The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees acts as a creative and advisory body. Comments and suggestions can be sent via e-mail to kuratorium@berlin-music-commission.de.
Thor Hagedorn – La By’le
Music Production, Label & Diversity
Thor Diogo Hagedorn (Pronoun He/him, born in Bremen) is a rapper, singer, producer, dj, eventmanager, mentor and visual artist. Hip-Hop, graffiti, Capoeira along with traditional and urban Brazilian sounds have a central role in the establishment of his artist sound and image.
Thor began his musical career as an autodidact in the late 90s and worked with local and international artists over the next few years. He has a B.A. in Literature and Latin American studies. In 2017 he founded the Tropical Bass collective La By’le together with Luana Madikera, Tâmera Bak, Pitota, Sera Kalo and Babix, with the focus on equality of marginalized groups in their line-ups, music productions and the design of La By ‘le events. Since 2019 he has been an active mentor in the youth project Zukunftsmusik in the field of music production.
Peter Hayo – Get Physical Music
Music production, label & publishing
Peter Hayo is one of the six founders and shareholders in the Berlin label Get Physical. As managing director of the Perky Park Music production company, he has been active in the music business for over 20 years, both as a composer and producer.
Ima Johnen
Ima Johnen was born in Paris and grew up in Berlin, where she studied music and communication sciences as well as journalism. Parallel to her studies, she gained her first experience as a music journalist, founded and managed various projects such as the socio-cultural media project BLN.FM and the association CreAid e.V. with the aim of supporting and promoting refugee musicians.
After many years of working for Riverside Studios, which she helped to shape and manage, Ima Johnen set a new focus in 2023. She trained as a systemic organizational developer with a focus on transformation design and as a CSR manager. This targeted reorientation not only reflects her personal development, but also underlines her ongoing dedication to promoting sustainable practices in the cultural and creative industries. Her path is characterized by creative entrepreneurship and a clear commitment to social responsibility.
Björn Krass (Tim Thaler) – BLN.FM / Folivox
Youth work & media
Bjoern Krass-Koenitz is a trained journalist, speech coach, state-recognised media educator and head of the SRH Innovation Lab. He founded the media service provider BLN.FM in 2009 and the podcast production and distribution company Folivox in 2019. From 2012 to 2020, he worked as a freelance author for Deutschlandradio and Funkhaus Europa, among others. From 2013 to 2018, he was a lecturer for journalism, marketing and speech training at the School of Audio Engineering in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne. Since 2014, he has been a lecturer for journalism, speech training and management in the creative industries at the SRH School of popular arts (SOPA, formerly hdpk).
From 2015 to 2020, Bjoern Krass-Koenitz was a lecturer for cross-media and speech training at the Business and Information Technology School. In addition to his teaching activities, Bjoern Kras-Koenitz is a speech educator and also Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Berlin Music Commission. Bjoern sees his role in the interplay between media, politics and business. With more than 25 years of cultural work in Berlin, he is very well connected in these areas. As head of the Innovation Lab and the Start-Ups segment at SRH, Berlin, he connects future generations directly with decision-makers from the worlds of culture and business. More info: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjoernkrasskoenitz
Mahide Lein – AHOI artists & events
Cultural Mediator, Event Organizer, Feminist, LGBTI- & Human Rights Activist
Born in 1949 in Frankfurt am Main, works with stars and starlets from music and all kinds of art & lifestyles – a bridge between art, culture, politics, social engagement, cross-border issues with a pleasant balance between audience and stage.
From 1968 she promoted women in the underground and avant-garde in particular; has lived in Berlin since 1977; from 1992 she also opened up to queer artists through the first Russian-German cultural exchange; because of her first trip to Africa Zimbabwe in 1996, she works with everyone on this planet and founded the concert & event agency AHOI with many festivals and concert series to maintain the joy of life. She is also a film and fashion maker, does catering and in the association www.KuenstlerHilfeJetzt.org
Anna Groß (SPRINGSTOFF)
Events, youth work, intersectional feminism, political education
Anna Groß runs the Springstoff label together with Rainer Scheerer. She is the editor of the anthology “It’s more than just rap – HipHop in youth work”, author, event and artist manager and organises events with a fem* focus. Anna has also been working in political education for over 20 years with a focus on gender-reflective, racism-critical radicalisation prevention and democracy promotion: annagross.eu
Rainer Scheerer – Springstoff
Publishing & Network
Rainer Scheerer is in search of the development of an artistic expression through music, along the parameters of narration, identification and technology. He works as an artist manager and is the owner and founder of the music label & publishing house SPRINGSTOFF.
Staab – R.O.T
Management & Networking
STAAB is co-founder and partner of the artist and label collective R.O.T / respectortolerate from Berlin. His responsibilities include booking, promotion, artistic artist management, accounting and live productions. He learned drums at the conservatory in Halle and at the music academy in Weimar and played in various bands for many years. He also worked for many years as a light and show designer and as a cook.
Kerstin Meyer