Berklee Valencia Alumnus Jesse Boere Elected President of the International Music Council

A globally engaged music professional and policy strategist with over 15 years of experience, Jesse Boere MM ‘13 was elected president during the International Music Council’s (IMC) 41st General Assembly in late 2025.

In his new role, Boere will advance an ambitious work plan focused on strengthening IMC’s three core pillars: its role as a value-driven advocacy body, its function as a network of networks, and its capacity as a project-based organization. The aim is to scale the institution’s impact and support a world in which everyone can access music—learning, creating, performing, and expressing themselves—while ensuring artists are recognized and fairly remunerated.

Boere’s relationship with the IMC began in 2011, when he participated in the fourth edition of the IMC World Forum on Music in Tallinn, Estonia, as part of an EU-funded initiative focused on youth participation in music advocacy. He later joined the IMC Youth Advisory Group and went on to serve on the executive board from 2014 to 2019, gaining in-depth experience with the organization’s governance and global network.

At the General Assembly, Boere became the youngest person to hold the role of president in the IMC's 77-year history. His election follows a decade of academic work at NYU Abu Dhabi and policy-focused roles in the international music field.

Boere describes the position as “an opportunity to help guide the institution through today’s changing cultural, social, and political realities by broadening representation, strengthening dialogue across regions and musical practices, and connecting musicians’ experiences to cultural policy.”

Berklee Valencia: A Transformative Time

Music has always extended beyond performance for Boere. Growing up in a small town in the Netherlands, he joined the National Student Chamber Choir at a young age and became increasingly involved in its leadership, first as a fundraiser and later as chair. This blend of artistic practice and organizational work continued during his time at Berklee Valencia, where he completed the Contemporary Performance program in 2013.

“That intense year gave me very focused time to discover who I was as an artist,” he says. He describes Berklee Valencia as a tight-knit, highly international campus. “It felt like a little musical microcosm, almost a family,” he adds, pointing to a culture centered on collaboration, listening, and exchange.

Faculty encouraged him to connect his artistic interests with broader questions around cultural administration and policy, guidance that later led him to pursue an additional master’s degree in public policy. 

Reflecting on his ongoing connection to Berklee Valencia, Boere notes that the campus is deeply embedded in the international music ecosystem. “What you do in the practice rooms, classrooms, and studios in Valencia is not isolated,” he says. “It’s connected to a much bigger conversation about how music is valued and supported globally.”

For current students and alumni, his advice is practical and grounded: Avoid musical elitism, understand that careers are rarely linear, and prioritize being a good and kind collaborator.

About the International Music Council 

Founded under the aegis of UNESCO in 1949, the IMC is the world’s largest network of music organizations and institutions. IMC is dedicated to advancing the Five Music Rights and to building a world in which everyone can access music, engage with it creatively, and express themselves through it, while ensuring that artists of all kinds are recognized and fairly remunerated.

IMC connects people, ideas, and action across a global network spanning 150 countries, including national music councils and international, regional, and specialized arts and culture organizations. Through its members, IMC reaches more than 1,000 individual organizations and 600 million people worldwide. Its work is supported in Africa and Europe by the African and European regional groups, respectively.