Popakademie hosts Music Camp in Namibia

"After we were able to start planning the project during a Namibia trip last year, we are now especially happy that the camp can take place in March and is supported as part of the country's Namibia Initiative. We are happy that musicians:inside and lecturers of the Popakademie and the partner institutions COTA and UNAM will exchange ideas", says Prof. Udo Dahmen, Artistic Director and Managing Director Popakademie Baden-Württemberg.

"I am very happy that after many intensive preparations by the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, the connections to Windhoek on my part and a pandemic-related planning that was not easy, it is now possible to hold the first Music Camp Namibia in Windhoek. As City Councillor for Culture, I am also looking forward to the parallel talks with the Windhoek City Council on creative, cultural and climate-related topics that the City of Mannheim will be conducting on site."
Markus Sprengler, City Councillor of the City of Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg) and coach.

Popakademie Baden-Württemberg is planning the Music Camp in collaboration with experts from partner institutions in Windhoek, Namibia, such as the College of the Arts (COTA), the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the Goethe-Institut Namibia. With the concept of a band and songwriting camp, the Music Camp aims to provide Namibian music students, professional and semi-professional musicians or music teachers with opportunities to network and find new professional perspectives on a local, national and international level.

The Music Camp will cover songwriting, music production, typical pop music playing styles, music business basics and self-promotion as a freelance musician. The participants have the opportunity to experience intensive teamwork with musicians from different musical backgrounds, such as the Namibian star Lioness. They can try out new musical styles and combine different genres and languages while working on common songs. The final concert, where all bands and songwriting teams will perform their songs live on stage in front of an audience, will take place on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at the National Theatre of Namibia.

The Music Camp will be accompanied by a film team from the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The Filmakademie is one of the world's leading film academies, whose overarching goal is the practice-oriented education of future actors in the film and media industry.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg.