The 11th edition of the new music festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW), taking place in Tallinn, Estonia from 25th to 31st March 2019, attracts more international artists than ever. The confirmed line-up of 200 artists will be announced in January 2019.

TMW 2019 Festival Pass is available for €55, and the Conference+Festival Pass for €175 at the TMW web store.

The artist application round for the upcoming TMW reflects the growing interest among foreign musicians from all over the world towards the festival. Altogether 1231 artists from 63 countries have applied to perform at the TMW. Topping the list with the highest number (161) of applicants is Estonia’s northern neighbour Finland, followed by Estonia itself (153), Russia (130) and Italy (89). Some of the world’s leading music markets like Sweden, UK and Canada show a gradual growth in applicant numbers as well as Central European and Balkan countries. Some of the most exotic places to apply from include New Zealand, Cape Verde, China, Israel, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda.

TMW 2019 TOP 10 countries by artist applications:

1. Finland: 161
2. Estonia: 153
3. Russia: 125
4. Italy: 98
5. Belarus: 76
6. Canada: 61
7. United Kingdom: 57
8. Germany: 50
9. Poland: 45
10. Sweden: 35

Up to 200 applicants will be selected into the festival line-up by the TMW programming team. To achieve a more comprehensive experience, the festival will be held in one compact area of the city in venues within walking distance. The full TMW programme will be announced in January and February 2019.

While the last few years have seen TMW broadening the horizon and exploring other territories from smart city planning to modern cuisine, the upcoming festival will once again set a stronger focus on music-related programming. During its ten-year existence, TMW has established itself as one of the most influential new music festivals and creative industry conferences in Europe. TMW’s music line-up has been acknowledged for its diverse selection and the ability to track and promote fresh musical talent. Among the emerging artists who have successfully tested their international breakthrough potential at TMW are Russia’s bravest bands Motorama and Shortparis, Serbia’s noise rockers Repetitor and Belorussian cold-wave group Super Besse, along numerous Estonian musicians like folk innovators Maarja Nuut, Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, experimental pop artist Mart Avi, dreampop group Holy Motors and electropop act NOËP.

The two-day TMW conference, taking place from 29th to 30th March, will address music industry topics and creativity as an engine for the new economy. Free City Stage concerts, public talks and urban space projects will also take place within the festival.

The 11th edition of TMW will take place from 25th to 31st March 2019. The festival programme will be announced in January and February 2019.

TMW 2019 Festival Pass (€55), Conference+Festival Pass (€175) and Supporter Pass (€150) are on sale at the TMW web store.

Festival Pass grants access to all concerts and events of the TMW music programme and includes special offers for other festival parts. Conference + Festival Pass grants access to the TMW conference panels and priority access to the music festival. Supporter Pass grants priority access to all TMW music festival events and includes personalized programme recommendations.

TMW 2019 is presented by Telia Eesti. The festival’s partners are Nordic Hotel Forum, Eesti Meedia, Enterprise Estonia, and Music Estonia.

The music programme artist application deadline for Tallinn Music Week (TMW) festival is extended until 12th November.

TMW 2019 Festival Pass is currently available for €45 at TMW web shop. From 1st November the pass will cost €55.

The 11th edition of TMW will take place in Tallinn, Estonia from 25th to 31st March 2019. Held each spring in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn since 2009, TMW is a new music and city culture festival with an extensive music and arts programme and Creative Impact conference. The festival’s music programme offers a multi-genre lineup of around 200 artists from the Baltics, across Europe and beyond. The showcase programme, spanning from experimental electronica to pop and from jazz to contemporary classical, is put together on the basis of artist submissions by a broad team of local and international music professionals and event promoters.

Artist applications from all regions and music genres are welcome until 12th November 23:59 (EET) at artist.tmw.ee. The full line-up of around 200 acts will be announced in February 2019.

TMW’s role as a significant platform for emerging musicians around the world has grown steadily. TMW 2018 received nearly 1,500 applications from 50 countries with over 260 acts from 30 countries confirmed to perform at the festival to an audience of around an audience of around 30,000. Among the emerging artists who have successfully tested their international breakthrough potential at TMW are Russia’s bravest bands Motorama, Glintshake and Shortparis, Serbia’s noise rockers Repetitor and Belorussian cold-wave group Super Besse as well as Estonia’s very own folk innovators Maarja Nuut, Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, experimental pop artist Mart Avi, electropop act NOËP, and many others.

