Sarjo Camara Singateh The new Executive Director of Alliance Franco Gambia, Mr. Claude Poggiolli was officially introduced to the public at a pressconference held at its office on Kairaba Avenue on Tuesday, 16 December, 2014. Mr. Poggiolli told journalists that the purpose of the briefing is to inform the Gambian public about his arrival and to disclose the plans of his office for 2015. The new director assured the general public that the quality of services being offered by Alliance will continue, adding that identifying activities that will help to face lift the organization’s image and diversify the services would be a priority. He also assured their continued support in promoting all artists in the cultural field. In his introductory remark, Dr. Cherno Barry, the acting Chairperson of the Alliance Board, said the new Executive Director will be sending information to the public on the new developments at Alliance. Responding to questions, Dr. Barry revealed that the Alliance recording studio and hall have the lowest rate in terms of recording and bookings for artists. He urged Gambian artists to endeavour to record quality music in order to sell their products well. He said Alliance has the facility to offer quality recordings, adding that they do not discriminate and instead they do treat all artists equally. On the issue of funding, the acting Chairperson of the Alliance Board disclosed that if the musicians come with good project proposals they can benefit from funding. He said the artists who record at their studio or stage shows at their facility know the concessions they offer them. Dr. Barry said the MOUs they have with musicians are all valid, adding that they are not doing any production but provide services and promote artists. A member of the music promoters association suggested that Alliance should be working with associations instead of individuals and should be supporting them in terms of funding. He added that Alliance should also do more media sensitization programmes to inform artist about the quality of their recording facility. Muhammmed Jammeh of Manding Empire encouraged Alliance to continue working closely with the artists and to sign MOUs with them. Responding to some of the questions, Mr. Wole Rendall, the Cultural Officer and Studio Manager at Alliance Franco Gambia, said funding would not be a problem but that the quality of music and sounds that the musicians produce are sometimes not up to standard. He said they have engaged musicians to take part in competitions in the past but they failed. He said musicians should know what type of music they want to produce and where to record their songs. ]]>
