Birgit Ellinghaus has a long record of working in culture and music, supporting, recording, presenting and touring artists from all over the world. She has worked with exiled musicians, directed cultural centers and since 1989 she is a director of the arts management agency alba KULTUR. Between 2012 – 2016 she worked as programmer for the world music series “Underway” at Berliner Philharmonie and from 2016 for Frankfurt Alte Oper. As an advisor she has worked with the NRW Ministry of Culture, German city councils, the Goethe Institute, the German UNESCO commission, is the head of network for Klangkosmos NRW – the network of global music in the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany (over 2000 concerts since the year 2000) and a mentor and/or lecturer for colleges and universities in management programs. Since 2013 Birgit is an extraordinary member of the “Institut for World Music and Transcultural Studies IWTM” of “Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.” Since 2009 she is appointed by the German UNESCO Commission as member of the Advisory Board in the National Committee of Culture. She served has been in the jury of BabelMedMusic 2011, 2012 and 2016, WOMEX 2014; and for the European Festival Label Award EFFE 2015.