During the past two weeks Estonian music scene has been featured comprehensively in the international music press. Richard James Foster investigates what constitutes adventurous Estonian music (New) in an extensive article “Eeestirocksampler: Welcome To New Weird Estonia“ for the Quietus.

Amongst others, honorable mentions go to TMW festival for “developing a policy that promotes hyper-adventurous locals“, as well as two TMW artist prize winners – Mart Avi , “an intergalactical and non-atavistic artist who has just released his album OtherWorld, a limo-drive through the (strange) sunlit uplands of his imagination“, and Maarja Nuut, “a perfectionist mapping out an imaginary landscape using folk songs about death and the landscape“ who has recently released a new collab album Muunduja (Shifter) with electronic producer Ruum.

Popular music site Noisey also takes notes. Lottie Brazier met Estonian music industry representatives and artists looking to the past to build the future for a feature “Five Musicians Building a New World in the Face of Estonia’s Isolated Past“.

 

TMW 2019 festival will fill the entire week from 25th to 31st March 2019. In addition to the music festival line-up and two-day Creative Impact conference, TMW offers a series of free City Stage concerts, TMW Arts programme, and TMW Talks series.

 

TMW 2019 artist application round is open until 12th November (included) at artist.tmw.ee.

 

TMW 2019 Festival Pass is available for €45 until 31st October at TMW web shop. From 1st November the Festival Pass will cost €55.
Festival Pass grants access to TMW music programme events and offers discounts within the other festival parts.

 

TMW 2019 is presented by Telia Eesti. The festival’s partners are Nordic Hotel Forum, Eesti Meedia, Enterprise Estonia, and Music Estonia.

 

Tallinn Music Week 2018 in numbers:

250 artists from 32 countries
36 823 festival visitors
1193 conference delegates, 879 international delegates
32 international media representatives
80 venues
250 000 website visits from 150 countries

The artist application round for Tallinn Music Week 2019 music programme is now open. The 11th edition of the new music and city festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) will take place in Tallinn, Estonia from 25th to 31st March 2019.
TMW 2019 Early Bird Festival Passes for €35 are available until 12th September at TMW web store.
TMW 2019 is presented by Telia Eesti.

Held each spring in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn, TMW is a new music and city culture  festival with an extensive music and arts programme and Creative Impact conference.  TMW’s music programme offers a multi-genre lineup of around 200 artists from the Baltics, across Europe and beyond. The showcase programme, spanning from experimental electronica to pop and from jazz to contemporary classical, is put together on the basis of artist submissions by a broad team of Estonian and international music professionals and event promoters.

Artist applications from all regions and music genres are welcome until 1st November 2018 at artist.tmw.ee. The full line-up of around 200 acts will be announced in February 2019.

TMW’s role as a significant platform for emerging musicians around the world has grown steadily. TMW 2018 received nearly 1,500 applications from 50 countries with over 260 acts from 30 countries confirmed to perform at the festival.

Among the notable acts that have performed at the festival throughout nine years are British folk legend Vashti Bunyan, Scottish master of elegiac sound C Duncan, Finnish synth-pop troubadour Jaakko-Eino Kalevi, and the piano experimenter Hauschka from Germany. Among the artists who have successfully tested their international breakthrough potential at TMW in recent years are Russia’s bravest bands Motorama, Glintshake and Shortparis, Serbia’s noise rockers Repetitor and Belorussian cold-wave group Super Besse as well as Estonia’s very own folk innovators Maarja Nuut, Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, experimental pop artist Mart Avi, doom metal unit Talbot, electropop act NOËP, and many others.

TMW will fill the entire week from 25th to 31st March 2019.  In addition to the music festival line-up and two-day Creative Impact conference, TMW offers a series of free City Stage concerts, TMW Arts programme, and  TMW Talks series.

TMW 2019 artist application round is open until 1st November (included) at artist.tmw.ee.

TMW 2019 Early Bird Festival Pass for €35 is available for a week, until 12th September 2018 (included) at TMW web store.

Festival Pass grants access to TMW music programme events and offers discounts within  the other festival parts.

TMW 2019 is presented by Telia Eesti. The festival’s partners are Nordic Hotel Forum, Eesti Meedia, Enterprise Estonia, and Music Estonia.

