Reeperbahn Festival

Emily Kokal is a founding member and co-lead vocalist of Warpaint, a band known for their unique creative vision over the past two decades. Emily’s distinctive voice, artistic flair, and stage-ready delivery have set Warpaint apart from their peers. She is currently exploring new musical landscapes as a solo artist and working on various projects, including film music, visual art, and poetry. Emily will bring her extensive experience and unique perspective to the judging panel and will undoubtedly offer valuable insights for the nominees. 

Julia Stone has established herself as a major creative force in the international music industry over the last 20 years. Together with her brother Angus, she has released six studio albums, all of which have been critically acclaimed. Her second album, “Down the Way”, won five ARIA Awards and reached triple platinum status. Julia has also released three solo albums and has been involved in various artistic projects, including film scoring and acting. As a mentor to emerging artists, she shares her extensive knowledge and experience in order to nurture the next generation of musicians. 

Tayla Parx, a renowned songwriter, artist, and entrepreneur, boasts over 1 billion streams in her discography. She made history in 2019 by winning Billboard's "Hitmaker" Award with three Top 10 hits on the Hot 100. Apart from her songwriting process, Parx released two well-received albums, “We Need To Talk” in 2019 and “Coping Mechanisms”. In 2020, she launched TaylaMade, Inc., housing Parx Publishing, Parx Studios, 3020 Management, and Trailer Parx. Her latest project, “Many Moons, Many Suns” is scheduled to come out later this year. She remains a highly respected and boundary-pushing figure in the music industry.

Tim Bendzko has shaped the German pop music landscape like hardly anyone else from his generation. Since his breakthrough with “Nur noch kurz die Welt retten”, the versatile artist has enriched the music landscape with his profound lyrics and catchy melodies and has received numerous awards, including the Bambi and the Echo. Authenticity, creativity, and extensive experience in the music industry together with Tim’s ability to tell stories through music and to create emotional connections with his audience make him a valuable member of the Anchor jury. 

BBC Project Manager, Presenter and Producer with 25 years’ experience at the forefront of new music, working for over a decade with BBC Radio One, BBC 6Music, and hosting and DJing and curating stages at a number of high profile festivals – Latitude, Reading Festival, Greenman, The Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, ATP Australia and others. Bethan now heads up the development and strategy of BBC’s public value partnership with Arts Council of Wales under the banner Horizons/ Gorwelion – a music talent development scheme to develop new, independent contemporary music in Wales, UK. Horizons is a member of talent development European exchange called Excite, who showcase at a number of partner festivals. 

Cecilia Soojeong Yi is formerly known as the executive manager of Zandari Festa, Korea’s premier independent and international showcase festival. In 2018, she co-founded “DMZ Peace Train Music Festival” and has been in charge of programming, artist communication, and international relationships. In 2021, she expanded her business sector by co-founding a new company, ALPS, that goes beyond the model of a once-a-year festival to connect unique music and cultural content with the world continuously. She also served as one of the curators for Naver On Stage, which discovers Korea's best emerging artists, and has been a jury for Korean Music Awards since 2019. 

35 years plus in the industry from local artist management in 80s, record label distribution in the 90s (Sub Pop, City Slang, Crammed, Lookout, Epitaph, Crypt, etc) joined Iguapop live concerts promoting company in 90s,merging into Gamerco in Barcelona in the 2ks and LN Spain since 2006. He is PR,Talent & Export for Live Nation Madrid, Head of The Spanish Wave Showcase export programme, Director at Mad Cool Pro, Dcodelab in Dcode festival, Kid Nation project and lecturer at LN Live Music Master at UCM.  

Francisca has spent the last 14 years working in the Chilean independent music industry, in various capacities. She is currently President of the Independent Music Association of Chile, IMICHILE, and manager of the sector brand for the export of Chilean music, Chilemúsica. She is also on the Board of WIN, a network of independent music trade associations representing sound recording rights holders throughout Australasia, Asia, Europe, North and South America.  

In addition, she is the executive producer of Fluvial, a music conference that takes place in Valdivia, Chile; as well as part of Discos Río Bueno and La Unión, Booking and Communications.  

Before the associative work and music sector branding, she was part of Discos Río Bueno, a record label and artist development business, being in charge of the communications area where she has also worked in general production, management, project development, booking, and tour manager. She is also a partner and founder of La Unión, Booking y Comunicaciones, an agency with which she has worked on the development of more than 20 Chilean artists. 

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Justin Sweeting has over twenty years music industry experience, centered within Asia. 

As Clockenflap’s co-founder and Head of Music, Justin is responsible for programming across all of Clockenflap’s festival properties as well as year-round headline show touring in Hong Kong and beyond. 

Connecting the dots between Asia and the global industry at large, Justin enjoys spreading the word on the region’s music potential and is actively involved in its positive evolution. 

Kris is the Chief Executive of QMusic, leading events like BIGSOUND and the Queensland Music Awards. Formerly the Artistic Director of Brisbane Powerhouse, he founded events such as the New York Musical Theatre Festival and the Sydney Fringe Festival. 

