist, writer and journalist. Exiled by family history from Jaffa in 1948, he has long transformed memory into a powerful artistic and cultural vision bridging East and West. Based in Bari, Italy, since the 1980s, he co-founded Al Darawish, among the country’s first global music groups, and later the acclaimed Radiodervish, releasing 15 albums and performing widely across Europe.
From 1998 to 2007, he served as Italian correspondent for Al Jazeera, offering an exiled yet deeply rooted perspective on the Mediterranean. He currently teaches Ethnomusicology at the Conservatory “Tito Schipa” in Lecce in the Puglia region, mentoring the next generation of artists and researchers in the field of popular music and cultures of the Global South.
Salameh’s work spans music, theatre, literature, and cultural translation. He has collaborated with artists such as Franco Battiato, Noa and Stewart Copeland. His publications include translations of Nizar Qabbani and anthologies amplifying Palestinian and Arab voices. He is the founder and artistic director of FalastinFest, a cultural festival in Puglia dedicated to Palestinian memory and resistance.
www.radiodervish.com
Soweto Kinch
Plenary panel debate: Sounds of Home, on Friday 26 September at 11:30, Teatro Piccinni
Soweto Kinch is an award-winning alto saxophonist, MC, composer and cultural curator whose work bridges jazz, hip hop, theatre and community engagement. A Modern History graduate from Oxford University, he is one of the most innovative voices in British music, with accolades including two MOBO Awards for Best Jazz Act, a Mercury Prize nomination and international acclaim for his genre-defying albums.
Based in Birmingham, Kinch is the creator of The Flyover Show, a groundbreaking urban arts festival that transforms neglected spaces — under motorway flyovers and beyond — into platforms for dialogue, performance and reimagined Black British identity. The festival has featured artists across genres and continues to inspire versions abroad, including in Johannesburg and Mumbai.
As a curator and educator, he has worked with the BBC, Goldie, and Jonzi D, exploring new approaches to mentorship, storytelling and social impact through music. His recent projects include The Legend of Mike Smith, a concept album and live performance fusing Dante’s Divine Comedy with hip hop and jazz, and White Juju, a large-scale orchestral work examining race, class and nation in post-pandemic Britain.
His work blends sharp political insight, virtuosic improvisation and theatrical flair — using music as both a mirror and a tool for transformation in contemporary society.
www.soweto-kinch.com
Titia Bouwmeester
Plenary panel debate: Sounds of Home, on Friday 26 September at 11:30, Teatro Piccinni
Titia Bouwmeester (Amsterdam, 1965) is a Dutch theatre maker, visual artist and artistic leader engaged in socially driven performance. She is the founder and artistic director of 5eKwartier, a company creating site-specific documentary music theatre, and general director of Orchestre Partout, a music project involving refugee and local musicians in the Netherlands.
Trained in visual arts at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, Bouwmeester began her career with the renowned company Dogtroep, known for large-scale visual performances in unconventional spaces. From 1998 to 2004, she served as Dogtroep’s artistic director, creating poetic, multidisciplinary productions in locations such as prisons, housing estates and Red Square - places undergoing visible social transformation.
In 2004, she founded 5eKwartier to explore urgent topics like food sustainability through immersive, community-based theatre. Her approach brings large societal issues to a human scale, always rooted in the context of the people and places involved.
With Orchestre Partout, co-founded in 2010, she promotes inclusion and intercultural dialogue through music, offering platforms for both professional and amateur musicians with refugee backgrounds to create, connect and be heard.
www.titiabouwmeester.nl
www.orchestrepartout.nl
Pino Pecorelli
Plenary panel debate: Sounds of Home, on Friday 26 September at 11:30, Teatro Piccinni
Pino Pecorelli is a bassist, composer, and artistic producer whose work bridges classical training and contemporary creativity across music, theatre, film and interdisciplinary arts. A graduate in classical double bass from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists in both live and studio settings.
As bassist and artistic producer of the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, he won the David di Donatello Award for Best Musician in 2020. He is currently the artistic director of the Piccola Orchestra di Torpignattara, and was musical director of Lisbon’s intercultural Orquestra Todos until 2012. In 2024, he founded BabelNova Orchestra, which debuted at the Sanremo Festival alongside Dargen D’Amico.
His studio and live collaborations span artists such as Daniele Silvestri, Peppe Servillo, Matthew Herbert, Francesca Michielin, and Mario Martone. He has composed and arranged music for numerous films, including works by Paolo Virzì, Vittorio De Seta and Fariborz Kamkari, and created original scores for theatre and multimedia projects.
In 2022, he composed the soundtrack for the acclaimed TV series Bangla (Fandango/Rai Fiction), which won the Nastro d’Argento Award for Best Comedy Series.
www.babelnovaorchestra.com
Gökçe Dervişoğlu Okandan
Discussion group on cultural entrepreneurship on Friday 26 September, at 15:00, Castello Svevo - Sala Conferenze
Dr. Gökçe Dervişoğlu Okandan is a cultural policy expert, academic and consultant working at the intersection of arts, management, and innovation. She holds degrees in economics and business administration from Istanbul and Innsbruck Universities, and completed her PhD on the relationship between art and management at Istanbul University, supported by the Art & Leadership Center at Copenhagen Business School.