 

Tallinn Music Week 2018 in numbers:

250 artists from 32 countries
36 823 festival visitors
1193 conference delegates, 879 international delegates
132 international meida representatives
80 venues
250 000 website visits from 150 countries

 

Comments from TMW delegates and partners:

“With this mix the event does what has always proven to be the best idea: it broadens the horizon and explores other territories to bring new ideas into it’s first focus: music. Daring!“
– Andraž Kajzer, MENT festival (SI)

“TMW is an energy centre, mentally, spiritually and physically. Aside from the ridiculous amount of good music, the often brilliant panels, informal talks and lectures ranged from how to use big data for sustainable development, humanity’s new role as the gatekeepers of AI, cities as key agents for change, future-proofing the music industry.“
– Richard Foster, the Quietus (UK)

“Of the many conferences I have attended over the years, Tallinn Music Week is truly one of my favorites. TMW is a perfect representative of what makes Estonia so special: innovative, collaborative, forward-thinking, ambitious, warm and inviting. The city of Tallinn is a truly special place – a perfect balance of the beauty of antiquity and the excitement of the new – and Tallinn Music Week uses the city as the perfect creative canvas for both.“
– Thomas Golubic, Guild of Music Supervisors (US)

“As we know, the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. The TMW is doing just that – actively shaping the ideas and Estonia of tomorrow. By inspiring, thinking big and being bold.”
– Katrin Isotamm, Head of Communications at Telia Estonia

Estonian and Finnish artists will perform in Japan from 22nd to 27th May as part of the export project Finest Sounds that also includes music industry seminars, a trade day and a songwriters’ camp.

The Estonian-Finnish delegation will meet the Japanese music industry professionals on 22nd May at a joint reception of Finest Sounds and Estonia 100 in Tokyo’s Happo-en park. The seminar programme in the head office of the entertainment giant Avex Group will offer workshops about Japanese music industry and networking with the local music community on 23rd and 24th May. The agenda also includes a visit to Spotify Japan.

 

Tokyo venues will host showcase gigs by Estonian and Finnish world music, jazz and metal performers on three nights. The world music event at the Shibuya WWW on 23rd May will present Mari Kalkun, the latest winner of Tallinn Music Week artist award, and Curly Strings, who mixes Estonian folk with American bluegrass. Finland will be represented by versatile multi-instrumentalist Maija Kauhanen, experimental accordionist Antti Paalanen and folk hop group Tuuletar.

Nordic metal will shake the Space Odd Shibuya club on 25th May with performances by the Finnish thrash metal group Mokoma and Estonian doom-metal duo Talbot. On 26th May the jazz ensembles Peedu Kass Momentum and Weekend Guitar Trio from Estonia along Finnish guitarist Olli Hirvonen and avant-garde-fusion group Utopianisti will perform at the Pit Inn Shinjuku club.

From 23rd to 24th May Sony Music Tokyo studios will host a songwriters’ camp that brings together producers and songwriters from Estonia, Finland and Japan. Among the participants are Stig Rästa and Bert Prikenfeld from Estonia and Alex Mattson and Eva Louhivuori from Finland.

On 26th and 27th May Estonian and Finnish brands will be present at the Greenroom festival in Yokohama. Members of Utopianist will guide a test of the interactive music app Yousician. Estonian design is represented by the jewellery of Tanel Veenre and textiles of Mare Kelpman. Finnish companies are represented among others by design brand Lovi, Nokian Technologies and Muumin Museum.

Finest Sounds is a Finnish-Estonian cross-border cooperation initiative in the music and creative sector, aiming to boost the export of Estonian and Finnish artists, brands and creative businesses to the world’s second largest music market Japan.
Partners of the project are Tallinn Music Week, Music Estonia, Baltic Film and Media School from Estonia, Music Finland, Music & Media, Tampere University of Applied Sciences and HUMAK University of Applied Siences from Finland.
The project is funded by INTERREG from Europa Regional Development Fund.

 

Finest Sounds showcase concerts in Tokyo:

23.05 Finest World Sounds, Shibuya WWW
Mari Kalkun, Curly Strings, Tuuletar, Maija Kauhanen, Antti Paalanen

25.05 Finest Heavy Music Night, SPACE ODD Shibuya
Talbot, Mokoma

26.05 Finest Jazz Music Night, Pit Inn Shinjuku
Weekend Guitar Trio, Olli Hirvonen “New Helsinki“, Peedu Kass Momentum, Utopianisti

More info: finestsounds.eu

Tallinn Music Week’s (TMW) partners Telia and Telliskivi Creative City have issued the artist awards to Estonian artists Mart Avi, Mari Kalkun and Holy Motors. The winners will receive a monetary prize and participation at the INTRO programme of Music Estonia.

