At its General Assembly on 11 December, 2021, the members of Freemuse, the independent international non-governmental organisation advocating for freedom of artistic expression and cultural diversity, elected a new Executive Committee to oversee the Secretariat and its activities.
The new board members are Marc- Schade Poulsen (Chair), Sanni Kahilainen (vice-chair), Eric Nuzum, and Marie Korpe (see bios below).
“We would like to express our thanks to the electing membership of Fremuse,” says the newly elected board. “It is an honour to take the lead of this unique organisation, and its more than 20 year history of defending artistic freedom, in an era when freedom of expression is at stake. We are looking forward to working closely with the Freemuse staff, contributors, funders, members, and artists to continue that legacy in the journey ahead.”
Freemuse Executive Committee bios:
Marc Schade-Poulsen, Chair
Marc Schade-Poulsen is visiting researcher at Roskilde University writing the history of Tunisian Human Rights Activism (1960-2011); next to that he works as a private consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology.
He is a board member of the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Support of Human Rights Defenders and was the executive director of the international human rights network, EuroMed Rights between 1997 and 2019. Marc is the author of the Men and Popular Music in Algeria: in the Social Significance of Raï, Texas University Press, and has written about human rights, migration, EU policies and popular culture. He led numerous human rights and civil society projects and has in-depth experience in policy development and organisational strategies.
Sanni Kahilainen, Vice Chair
Sanni Kahilainen is Head of Communications of the Finnish Musicians’ Union and president of the Finnish Music Council, an umbrella organization advancing the five music rights in Finland and internationally. Having a background in ethnomusicology, sociology and gender studies, Sanni is passionate about music, freedom of expression and equality and inclusivity in the music field.
Sanni’s work, experience and focus are around the music rights published by the International Music Council, and advocating for the artists’ and music performers’ rights and equality is at the core of her work in Finland and internationally.
Sanni has also been leading and managing campaigning for the release of a group of artists/political prisoners in Egypt since 2018. Sanni was awarded as Future Visionary at the Finnish Music & Media Industry Awards 2021.
Marie Korpe
Marie Korpe is presently chair of Future of Female Sounds, a CSO and global community of womxn DJs and creators, as well as the co-founder and former Executive Director of Freemuse (2000-2013).
She has twenty years of experience in journalism with focus on international affairs, development aid and culture, as well as vast experience in organizational management, fund-raising in the field of culture and freedom of expression, and has a long-term insight in the landscape of artistic freedom. Her strong international network includes artists, human right defenders, researchers as well as media and funding agencies. Marie has published and edited several articles, reports and books on censorship as well as served as peer reviewer on the Oxford Handbook of Music Censorship.
Eric Nuzum
Eric is the co-founder of Magnificent Noise, an award-winning podcast and spoken-word production company based in New York City. He has served on several non-profit boards and has been a manager at several media companies in the United States (both for-profit and nonprofit). He is best known in the artistic rights world as the author of Parent Advisory, A Comprehensive History of Music Censorship in the United States and the Freemuse report SINGING IN THE ECHO CHAMBER. Eric has written and spoken extensively on music censorship issues over the past two decades.