He created festivals like Wonderland and MELT and directed key events like the Brisbane Comedy Festival. Kris has worked internationally as a director and producer, including on Broadway and for the Sydney Festival. 

Recognized on the Queensland Arts and Entertainment Power List, he has received several awards and serves on multiple arts advisory boards. 

Maria is a highly awarded member of the creative industries, with 18 years' experience across global brand and culture marketing. Maria started her career working in marketing and communications for T in the Park, Ibiza Rocks, Red Bull Culture Clash, Notting Hill Carnival, MOBO Awards and Asian Music Awards. From here, Maria stepped into one of the world's most prestigious advertising agencies, M&C Saatchi, leading marketing strategy and sponsorship amplification for the world's biggest brands in music and entertainment, including: Spotify, Red Bull, EE for Glastonbury and BAFTA, and Ballantine's x Boiler Room. A move to Sony Music saw her head up the labels' partnerships division. Maria now finds herself at the heart of an organization helping change the shape of the music industry and artist engagement, having joined TikTok in 2020. In her role, she leads music marketing and strategic partnerships across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. 

Naomi Wood is a manager and A&R consultant. She's an A&R consultant for Playground Music and a founder/manager at her company Wood Music. Her focus is on signing and developing artists, songwriters, and music producers at both companies. She has previously worked as an A&R at first Sony Music Sweden and then Universal Music Sweden, where she has worked with pop artists with a track record of award wins and nominations, extensive radio play, and streaming hits on the Swedish and Norwegian market.  

The love for music started when she as a 15 year-old experience her first music festival with some close friends. The amazement what music can do with people and the community it creates made her want to fully be a part of it. After several years of creating events and booking artists it all turned and got clear what she wanted to focus on during her time at the program Music & Event management at Linnaeus University; she was going to work longterm with the artist in order to get then to the stages/festivals she's been working on. From 2016 kicking off her first artist manager/label manager job she's hasn't stopped to loves every part of it. 

Ramera Abraham is a London-based vocal producer, songwriter, producer, and recording engineer. After obtaining her engineering degree from Abbey Road Institute in 2018, she started in the industry with an engineering residency at Spotify's Noteable studio, with mentorship from Berklee College of Music. It was there that Ramera dealt with daily studio operations while delving into the world of vocal production and engineering. She moved on to work as a runner, then assistant engineer at Metropolis Studios, assisting artists like Adele, Little Mix, Nick Cave, Elton John, Stormzy, and Sam Fender. Now as a freelancer, Ramera works with independent artists as well as artist services company, Platoon, across their artist roster. She has worked with RAYE, Ms Banks, Ayra Starr, Henry Moodie, KAMILLE, Luz, and Saint Harison. Ramera was also included in SheSaidSo's Alternative Power 100 List 2021 as one to watch, and is the Music Producers Guild's Vocal Producer of the Year 2023.    

Yudu Gray Jr. is a GRAMMY-winning music industry figure, experienced entrepreneur, and artist advocate focused on empowering creators globally and simplifying the business of music. As Founder & Co-CEO of 24/7 Artists, he is helping to build a global community of creative professionals and enthusiasts that foster innovation, promote personal growth, and give artists in every neighborhood the confidence and tools to pursue their dreams. Joining 24/7 Artists means having access to industry experts via world-class courses, a suite of productivity resources to help manage a career, and a peer-to-peer support network to level up any artists’ journey together.  

From escaping the Liberian civil war in 1990 to being featured in The Washington Post, Yudu’s journey is a testament to resilience and passion. He founded House Studios in 2010 with his wife Davina Thomas. Under their guidance, House Studios emerged as a key player in the DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) music scenes, contributing to the success of artists like Logic, Ari Lennox, Wale, and Mannywellz. Yudu's work on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album "To Pimp a Butterfly" is a career highlight, earning him a GRAMMY for Best Hip Hop Album. Yudu and Davina’s success story with the studio reached its peak with an exit valuation of nearly $20 million, a monumental feat considering their humble start with $800.  

For over twenty years, Zan has worked as a  broadcaster and music journalist, championing the discovery of new music; whether at worldwide festivals and conferences, or on her national radio programs. For more than a decade, Zan was a key broadcaster with triple j, before launching a new Mornings show on sister station Double J.  

Zan is the host of ABC TV’s high rating New Year's Eve broadcast concert, creator and host of prime-time music interview TV series Take 5 with Zan Rowe, and a regular correspondent on morning television’s ABC News Breakfast. Zan has chaired panels and MC-ed events internationally, been part of the official Australian Eurovision Jury, and was the first Australian juror for the ANCHOR Award in 2019. 

Jovanka v. Wilsdorf, Berlin, is the initiator of the DIANA AI Song Contest and the Female* Producer Prize (Germany) and the musical director at Hanson robotics (Hong Kong). In addition to her work as a creative consultant and artist coach for various music companies and Musicboard Berlin, she gives lectures on international stages on the topics of "AI in music production" and "artist development".