The winners have been chosen by the feedback of TMW music industry delegates and audience vote among 126 Estonian acts participating at this year’s festival. All three were credited for a convincing performance, clearly distinguishable soundscape and international potential.

Avant-pop producer and singer Mart Avi, who received the most nominations and a 2000 Euro prize, was praised for the originality and innovation of his music and artistic image.

“Avi has musical nous in spades. His music is weird pop of the highest order and needs to be disseminated as a Google implant,” says Richard Foster of the Quietus. Derek Robertson comments in his TMW review for the Independent: “As an artist, Mart Avi is the very embodiment of a post-everything music culture where entire histories can be consumed with the click of a mouse. Utterly modern then, but looking firmly over the horizon.”

Mart Avi himself was impressed by his fellow performers at TMW: “The line-up of this year’s festival was stimulating. I would give special prizes for some artists who performed with me at the CryptoMarket showcase. Best Conglomerate – Aleksei Taruts, Best Constructivist Kate NV, Best Mappers tema kresta, Best Comrades Lynch, Best Cake Florian Wahl and Best Inventor Maria Minerva.” Avi plans to use the prize money for his new album, due in autumn.

British music sites The Quietus and Drowned in Sound have featured Mart Avi in interviews this week. On Sunday, 6th he will perform at the Liverpool Sound City, next month at Moscow’s Bol festival, performances in central Europe are planned in the near future.

The runner-up with 1500 Euro prize fund is folk musician Mari Kalkun, who charmed the music experts with her technical proficiency and spiritual power. Editor of Songlines Magazine Simon Broughton commented: “I thought the presentation was extremely good – her compositions are a good mixture of tradition and innovation.” Christian Pliefke of the German label Nordic Notes said the performance of the folk innovator made him “speechless”.

“Thanks to TMW I have realized that music business is not a huge and horrible monster but rather a group of people who love music passionately,” said Mari Kalkun. “I think genres are no longer defining music and the message, individuality and meaningful relationship to the surroundings are more important. TMW stands out by the will and skill to notice the new and innovative, also music that differs from the ‘norm’. This is how new ideas find a birthplace.”

Mari Kalkun plans performances in Estonia, Japan, Germany and UK, among them at the WOMAD festival. “I also want to start working on a new album soon. The prize money is great news as I’m just planning two live videos to be shot in Tokyo and Estonian country-side.”

Holy Motors who achieved the third place with 1000 Euro prize money were praised for their stylish blend of dream pop and Americana. The head of the Berlin based music agency More Zvukov Natasha Padabed pointed out the film-like melancholy of the band’s music. The editor of the Czech music magazine Michal Parizek is fond of Holy Motors’ ability to create a special atmosphere: “The motives of shoegaze and western are just a starting point for them to build a completely unique environment.”

“April was somewhat warmer this year and TMW seemed to have grown even bigger,” remember the members of Holy Motors. “After TMW we continued work on our new album. For the prize money we can finally repair our Jaguars and other guitars. It’s great to win sometimes.”

The five-piece have released their first full-length album “Slow Sundown” under US indie-label Wharf Cat this year and will perform at the SKIF festival in St Petersburg in May. The second half of 2018 will bring gigs in Germany and Scandinavia.

TMW artist award is presented for the first time as a joint contribution of the festival’s presenter Telia and partner Telliskivi Creative City.

“We do hope that the winners of the Telia and Telliskivi artist award gain inspiration and opportunities through this acknowledgement to dedicate to their art and to open new doors to conquer the world,” wishes Telia Estonia’s head of communications Katrin Isotamm.

TMW artist award winners 2019-2017: Popidiot (2009), Iiris (2010), Ewert and The Two Dragons (2011), Talbot (2012), Elephants From Neptune (2013), Odd Hugo (2014), Maarja Nuut (2015), I Wear* Experiment (2016), Mart Avi, Erki Pärnoja and NOËP (2017). Audience award winners 2014-2017: Metsakutsu (2014), Lithuanian bands BA (2015) and Garbanotas Bosistas (2016) and The Boondocks (2017).

TMW anniversary festival took place from 2nd to 8th April 2018. The music programme included 260 artists from 30 countries, among them 126 artists from Estonia. 34170 people attended the events of TMW, among them 1330 festival delegates. More info.

