It’s our second year at APAP, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters; our first year
at the event under our new guise as Brasil M usic Exchange. Based in New York, the APAP
Conference is the largest gathering of performing arts influencers, presenters, decision makers,
managers, and artists in the world – a grand extravaganza of exhibits, meetings, workshops,
performance showcases and networking opportunities. For us it’ s where we meet the US
professionals who work with Brazilian music.
The event began with a conference presented by the world music marketing king Dimitri Vietze
of Rock Paper Scissors in which online marketing and promotion were the main topics of
discussion. The world music community is present, a small but vibrant bunch. It’ s interesting
to note that in Brazil we’ re just as savvy as the Americans in using the internet for promotional
activities – but we’ re way behind when it’ s using the internet for business purposes. We still have
the idea that internet equals free.
At the Music Exchange stand we had our new US RP, Robert Singerman. Robert has looked after
the French Export Office, worked with shows and tours in the US for at least 30 years, so his
presence was invaluable. We divided our time between attending the stand, visiting clients and
partners around New York and checking out the shows.
Every evening there are shows but the principal event for us is the annual globalFest where 13
artists from around the world performed on three stages. “ It’s the best lineup we’ve had in years,”
says Bill Bragin of Acidophilus: Live & Active Cultures (globalFEST, Inc. is a not-for-profit
production presented in association with Acidophilus, World Music Institute, Joe’ s Pub at the
Public Theater and The Bowery Presents). From Pernambuco we had Orquestra Contemporânea
de Olinda, represented at the fair by Melina Hickson of Fina Produções. “ The goal is not only
to have a great event but inspire future bookings,” says Bragin. “ A third of the audience are
professionals, many of them programming performing arts centers, festivals and nightclubs
around the world,” he says. “ We hope that these globalFEST artists will appear on global stages–
and make a lot of noise!”
At the Music Exchange stand I met briefly with Brazilian music power-house Benjamim
Taubkin, who told me he was here as part of the Artist Fellows Program. This program is
designed to integrate an outstanding cohort of 11 artists into the core of the conference by
inviting the artist voice and process into central conference conversations. This program involves
dialogues that deeply impact how art is made and shared, while working to expand the ways in
which artists connect to each other and their counterparts in the industry.
The APAP|NYC 2011 Artist Fellows are:
Marc Bamuthi Joseph (US): Spoken Word artist, Educator, Curator, Theater maker, Community
activist www.lifeisliving.org
Emeline Michel (US/Haiti): Singer, Cultural Activist www.emeline-michel.com
Jared Nickerson (US): Bassist, Business Manager for Burnt Sugar www.burntsugarindex.com
Prumsodun Ok (US/Cambodia): Dancer, Choreographer, Founder of Natyarasa natyarasa.org
Christina Pato (Spain): Gaita (Galician Bagpipe Player), Member Silk Road Ensemble
www.cristinapato.com
Alvaro Restrepo (Colombia): Dancer, Choreographer, Co-founder of El Colegio del
Cuerpo www.elcolegiodelcuerpo.org
Brian Rogers (US): Artistic Director and Co-founder of the Chocolate Factory
www.chocolatefactorytheater.org/
Somi (US/Uganda/Rwanda): Singer, Songwriter, Founder and Director of New Africa Live
www.somimusic.com
Dawn Stoppiello (US): Choreographer, Dancer, Co-founder of Troika Ranch
www.troikaranch.org
Benjamim Taubkin (Brazil): Jazz Musician, Co-founder of Nucleo Contemporaneo
www.nucleocontemporaneo.com.br
Jason Treuting (US): Percussionist, SO Percussion www.sopercussion.com
We also met up with Erika Elliott from Summerstage Festival and Petrit from Nublu. Both
are working on a cool Brazilian festival for New York in July. More details on that later.
