The JMI Board announces that Blasko SMILEVSKI from Skopje, Macedonia has been appointed new Secretary General of JMI.

Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) is the largest youth music NGO in the world, created in 1945 with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries." With member organizations currently in 43 countries, JMI is a global network providing opportunities for youth to engage with music, with an annual 36,000 activities for 5 million young people aged 13-30. For over 60 years, JMI has been Making a Difference through Music, using the power of music to bridge across social, geographical, racial and economic divides and creating a platform for intercultural dialogue.

Blasko Smilevski (38 years) started as a young volunteer in JM Macedonia in 1986, later to become responsible for international cooperation projects and fundraising. He has served as Chairman of JM Europe for 6 years, been JMI Board member for 12 years, Vice-President from 2003 to 2006, when the 61st Annual General Assembly in Beijing, China elected him JMI President. In addition to his involvement in JM Macedonia, Blasko has been working as a youth consultant for the Agency of Youth and Sports of Macedonia and more recently as a Youth Development Consultant for the World Bank in e.g. Kosovo, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Moldova. Blasko will assume his responsibilities as Secretary General of JMI as from October 2008.

In the wake of Blasko’s resignation when applying for the executive function of the organization by end 2007, the JMI Board has appointed the 1st Vice President, Swede Per EKEDAHL, as interim JMI President until the next General Assembly in September 2008. Per presently holds a position as Head of Youth Department at Concerts Sweden (Rikskonserter) and is Secretary General of Jeunesses Musicales Sweden. He has been member of the JMI Board since 2002 and been active in several of the JMI committees and working groups, and is also chairing the Nordic Network for School Concerts (2008).

Stepping down from the position will be Swede Dag FRANZÉN, who has served as JMI Secretary-General since 1994. During his fourteen-year tenure, Dag has strengthened the JMI structure, finances and transparency and has developed new international projects, increased collaboration between member organizations through development of joint strategies and positioned JMI globally as a leading cultural NGO. Dag will however not disappear from organization: instead he will take on the full-time position as Chief Executive Officer of JMI’s Music Crossroads program, a youth empowerment initiative in 5 Southern African countries initiated and managed by him since 1996, offering belief in the future and opportunities in music to those who have little of both, developing Music Crossroads to its full potential.

Dag is happy to hand over the Secretary-General position to Blasko as JMI, being a hybrid organization of Youth and Music, needs to focus further on its youth alignment in the years to come.

Contact: Kate Declerck, JMI Communications Officer
kate@jmi.net or +32 2 513 97 74
www.jmi.net