This year’s World Music Conference (WMC) has once again been hailed a huge success. The two-day festival, which attracted 34 speakers, over 200 primary school pupils from across the West Midlands and representatives from over 12 countries, was organised by the British Carnatic Choir and hosted by the University of Wolverhampton. The core objective of this year’s event was to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of introducing music education to children at an early age.
The first day, last Thursday, featured Chinese dancers, guitarist Pally Matharu and the National Polish Folk Choir. Chief guest Mr CB Patel, editor and publisher of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, along with Dr Paul Sabapathy CVO CBE and Dr Aman Puri, Former West Midlands Lord Lieutenant and Consul General of India in Birmingham, respectively, presented awards to the following for their “outstanding” contributions to Arts & Culture 2018: David Burbidge, Chairman, Coventry City of Culture; Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Roberts, Principal Director of Music, British Army; Sue Williamson, Regional Director, Library & Museums, Arts Council England. Accompanying Shri CB Patel was Kokila-ben Patel, Managing Editor, Gujarat Samachar.
The second day (Friday) featured panel discussions, each led by an eminent artist. The lead moderator was Mr Kevin Stannard, Musician and Head of Performance and Outreach at University of Wolverhampton. Topics included: Creativity & Curriculum; Building Communities through Music & Arts; Music & Mental Health; Music & Humanities; Music & Religion; Music & its influence in the workplace.
There were performances from artists representing several nationalities and communities. The list included, Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, Polish, Romanian, Indonesian, African – to list but a handful.
The evening programme featured the popular British Carnatic Choir with participation from students from the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Certificates were presented to participants and awards were bestowed upon the following individuals for their “remarkable role in promoting British Values through Arts & Culture” - John Crabtree OBE, Lord Lieutenant for West Midlands; King Gurcharan Mall, world-renowned Dhol exponent.
Due to a large representation from Commonwealth Nations, the delegates were encouraged to sign a life-size ‘World Music Conference’ card which will be delivered to HM The Queen by the event chief organiser, Dr Chithra Ramakrishnan FRSA. “We are hugely proud of HM The Queen and all that Her Majesty does for our nation but also for the Commonwealth. This card is a token of our respectful gesture to HM for embracing the sheer cultural diversity that we have here in Great Britain”, said Dr Ramakrishnan FRSA.
The event was once again supported by several organisations and individuals, promoting all professional sectors, in particular the Cultural and Creative Industries. To find out more visit www.worldmusicconference.co.uk
