Bridging Traditional and New Media
15 February 2026, 17:20 – 18:00
Screening Hall
The panel will follow the keynote from Jean Philip De Tender (Deputy Director General, in charge of EBU Strategy Services and Media) and will explore how a fragmented media market is reshaping the way performing arts are produced, distributed, and discovered. Traditional broadcasters, social platforms, and creator-driven channels now coexist, often without real connection. At the same time, audiences move across platforms and formats. With this panel, we are aiming to start a conversation that leads to shared strategies to reach new audiences, build trust, and develop models that work for institutions, creators, and artists alike.
Moderator
Aliena Haig
Aliena Haig is a communications specialist bridging arts, music, culture, education, and media. With experience in radio, TV, streaming, and media production, she connects industries and audiences.
Speakers
Aigul Akhmetshina
Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina has quickly established herself at leading opera houses worldwide. Highlights include major appearances as Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Glyndebourne, alongside roles at Salzburg Festival, Teatro Real Madrid and Bavarian State Opera. A former Jette Parker Young Artist, she is an award-winning graduate of the Arts College in Ufa.
Jean Philip De Tender
Deputy Director General, EBU
Jean Philip De Tender joined the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva as Media Director in 2015 and became Deputy Director General in 2021, overseeing EBU Strategy Services and Media. Previously, he spent 25 years at VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster, beginning his career as a journalist in television and radio before moving into programme management across genres including fiction, entertainment and current affairs.
LiLa
Cellist
Born in 2002, LiLa began playing the cello at seven and studied in Shanghai, at Juilliard Pre-College, and at Kronberg Academy, completing her Bachelor’s, Master’s and Professional Studies. Since 2025, she studies in Berlin. A multiple international prizewinner, she performs worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician on a 1690s Giovanni Grancino cello.
Wolfgang Bergmann
Managing Director, ARTE Germany
Wolfgang Bergmann is CEO of ARTE Germany and chairing ARTE’s groupe Musica. For more than three decades in the TV business he focused on arts programs. He initiated, co-produced and commissioned numerous award-wining films and documentaries and stands for cultural TV-events on an international scale.
- IMZ
