Secretary-General

Secretary-General of the Arts Investment Forum (AIF) in Germany, Dr. Erica Eyrich has over 20 years of experience in the international cultural policy sector. At the AIF, she spearheaded the creation of an international task force of funders focused on enhancing the role of culture in international development cooperation and a global advisory scheme for private philanthropy on arts and culture for development. Previously, she acted as Director of the International Music Trust Fund and as Deputy Secretary General at the UNESCO-based International Music Council (Paris), the world’s largest music membership NGO. Prior to that, she led the Music, Human Rights and Tolerance Project at the European Academy of Arts and Sciences (Vienna), for which she was awarded the Research Prize of the Europa-Stiftung Alois Mock. She has served as advisor to the Aspen Institute (Washington DC) and as consultant to UNESCO, the EU, and the Middle East Center on Culture and Development, and she was a member of the EU Expert Group on Access to Finance for the Cultural and Creative Sectors and the ad-hoc taskgroup on culture and development cooperation. She holds a Doctorate in music, cultural theory, pedagogy and cognitive psychology from Cambridge University, a Masters from the Royal Academy of Music and King’s College (London), a post-graduate degree from Indiana University at Bloomington (US), and a Masters from the Music University at Freiburg, Germany.