We believe music creation needs safer, accessible spaces where diverse communities can connect at free workshops.
Open Music Lab is born from the realization that many marginalized communities face structural barriers and discrimination, which can hinder their access to and opportunities in the music industry. Music education can often feel exclusive due to the high costs associated with learning, as well as the equipment and tools required to make music.
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We are trying to find ways to counter these problems and believe music creation needs safer, more accessible spaces where cultural differences are celebrated.
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The Open Music Lab is a space where anyone can learn how to create, record, and share. All of our workshops and courses are free of charge for the students and offer a place for Berlin’s diverse communities to connect and create together. We are committed to including and supporting refugees, asylum seekers, people who identify as female, non-binary and LGBTQI+, people of colour, and people with disabilities.
We are strongly opposing racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism, and classism.
We believe in the right for every human being to express themselves, be respected, and feel safe, regardless of their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, migratory status, religion, and abilities.
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Our music mentors and community members are experts drawn from Berlin's vibrant music scene. We provide weekly workshops on specific topics, ranging from building a basic microphone to learning to mix and master a track, from learning about harmony and scales to writing your own lyrics, from sampling to using synthesizers.
We also run beginners' courses in music production, radio, and DJing, as well as more advanced courses for experienced musicians.
Ben Osborn (he/him)
Project Manager & Workshop Organizer
Co-Founder
Ben Osborn is a writer, songwriter, composer and sound designer, with over ten years of professional experience as a music creator as well as a background in anti-racism campaigning. Coming from a poetic folk song tradition, his work also draws from electronic and classical music to create a space for personal and political stories to be told.
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Gaby D’Annunzio (she/her)
Co-Executive Director & Programming
Co-Founder
Gaby is a social activist, community organiser and mental health advocate. With a Master of Arts in Psychology, she has always had a keen interest in social issues and people's well-being. She has extensive experience in developing workshops and curriculums as well as running events. She is also part of the Refuge Worldwide team and hosts the Agora podcast series for Give Something Back to Berlin.
Ophélie Kauffmann (she/they)
Project Manager & Workshop Organizer
Ophélie is a DJ, music producer, writer, translator, and has worked as a booker and artist manager for the past six years. With experience in event and artist management, she's interested in ways to support young artists outside the mainstream, in the hope to build a more equitable music scene. She's an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, gender self-determination, and intersectional justice, and strongly believe in the power of empathy and listening.
Esterina Ukaj (she/her)
Social Media and Communication Manager
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Esti is a value based communication manager and storytelling enthusiast based between Berlin and Tirana. She has worked and has been engaged in several civil society organizations in Albania and Germany. Her passion for equal access in the music scene and belonging in a community brought her to OML where she took a beginner music production course. Wholehearted content and communication person and an aspiring DJ and producer who dreams of creating and facilitating more inclusive spaces for women, but not exclusively, in the music scene.
Abeera Atif (she/her)
Content Strategy and Social Media Volunteer
​Abeera is a Berlin-based content strategist, writer, DJ and producer. Hailing from Pakistan, she has been active in both Berlin's non-profit sector and music industry for several years. With a vested interest in creating safer spaces and using intersectional approaches for fair and equitable inclusion in the music scene, her work includes brainstorming content for OML that centers the community. She's passionate about writing, storytelling, migration, supporting community-led initiatives, and helps to run the Berlin-based collective Un:seen.
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Sophie Douala (she/her/they)
Designer & Community Member
​Sophie Douala is Cameroon-born, France-raised, and Berlin-based visual artist and graphic designer. She is interested in the interplay and confluence of a formal visual language and its emotional and cognitive affect. Sophie has been part of the OML community from the start, she has supported OML with a beautiful t-shirt campaign and designed the first compilation release, Redox. She is continuing to inspire the community through visual artistic direction and providing workshops.
Spencer Carter (they/them)
Mentor & Community Member
Spencer aka MINQ is a Berlin-based DJ, sound artist, and cultural producer. With roots in the queer underground and draws from a multiplicity of movements and spheres including DIY ethos and punk aesthetics. Today they are exploring ways in which music is omnipresent by using field recordings, vocal samples, peculiar analog machines and experimenting with audio collage, non-conventional rhythmic patterns and song arrangements. MINQ also uses music as a mode of activism and enjoys interacting with the community and environment around them.
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Rachel Margetts (she/they)
Co-founder & Community Member
Rachel Margetts is an interdisciplinary artist working with sound, text, performance and film. Her solo music project ‘Yr Lovely Dead Moon’ incorporates raw electronics and avant-garde poetics to explore issues surrounding subjectivity, gender and history. Her work has been premieres on BBC 6music, Tageszeitung and FACT. Alongside her creative practice, Rachel works as an arts educator and youth worker, facilitating art workshops for young people.
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Moritz Paul
(he/him)
Label & Community Member
Moritz Paul aka Leibniz is a DJ, producer, and co-founder of Hundert Records. Since his first release on Fourth Wave in 2013, Moritz has released on various labels, such as Rat Life, Uncanny Valley's sub-label Shtum, or Molten Moods.
His music draws from the kind of theoretical ramblings about the internet, modern life, and interpersonal communication. He's been giving Ableton's workshops at OML since the beginning of the project.
Abed Alfakir (he/him)
Mentor & Community Member
Abed is a Techno DJ from Damascus, Syria. After finishing high school he moved to Berlin. His love of music brought him to the OML music production course in 2019 to continue developing his production skills. Ever since he has been a central part of the OML community and continues to inspire his fellow students.
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Morena Miceli (she/her)
Mentor & Community Member
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Morena aka morphena is an Argentinian-born DJ and producer, now based in Berlin. She participated in the No Shade Mentoring Program and in the Open Music Lab Music Production Course, which ended with a release on the OML label. Since then she has been releasing music for labels and doing radio shows, for Loser Records, Mega Buff, Balamii, Widows, Raiders, HÖR & Misc Wav Fm Radio.
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Our Values
Community
We aim at providing a space of safety and belonging for an open-minded community of individuals who bond over a love of music creation.
Equity
We believe that personal or social circumstances such as gender, ethnic origin, or family background, should never be obstacles to achieving educational potential. We are committed to offering marginalized communities a fair chance to succeed in their artistic journey.
Creativity
We support collaboration and experimentation in the learning and teaching of music to make way for a new generation of music creatives.
Integration
We welcome all members and groups of society and enable cross-cultural dialogue, sharing of ideas, and collaboration.
Empowerment
We equip our students with expert knowledge and tools to create quality music, while building their self-confidence and creating opportunities within the music industry.