Join the two-day summit of the Academy Second Modernity and explore with us new strategies for visibility toward a global and equitable music culture. Renowned international experts will present best practice examples, deliver keynotes and lectures. Together, we will develop concrete tools and recommendations for action on how to emotionally engage audiences and create lasting impact through Stories that matter.

Attention is the currency of the 21st century. Emotional triggers let things stick in our minds: pictures and stories. This year’s Academy Second Modernism summit meeting takes the theme ‘Stories that matter’. What can we do to highlight the wealth of a global, equal music culture and thus overcome patriarchal structures and stereotypes? How can we imagine new ways of storytelling from a diverse perspective and what sustainable communication and marketing structures are available for a more gender-just music culture? This topic lets the Academy pick up on the declaration of last year’s summit. The participants will use best practice examples, keynote speeches and lectures by renowned international experts to develop concrete tools and recommended courses of action. Stories matter!

Saturday, 7 June 2025

11–11.30am
Welcome

11.30–11.45am
SETTING THE FRAME – STORIES THAT MATTER Keynote
Chi-chi Nwanoku (double bassist, Founder of Chineke! Orchestra)

11.45am – 12.45pm
HOW STORIES SHAPE OUR CONSCIOUSNESS Panel
Chaya Czernowin (Composer), Mary Kouyoumdjian (Composer), Milo Rau (Artistic Director, Wiener Festwochen), Lydia Wenchen Kuo (Executive Director, Taiwan Philharmonic), meLê yamomo (Theatre Maker and Curator), Moderated by Zethu Matebeni (Sociologist & Professor of Gender and Queer Studies, University of Fort Hare, South Africa)

12.45am – 1.30pm
Break

1.30–1.45pm
COMMUNICATING FOR MULTIPLICITY Impulse
Barbara Lebitsch (Artistic Managing Director, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg)

1.45–2.30pm
DEEP DIVE: COMMUNICATING FOR ACADEMY SECOND MODERNISM Lectures
Joachim Kapuy (Head of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, Wiener Festwochen), Tanja Godlewsky (Professor of Mediadesign), Danni Velasquez Mora (Founder and Creative Director, Womankindcreative, New York)

2.30–3.30pm

DOs and DON’Ts Working groups

3.30–4pm
Break

4–5pm
FIRST DRAFT TOOL KIT Discussion/Plenum

Sunday, 8 June 2025

11–11.15am
Welcome

11.15am –12pm
BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLE Fireside Chats & Workshop
Chi-chi Nwanoku (double bassist, Founder of Chineke! Orchestra)

12–12.30pm
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION Plenum

12.30–12.50pm
Break

12.50–1.10pm
SUPPLEMENTING THE DECLARATION 2024 Synopsis
Barbara Lebitsch (Artistic Managing Director, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg)

1.10–1.30pm
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION Impulses
Sophie de Lint (Artistic Director, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam), Irene Suchy (Musicologist and Journalist)

1.30–2pm
Closing