Creating Space for Listening
Anton Teichmann, Bronne Keesmaat, Katarina Grbic, Walmir Thomé, Dalia Ahmed (Moderation)
Music does not begin on stage, but in the moment someone decides to listen closely. Every artistic career begins with one person recognising another’s potential and taking the time to listen. But these moments do not happen by chance. They require spaces, trust, and people who are willing to curate, connect, and take risks. This panel brings together people who create exactly these kinds of spaces – as festival directors, label founders, radio editors, and promoters. They discuss how new music becomes visible today, the role context plays in the way it is heard, and why festivals, concert series, radio programmes, and record labels are far more than simple platforms for distribution. They explore how atmosphere, curatorial decisions, and different sets of rules shape the listening experience, why exclusivity, community, or interdisciplinarity can each generate different forms of attention, and what responsibilities curators and promoters have towards both artists and audiences.
Dalia Ahmed is a music journalist, radio presenter, and DJ from Vienna. She works for the Austrian broadcaster FM4, where she hosts the programme »Dalia’s Late Night Lemonade«, blending global club sounds with guest mixes while exploring trends in club culture. She is also part of the FM4 Morning Show team and presents the pop culture programme FM4 Hot.
Bronne Keesmaat is the founder and artistic director of Rewire in The Hague, internationally recognised as one of the leading festivals for experimental and forward-looking music. Since founding the festival, he has overseen both its artistic programme and strategic development. Under his direction, Rewire has become a place where electronic music, sound art, contemporary composition, and audiovisual practice naturally enter into dialogue.
Katarina Grbić is a cultural producer and festival director based in Barcelona. As co-founder of Rizomes Festival, she has developed a format that brings together music, visual art, and temporary architecture with questions of ecological sustainability and collective practice. Alongside this, she has worked for many years on major cultural projects across Barcelona and advocates for production models that combine cultural participation, care, and environmental responsibility.
Anton Teichmann founded the Berlin label Mansions and Millions, which has built an international reputation through artists such as Discovery Zone, Meagre Martin, Sean Nicholas Savage, and Better Person. Alongside the label, he co-runs the management company A-Okay with Amande Dagod. His work is characterised by long-term artist development and a keen eye for musical voices that deliberately exist beyond short-lived trends.
Walmir Thomé is co-founder and managing director of unreleased berlin, a concert series that radically reimagines the traditional showcase format. Audiences only discover who is performing once they arrive, smartphones stay in pockets, and every artist performs at least one unreleased song. The result is a concert experience in which attention returns entirely to the music. With this approach, unreleased berlin has quickly established itself as one of Berlin’s most exciting live music formats.
