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Folk Alliance International (FAI) Unveils Conference Programming with 125+ Events

Folk Alliance International (FAI) has announced its upcoming conference programming, including Allison Russell as keynote speaker.

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Folk Alliance International 2025

Folk Alliance International (FAI), a 501(c)3 and the foremost global nonprofit for folk music, today announced that GRAMMY Award-winner and eight-time nominee Allison Russell, who made her Broadway debut in November performing as Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown, will be the Keynote Speaker at its 37th annual conference. Celebrated author and NPR Music journalist Ann Powers will be interviewing Allison.

FAI also unveiled its programming lineup for the conference, with over 300 panels, roundtables, discussions, film screenings, Official Showcase performances, meet-ups, and other programs. The conference takes place from February 19th to 23rd, 2025, in Montréal, QC.

FAI also confirmed over 175 Official Showcase Performances and over 125 other events, including:

  • The ceremony of the International Folk Music Awards, opening the conference on February 19th
  • The third annual Black American Music Summit with panellists and facilitators include Lady A, Tiara Amar, Bertrand Evans-Taylor, Jenn Jeffers, Kaïa Kater, Lisa Sanders, Shakura S’Aida, Lara Supan, Brandi Waller-Pace, and Jada Watson, with a welcome message from Dom Flemons;
  • Special programming in partnership with the International Indigenous Music Summit.
  • Featured interview with Michelle Chawla, Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Council for the Arts.
  • A discussion of Music In Times of War.
  • Book Club: Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital, with author and Rolling Stone writer David Browne.
  • Local 1000 Town Hall: P2 Visa Delays.
  • From Score to Show: Building Musical Museums and Exhibitions, including members of the teams of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, the National Music Centre of Canada, FARHOF, and the Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience.
  • A panel on Caretaking in the Music Industry with Mag Blackburn, Robyn Stewart, and Rosalyn Dennett.
  • A roundtable on WILD FOLK: Nature, folk arts, and finding wonder amidst climate chaos.
  • A discussion of Louder Together: How artists raise their collective voice to fight for their rights against industry titans.
  • A panel on Music as a Driving Force in the space of disaster, with MusiCares VP Debbie Carroll, the Recording Academy’s Reid Wick, and LEAF Global Arts executive director Jennifer Pickering.
  • A conversation about Existing as a creative in an authoritarian society?
  • A panel on Building Your Dream Team with moderator Matthew Wilson and panellists Tao-Ming Lau (Paquin Artists), Andrew Britton (PS Business Management), Peter Strand (Mandell Menkes), Shauna de Cartier (Six Shooter Records).
  • The workshop House Concerts Unlocked.
  • A Legal Summit, in partnership with the American Bar Association.
  • Film screenings of six-time CFMA-winning film Walking Through the Fire; The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane; and the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame Inaugural Induction Ceremony.
  • Country Focus: Portugal, featuring an official showcase, two private showcase rooms, and a Portuguese panel.
  • Traditional French Canadian fiddler Gilles Losier is this year’s Mike Seeger Traditional Fellowship.

Allison Russell is a singer, songwriter, poet, activist, multi-instrumentalist, and actor who has redefined what artistry means in the 21st century. From her devastatingly moving celebration of survivors’ joy on her 2021 debut album, Outside Child, to the body-shaking, mind-expanding, expression of Black liberation that is The Returner (2023), Russell’s music exceeds all reasonable (and unreasonable) expectations and affirms her place among today’s most vital artists.

Various honours include her Grammy win for “Best American Roots Performance” for “Eve Was Black” alongside seven additional Grammy nominations; the Juno Award for “Contemporary Roots Album of the Year,” the Americana Music Association’s 2023 Spirit of Americana Award & 2022 Album of the Year Award, two International Folk Music Awards, three Canadian Folk Music Awards, and four UK Americana Music Awards.

Alongside the Rainbow Coalition Band, her all-women ensemble of fierce musical empaths, Russell uses her music and platform to activate the dream of the “Beloved Community” and is dedicated to lifting others upwards as her own star ascends.

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