The Italian city of Parma provided a perfect backdrop for the 2024 General Assembly of the WFIMC, the World Federation of international Music Competitions.
With the towering figures of Giuseppe Verdi and Arturo Toscanini, its impressive 400-year-old Teatro Farnese, and the imposing Teatro Regio in the centre of its beautiful old town, Parma is steeped in musical history.
Together with Ruben Jais of the Toscanini Foundation, Parma Mayor Michele Guerra warmly welcomed the delegates, showing great affinity and knowledge about the musical heritage of his city. Also representing Parma, Eleonora Reggiani of Barilla S.p.A., the world’s largest pasta producer, gave an impressive account of her company’s digital marketing strategies and its popular “Open Carbonara” outreach project.
Other speakers and panellists focused on content creation, audiences, artificial intelligence, streaming platforms, social media, and other marketing topics, and included:
Rob Overman (symphony.live)
Maximilian Merkle (Berlin Phil Media)
Geoffrey John Davies (The Violin Channel)
Alison Karlin (Backtrack)
Toni J. Krein (orchester.ch)
Luis Perandones (Muvac)
Tisa Ho (Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo)
Following the Marketing Forum, another main conference focus was conducting and conducting competitions, with directors of the Mahler (Bamberg), Toscanini (Parma), Besancon, Tokyo, and Rotterdam conducting competitions together on stage. A final highlight was a visit from conductor Marin Alsop, who spoke on careers in conducting, and the challenges of young women conductors in the classical music scene.
The 2025 General Assembly will mark the World Federation’s return to Asia and its first-ever event in China, with host city Harbin beautifully presented in Parma by Lin Yanqiu, Vice Mayor of this 10-million strong metropolis in northern China.
By Florian Riem