Jury —

Alexander Walter has been a part of the Piranha Arts team since 2004 where he assisted the Conference department. Since then, he is working as the Head of Showcases and is now the Director of ‘World Wide Music Expo(WOMEX)’. As well as being a musician himself, he graduated from Berlin’s Humboldt University with a degree in social sciences on migration networks which included a one- year stop over at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

James Minor is the Head of South by southwest(SXSW), which is celebrating its 34th season in 2021. SXSW is the largest music festival of its kind in the world, with 2,000 teams from 66 foreign countries performing at around 90 venues in 2019. He has a diverse background, with over 20 years in the industry, having worked in artist management, tour booking and managing, as well as talent buying and management for noted venues in both Austin, TX and New York City(NYC). He is a known advocate for up and coming talent and has spoken around the world at conferences including Primavera Pro(Spain), MU:CON(South Korea), Golden Melody Awards(Taiwan), MIDEM(France), Waves Vienna(Austria), ADE(Amsterdam) and was the keynote speaker at Pop-Kultur Berlin.

Jang Young-kyu, who debuted in 1997 with 1st album <break-even point>  as a member of the indie band 'Uhuhboo Project'. He mainly released songs containing pessimistic content and futility. In 2013, they  successfully completed their tour in Poland and other countries and performed solo performances under the title of their album. Jang Young-kyu has a reputation as a music director in many movies and dramas, including 'Train to Busan',  'Jeon Woochi : The Taoist Wizard' , health teacher 'Ahn Eunyoung' and 'Kairos'. As a film music director, singer, and bassist, he also gained worldwide fame by creating 'SsingSsing', 'LEENALCHI'.

Kim Jong-wook, the 9th Senior Conductor of the Busan Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra, is said to control all genres, including Jeongak and Folk music(which are Korean traditional music) and creative music, delicately and clearly, but also has rhythm in movement which makes the audience immersed in his music. He showed outstanding performances as a conductor based on his experience in receiving the intangible cultural heritage No. 1 royal ancestral rites music and passing down the intangible cultural heritage No. 20 Daegeum Jeongak. Moreover, he served as a management committee member of the Busan Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra.

Kim Won-min is the vice president of the Korea National University of Arts, which is renowned among Korean arts community. He has colorful performance achievements, including performances at ‘Puppet Play of Bupyeong Pungmul Festival’ and ‘International exchange of Jakarta Arts University in Indonesia and Aswara Arts University in Malaysia’. In addition, he didn’t hesitate to be a director of closing performance at special Olympic and even became a head director of ‘Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) Peace Arts Festival’ to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Korea National Liberation Day. Furthermore, he has seven awards, including the National Farmer’s Music Contest of Gimje Horizon Festival Grand Prize(Prime Minister’s Award), so he can be seen as a traditional musician who can play various roles such as performer and director.

Won il is a representative figure in the field of Korean traditional music, and has been active as a performer, composer, professor, artistic director, and band leader. He is currently serving as the artistic director of the Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra and is hosting ‘Yeosiamun’, a radio program for Korean traditional music broadcasting. He is the inheritor of the important intangible cultural asset No. 46, Daechwita and Piri Jeongak. He served as the artistic director for the National Orchestra of Korea from 2012 to 2015, for the Yeo Woo-rak Festival from 2017 to 2018, for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. He also served as the general director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 100th National Sports Festival and the 39th National Para Games in 2019. He formed the world music group ‘Puri’ in 1993 and served as the representative of the Korean music ensemble ‘Wind Flower’ from 2007 to 2011.

Yuthana Boonorm or Ted has worked in Thailand's music industry for more than 30 years, best known as the founder of the Big Mountain Music Festival, the biggest music festival in Thailand, if not in South East Asia. He is the most renowned director in Thailand and has built national reputation by participating in numerous festival projects, including the Big Mountain Festival, the Genie Fest, and the Hodoong Project and others.