The winners of this year’s TMW artist award will be selected from all Estonian acts in this year’s line-up and decided on the basis of both feedback from the music specialists among the festival’s delegates as well as a public vote. The prize total of €4500 will be divided by the three artists with the most votes.

Until the midnight of April 18, it is possible to vote for your favourite on TMW’s homepage or the festival app, and give them points on scale of 1–5.

126 Estonian artists took part of this year’s festival. You can easily find them by selecting the country code EE from the drop-down menu in the artist view of the TMW homepage or app.

Winners of TMW artist award 2009–2017

2009: Popidiot
2010: Iiris
2011: Ewert and the Two Dragons
2012: Talbot
2013 Elephants From Neptune
2014: Odd Hugo
2015: Maarja Nuut
2016: I Wear* Experiment
2017: Mart Avi, Erki Pärnoja, NOËP

Winners of TMW and Telia public vote 2014–2017

2014: Metsakutsu (EE)
2015: BA (LT)
2016: Garbanotas Bosistas (LT)
2017: The Boondocks (EE)

At the centre of various programme parts, discussions and activities of Tallinn Music Week (TMW) city festival last week in Tallinn were smart and sustainable human-centered cities that have room for creativity as well as entrepreneurialism that brings together different areas. The TMW Creative Impact Conference was the first international conference in Estonia to reach a gender balance among speakers. To highlight the future changes in Tallinn by the Main Street city development, the TMW transformed Viru Square into a pedestrian-friendly festival oasis as part of an unprecedented public space experiment.

The festival was presented by Telia Estonia with Nordic Hotel Forum, Eesti Meedia, Enterprise Estonia and Telliskivi Creative City as the main partners. The Main Street public space experiment was supported by Viru Keskus.

TMW that took place already for the tenth time on 2-8 April drew a total of 34 170 visitors, including 1330 festival delegates who attended the TMW Creative Impact Conference. In addition to the diverse music programme and conference, the festival also offered new experiences in film, arts and cuisine.

The TMW Creative Impact Conference that took place on 6 and 7 April in Tallinn Creative Hub’s seven rooms, hosted 146 visionaries and specialists from different fields, out of which 76 were women and 70 men. Thus, the TMW conference was the first international conference in Estonia to reach a gender balance among speakers. The main topics of the conference were creativity as the generator of the new economy, the future of music, human-friendly public space and design thinking. Important keywords throughout the conference were future skills, gender equality, civil activism and sustainable development.

“I am so proud to see how Tallinn Music Week has developed into a creative hub, combining the freshest thinking in music, economy, the future of our cities, and facing environmental challenges,” President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid said in her opening speech. “Let us use technology to find solutions to world problems, to help Africa leapfrog into the future and to grow our economies without ruining our nature. That was so 20th century to get rich on the expense of our environment.”

The opening speech by President Kersti Kaljulaid at the TMW conference. In text.

The opening of the conference was followed by a speech on inclusive digitalisation and sustainable development goals by Henriette Wendt, Senior Vice President and Head of Cluster at Telia, and a presentation on future technologies and cities as the networks of creative cooperation by Kristjan Port, Professor at the School of Natural Sciences and Health of Tallinn University. The new economy session of the conference was run by Luminor bank, covering discussions from immediate financial advice to digital innovation. The discussions on music centered, among other topics, on creating future scenarios for analytical journalism, researching sources of revenues and new music markets in the digital era, and mapping the global clubbing landscape. The human-centered public space session, presented by Telliskivi Creative City, focused on the night economy and the vision of Tallinn-Helsinki twin city, and one of the most exciting parts of the design thinking session were the presentations on the future scenarios for the city of Narva.

Discussions and activities around human-centered public space, future of Tallinn and the European Capital of Culture were visible throughout the festival programme. The second half of the festival week drew attention to the fact that the city centre of Tallinn will be transformed in coming years as the main street is being reconstructed. One of the most memorable events, as part of the activities mapping the possibilities of a human-friendly public space, took place on Saturday, 7 April, when rapper Arop, author of the best Estonian song last year, held a secret gig at Viru Square on the rooftop of a mirrored glass design house built by ÖÖD, which also  served as a studio for MyHits radio during the festival week.

