Music Crossroads Academies win Bangladesh Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy. Last night will be a day that we will continue to celebrate into the future. Our Music Crossroads Academies were awarded the 2023 UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy, in recognition of the work of training and empowering entrepreneurship among youth, with a focus on female participants.
Created in 2020, the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy Prize rewards exceptional initiatives that support young entrepreneurs in the field of the creative economy.
Music Crossroads initiated in 1995, by Jeunesses Musicales International, through the organisation of annual festivals, international band tours, and trainings provided for young talents in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Now, Music Crossroads is one of the biggest and most exciting cultural development initiatives in Africa, and has involved more than 200,000 young musicians and reached an audience of more than a million listeners in southern Africa.
The work we do would not be possible if not for the support of our committed partners, The Royal Norwegian Embassy, GMA, Focusrite, Africalia and In Tune for Life.
Our mission is to empower young people in Africa through music. Our unique Music Crossroads Academies, established in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in 2013, offer talented young musicians an accessible and innovative music education program, to equip them with the necessary tools for a career within the competitive music industry.
As an organisation we realised that empowering these musicians was about more than their musical craft. They needed to be equipped with the skills to monetise their craft and build themselves as a brand, and as a business. Practical training has always been a priority for us and over the years have trained many young people in Instrument Build and Repair, Audio Engineering, and Cultural Management which has enabled these individuals to work in the industry and create multiple income streams. We wanted to take this one step further – and so, in partnership with The Music In Africa Foundation and Goethe-Institute, South Africa, made possible through funding by The Sounds Connect Fund – The Music Business School project was born.
Music Crossroads is committed to empowering musical entrepreneurs who will grow the sector not only as the talented musicians they are – BUT – as astute business people, impacting economic growth and development.
Music Crossroads – Empowering Youth Through Music