Her work bridges strategic consulting, participatory programme design, and international research. Since 2006, she has designed and facilitated initiatives for NGOs, artist networks, cultural policy bodies, and women’s entrepreneurship programmes. A TÜBİTAK fellow, she completed postdoctoral research at Princeton University’s Center for Arts Policy and has taught in Istanbul, Sharjah and Berlin.
She is an advisor to the Theater Cooperative and Turkey Jazz Network, and a founding member of Culture Unleashed, a platform for decentralized cultural ecosystems. Selected as an expert for the UNESCO/EU Culture2030 Indicators project, she currently serves as a key expert in Turkey’s “Healthy Transformation of the Creative Economy” programme led by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Mathilde Sallez
Discussion group on audience and environmental sustainability on Friday 26 September, at 15:00, Castello Svevo - Torre dei Minorenni
Mathilde Sallez is coordinator of Better Live, at Le Périscope in Lyon. Better Live is a Europe Creative funded cooperation project between eleven European partners involved in the jazz and improvised music scene. From 2023 to 2025, it will be studying and producing new models of live music events towards a more sustainable circulation.
Since graduating from a master’s degree in management of international cultural projects, she has taken a close interest in the European mechanisms for actors in the cultural sector that led her to work within a few cooperation projects (We are Europe, Re-image Europe, Better Live).
https://betterlivemusic.com/
Marzio Scholten
Discussion group on the social/political role of programmers on Friday 26 September, at 15:00, Castello Svevo - Sala Federico II
Marzio Scholten (1982) is the artistic and managing director of Jazz International Rotterdam, the organization behind the RAUW festivals in Rotterdam. RAUW presents progressive, current day jazz that’s fused with electronic music, indie rock and hip hop.
All this with a strong focus on emerging local and regional talent. RAUW is programmed in non-typical jazz venues throughout Rotterdam, in a standing setting for a youthful, diverse and urban audience.
Besides leading this organization, Scholten himself is a professional recording and performing artist, with an extensive, and active, career in both jazz and pop.
Rosana Corbacho
Discussion group on burnout in the music industry on Friday 26 September, at 15:00, Castello Svevo - Sala Aragonese
Rosana Corbacho is a clinical and humanistic psychologist specializing in the music industry, with over 15 years of experience working with artists, industry professionals, and creative teams. She collaborates with organizations like Spotify, Believe, Live Nation, and Berklee, and has spoken at major festivals including Primavera Sound, Reeperbahn, ADE, and BIME-where she received the Keychange Inspiration Award in 2022.
She is the founder of M.I. Therapy, a specialized clinical team focused on the physical and mental health of professionals in music, the arts, and creative industries. The project offers therapy, prevention, and education tailored to the emotional demands of artistic careers.
Her work has been featured in El País, Cosmopolitan, and RNE, and she has contributed to mental health initiatives across Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand, supporting the global creative community.
mi-therapy.net
rosanacorbacho.com
Háshem Kabreet
Discussion group on migration and music workforce on Friday 26 September, at 15:00, Castello Svevo - Cappella Palatina
Háshem Kabreet is a Syrian-born percussionist, composer and handpan player based in the Netherlands. Raised between Latakia and Beirut, his musical journey began with traditional Arabic and Middle Eastern music before expanding into global percussion styles and instruments, including daff, riq, darbuka, cajón, djembe and drum kit.
He has performed on leading stages such as Bimhuis and Tivoli, and at major festivals including Music Meeting, Oerol, and Amsterdam Roots. His collaborations span a wide range of artists and ensembles, including ÁMÀL Ensemble, Orchestre Partout, and Cosmic Orchestra. As a handpan player, he composes original works that fuse Middle Eastern and Western influences, performing solo, with poets, and in cross-disciplinary groups.
Beyond performance, Háshem is a committed workshop leader and educator, giving training and lectures across Europe and beyond. He is the artist coordinator of Orchestre Partout, and leads collaborative music programmes using a unique ‘Musical Sign Language’ - a method he developed for guided group improvisation through hands and body gestures, promoting connection, expression and collective creativity.
Eivind Breilid
Working group on safe spaces for events/organisations on Saturday 27 September, at 11:40, Castello Svevo - Sala Conferenze
Eivind Breilid is an anthropologist, museologist and teacher, and works as an educator and membership advisor at Balansekunst.
Balansekunst is a Norwegian membership association for cultural institutions working towards an equitable and diverse industry.
www.balansekunst.no
Emanuele Frontoni
Working group on AI tools and digital ethics on Saturday 27 September, at 11:40, Castello Svevo - Torre dei Minorenni
Emanuele Frontoni is full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Macerata and co-director of the Vision, Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Lab (VRAI). He is affiliated with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa and serves as Scientific Director of NemoLab at Niguarda Hospital in Milan.
An expert in artificial intelligence, computer vision, human behaviour analysis and smart environments, he has authored over 300 scientific publications and is listed among the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” by Stanford University. His research bridges academia and industry, collaborating with national and international companies on technological innovation.
Frontoni is involved in multiple European research projects and has participated widely as a speaker and organiser in international conferences on AI, robotics, and digital humanities.
