Welcome Notes
Around the world, wars and armed violence, climate devastation and poverty have resulted in a staggering number of displaced people.
Welcome Notes is Musicians Without Borders’ response to the arrival in Europe of people seeking safety from war, poverty and climate change. We began by training musicians in the Netherlands to work with vulnerable people in asylum centers, but soon expanded to include training and pilot projects in Germany, Italy, Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
From single activities bringing joy to children in refugee centers, to longer-term social inclusion projects for newcomers, the program brings the connecting power of music to the complicated issues of displacement, reception and inclusion.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
In collaboration with War Childhood Museum and Superar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we bring music and arts activities to vulnerable children in refugee camps and centers.
Twenty years ago, our Music Bus program brought music to vulnerable children in ethnically divided cities, villages, and refugee settlements. Building on networks and expertise from earlier projects, Welcome Notes Bosnia and Herzegovina brings back the mobile music teams. The teams reach out to today’s displaced children in the region, while our partner organization complement the mobile music teams with music and arts workshops.
Rap projects
In collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages in Italy and Greece, Musicians Without Borders rap trainers Manu van Kersbergen and Guus van der Steen worked with unaccompanied minors, co-creating rap songs with young people to express their hopes and dreams for the future.
Music leadership training
We train musicians in inclusive music leadership approaches especially suited to working with vulnerable (young) people experiencing displacement. In Italy, Greece, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, this has focused on work in refugee centers.
In Germany, our training programs in collaboration with Landesmusikakademie North Rhine Westphalia strengthen this center’s structural programs with local and newcomer musicians in support of social inclusion in the region.

Suzana Đorđević

Haris Abdagić

Almerisa Delic

Tony Pesikan

Manu van Kersbergen

Guus van der Steen

Amanda Koser-Gillespie

Darren Abrahams

Juan David Garzon

Marion Haak-Schulenburg

Matthias Witt
Established in
2016
Active in
Netherlands
Germany
Greece
Italy
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Scotland
Key partners
Landesmusikakademie NRW
Superar Bosnia and Herzegovina
War Childhood Museum
Key numbers