German Promoters Association Elects New Board

The German promoters association BDKV elected a new board, including president, at its Nov. 3 general meeting.

Sonia Simmenauer was elected president, Johannes Everke will take over as managing director of the association effective January 1, 2023. They supersede former BDKV presidents Prof. Jens Michow and Pascal Funke.

There’ll be a few changes to the way BDKV operates in the new year. First, the board has gotten smaller. It comprises the newly elected president Sonia Simmenauer (Impresariat Simmenauer GmbH), deputy president Christian Doll (C² CONCERTS GmbH), Daniel Domdey (d2mberlin GmbH, Die Wühlmäuse), Christian Gerlach (Neuland Concerts GmbH), Verena Krämer (kulturkraemer), Michaela Russ (SKS Michael Russ GmbH) and Stephan Thanscheidt (FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen GmbH).

The managing director is no longer part of the board. Everke, a lawyer, brings with him a wide range of experience in the cultural industry, most recently in a marketing role for the city of Hamburg.

In addition to continuing to deal with the economic aftermath of the pandemic and the war-related energy crisis, he intends to focus on issues such as digitization, social and environmental sustainability, the shortage of skilled workers and gender equality when representing the interests of the sector, according to a press release from BDKV.

Simmenauer was already a member of the board of the former VDKD, which merged with the former bdv four years ago to form the current BDKV, which represents more than 450 live entertainment companies generating some $5 billion annually for the German economy.

A concert agent at heart, Simmenauer founded her own company in Hamburg in 1989, moving to Berlin in 2009, and representing a number of the world’s most important chamber music ensembles and soloists. After numerous teaching activities, she has also been an honorary professor at the Hamburg University of Music in the field of music education since 2010.

Both Michow, a 2022 Pollstar Impact International honoree, and Funke both were seen off with standing ovations by the assembly at the Nov. 3 general meeting.

Simmenauer thanked BDKV’s members for their trust, saying she was “full of energy” to take on this new era in the association’s history together with her board. She also said Michow’s legacy served as “an incentive and inspiration for me.”

BDKV MD Everke said he wanted “to tackle the existential threats to our live industry,” together with the new executive board.

Outgoing president Michow sincerely wished the new board and director “all the best for their future work. They are taking up their positions in a difficult time of crisis and will therefore have to master very special challenges.”

He recommended quickly establishing good contacts with the decision makers in the general and specialist ministries of the federal and state governments.

Outgoing president Funke concluded: “It has been a pleasure and always a great honor for me to work for the association. I would like to thank the board for the many years of trustful cooperation. At the same time, I wish the new board a successful work and all the best. My warmest congratulations to Sonia Simmenauer. She stands for a united front and the goal of maintaining important continuity for the industry most affected by the pandemic, while at the same time making a fresh start.”