“Tallinn Music Week is much larger than a music event, it is a central event for the whole city culture,” Mayor of Tallinn Taavi Aas commented. “This festival marks the beginning of spring and brings people to public spaces, making them interact with what is being created and with each other. I am happy that Tallinn Music Week brings together different spheres of life, city planning meets music, and the festival used its powerful platform this year to remind us that the heart of Tallinn is changing, it will become friendlier and closer to people, that is the objective of the new Main Street.”

The concerts and club nights of the TMW 2018 three-day music programme took place at almost 20 venues all across the city, from Telliskivi to the Russian Cultural Centre, from Rotermann underground parking lot to the Swedish St Michael’s Church and legendary artists hub KuKu club. There were 262 artists from around the world performing in different genres – from jazz to metal, from folk to contemporary classical music, and from pop to adventurous future sounds. The music programme was opened on Thursday, 5 April, at the Russian Cultural Centre with a concert by Absolute Club, a project by Kristjan Järvi and the Sunbeam Productions, dedicated to the centenary of Estonia and the jubilee of the TMW.

The festival, focused on presenting new musical talents, brought fresh sounds with the warm-up party for the upcoming Narva Station festival and the juke and footwork night Booty Powder at Sveta bar, a two-day artpop and future music spectacle CryptoMarket at KuKu club, a rave at the Rotermann underground parking lot, a techno marathon by British record label Downwards at club HALL, club concerts presented by Telia, including a night for the new summer festival Sweet Spot at Telliskivi Roheline Saal, and a contemporary music programme by British record label 130701 and Japan Sound Portrait project. Selections of classical music were presented by Eesti Kontsert and the Association of Choir Music. In addition to the nightly concerts and club nights, there were more than 100 afternoon city stage concerts at unusual places, from the Re-use Centre to one of the suites of the Nordic Hotel Forum hotel, and from Viru Keskus shopping centre to Temnikova & Kasela Gallery.

The festival pop-up cafe at the Design and Architecture Gallery, run by coffee gourmands’ favourite Renard Coffee Shop and the culinary duo RabaPeet, attracted both diners as well as visitors interested in the public discussions of TMW Talks. Discussions held at the pop-up cafe, record store BiitMe and cafe Must Puudel focused on burning issues at the crossroads of music, identity and culture – from environmental myths to the new self-awareness of the Eastern European music scene, and from the future scenarios of the Tallinn Main Street to the revival of the popular Check My Demo session at Raadio 2.

The TMW jubilee festival also presented an art programme curated by the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center, movie screenings at Kino Sõprus, creative workshops for children, a restaurant programme TMW Tastes and a spring-time Design Market.

The winners of the TMW 2018 Artist Award, presented by Telia and Telliskivi Creative City, will be decided by both the public vote as well as on the feedback of the festival delegates of music specialists. You can choose your favourite Estonian artist on the TMW website or app until midnight of 18 April. Additional information.

TMW is founded and run by Shiftworks, previously known as Musiccase. The new name of the company traces the collective actions of reinvention, turning creative, cultural and communication tools into effective soft power engine.

Tallinn Music Week 2018 in numbers:

262 artists from 31 countries
34 170 festival visitors
1330 delegates, incl. 870 foreigners
150 foreign journalists
83 festival venues

Tallinn Music Week 2017 in numbers:

250 artists from 32 countries
36 823 festival visitors
1193 delegates, incl. 879 foreigners
132 foreign journalists
80 festival venues

TMW 2018 partners and delegates about the festival:

“As we know, the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. The TMW is doing just that – actively shaping the ideas and Estonia of tomorrow. By inspiring, thinking big and being bold. Thank you!”

– Katrin Isotamm, Head of Communications at Telia Estonia

“We are happy to have been a major supporter and partner of the TMW for all 10 years, since the beginning of the festival to this day. Throughout these shared 10 years, we have believed in the festival, and followed its fast development and strong growth. Every spring, the TMW makes our hearts beat faster and our hotel to shake with music, our building is full of music and music-loving guests at that time. We love this time of spring! I do not believe there are any music fans left who do not find Nordic Hotel Forum to be a culture-friendly hotel and a second home in Tallinn for all our music friends. And we are sincerely happy about that!”

