Message from the IMC President CIM/LC-1855 Paris, August 2nd 2002

Dear Members of the International Music Council, The past few weeks were marked by deep sorrow within the IMC community over the untimely death of our Secretary General Guy Huot. To all of you who have conveyed to us your condolences and sympathy, I would like to express my sincere thanks and also those of the Executive Committee as well as of the Secretariat. Since Guy Huot's passing away, a number of concerts in Paris and outside have been dedicated to his memory. So was the closing ceremony of this year's International Rostrum of Composers held on June 14th where among others, the UNESCO Assistant Director General for Culture, Mounir Bouchenaki, addressed the audience to remember Guy Huot's unconditional commitment to a fruitful cooperation between UNESCO and the IMC. In the next issue of RESONANCE, we will pay due tribute to Guy, to his unique personality and his great professionalism. The Executive Committee has also decided that the bursary granted to the young composer selected every year at the International Rostrum of Composers, a project to which Guy Huot had always attached high importance, be named "Guy Huot Bursary". The next IMC General Assembly will also include a memorial event to pay homage to our late Secretary General. It was under these sad circumstances that the Executive Committee met in Berlin, July 5-7. We started the meeting by exchanging personal memories of our relationship with Guy; some of us had known him for a long time. As Executive Committee, however, we had then to address the issue of future developments. In order to find a replacement for the Secretary General, we have decided to make an international call for applications, open to the large public. The announcement will be published early September. A recruitment committee was set up which will screen the pre-selected candidates. We hope to be able to announce the name of the new Secretary General after the next Excom meeting to be held early April 2003. It was also our task in Berlin to establish an interim management system for the organisation to ensure its smooth running during the transitional period until the new Secretary General will take up his/her duties. In this respect, the Executive Committee has asked me to be Acting Secretary General and has appointed Silja Fischer as Executive Director in charge of managing the office and current affairs; she has until now worked as Executive Secretary. Silja Fischer shall be assisted by myself and the three vice-presidents as well as by the Treasurer, who will take over more managing responsibilities, each one of them in one field of action. Thus, Executive Vice-President Franz Müller-Heuser will be in charge of membership matters, Vice-President Damien Pwono will work on strategic planning and fundraising and Vice-President Ramon Santos will be responsible for the IMC programme. Treasurer Franz Patay shall continue supervising the IMC finances. You can see that our organisation's management is in good hands and we will all do our best to fulfil our respective roles. It is with great confidence that I am looking towards the future of the International Music Council and I do hope you will share this confidence with me. Should you have any questions, my colleagues and I shall be pleased to answer them. I take this opportunity to remind you of October 1st, International Music Day: You are all invited to celebrate it in the way you think appropriate for your country or organisation and to spread the enclosed message on the occasion of IMD all over the world. Long live music, always and everywhere!

Kifah Fakhouri President International Music Council Conseil international de la musique Maison de l'UNESCO 1 rue Miollis 75732 PARIS cedex 15 France Tel. +33 1 45 68 25 50 Fax +33 1 43 06 87 98 e-mail: imc_cim@compuserve.com Website: www.unesco.org/imc