– Feliks Mägus, General Manager of Nordic Hotel Forum

“Throughout all these long years, the annual cooperation with the wonderful TMW team and the dozens of concerts at the atrium of Viru Keskus have become a natural part of the heart of the city as well as our activities. But I have to give extra credit to the TMW for their grandiose vision to embrace the whole city, in addition to music, with arts, tastes and, most of all, important topics concerning the society as well as the city of Tallinn. It is remarkable that a secret concert took place at Viru Square which gathered the audience to a new area, and that together with the TMW we were able to draw attention to upcoming changes in the city center and to the fact that we are able to create a human-centered and dignified area only jointly with the citizens, companies and the city of Tallinn.”

– Taivi Koitla, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Viru Keskus

“The TMW conference is especially powerful and meaningful because the focus of the speakers and workshops is on solutions. When we make visions and, at the same time, stand our ground, we do not just concentrate on discussing the issues of the society and the environment around us, but we also take a step forward. We are happy to have been a part of that.”

– Mirjam Mikkin, Marketing Manager of Luminor Estonia

“Visit Estonia team has had good cooperation with Tallinn Music Week for years. The festival becomes more internationally popular and brings foreign journalists and artists to Estonia who would otherwise not come here. They will talk about an event that is professionally organised and exciting. This will bring new audience in coming years, but also other guests outside the festival time who see Estonia as an interesting destination. In the case of the TMW, this means active youth who are looking for exciting experiences and are willing to share them with their friends. A well organised big event is like a stone thrown into calm waters – it makes a noise once, but the circles around it make waves longer and further.”

– Annely Vürmer, Acting Director of the Estonian Tourist Board at Enterprise Estonia

“Tallinn Music Week is unlike any other music industry conference. It frames music, industry insight and curated networking opportunities within the very broad context of creative impact, innovation and music’s contribution to alternative futures. This is why TMW 2018 offered a perfect platform for the first gathering of our Keychange network which consists of 60 female artists and industry pros who will forge their own, innovative ways to shape music in the 21st Century. From meeting with local entrepreneurs in Tallinn’s creative industries hub to watching Keychange acts take over the stages at some of the city’s incredible venues, we’re still buzzing from last week’s experience of TMW. Congratulations to everyone involved and for presenting a brilliant and  balanced conference which included as many women as men discussing the latest in creative thinking.“

– Vanessa Reed, Chief Executive at PRS Foundation

“Of the many conferences I have attended over the years, Tallinn Music Week is truly one of my favorites. TMW is a perfect representative of what makes Estonia so special: innovative, collaborative, forward-thinking, ambitious, warm and inviting. The city of Tallinn is a truly special place – a perfect balance of the beauty of antiquity and the excitement of the new – and Tallinn Music Week uses the city as the perfect creative canvas for both. The most pressing issues of our time – global security, individual identity, artistic pursuit and challenges through modern technology – are discussed, expressed and experienced in a warm collective dialogue. Like the best conferences and festivals, you want to be in multiple places at once and find yourself constantly informed, entertained and inspired. It is something not to be missed.”

– Thomas Golubic, Guild of Music Supervisors (US)

“In its 10th year Tallinn Music Week was implicitly and directly about the balance between now and the future. Whether it’s gender equality or setting a context for Estonia and Tallinn as they move forward, the signs are inescapable: President Kersti Kaljulaid making her opening speech two days after she was in The White House, the festival’s kick-off concert being held in the Russian Cultural Institute, the announcement of a sister festival in the border town of Narva, shows taking place in the Russian Theatre – where the stunning Belausian trio Port Mone mesmerised a rapt audience. But Tallinn Music Week is not a lesson – it is a festival, a celebration. It is fun. Just look at the winning concert by prog rock-obsessed local heroes Pohja Konn. Would that looking forward with positivity was always this enjoyable.“

-Kieron Tyler, MOJOmagazine (UK)

“More than just a music festival, Tallinn Music Week is a vision of a brighter future, a celebration of human creativity, a way of building communities and new ways of working. It is critical yet positive, and its musical programming is an exhilarating learning experience. Here’s to another decade of creative thinking!“

– Anastasia Connor, Drowned In Sound (UK)

“Like Tarkovsky’s ‘Zone’, the festival is a magical place where anything can happen; a place of exploration, revelation, self-examination, release. Deconstructing socio-cultural myths, exploring the new human-digital interzones (in performance or policy) and somehow playing guitar with a drumstick in a wild artist’s social club at 2am are all tiny refractions of the same prism. A veritable fun factory. Liquid Modernity for the Real Heads. A blast. More.“

– Richard Foster, The Quietus  (UK)

“My 4th time at Tallinn Music Week and I can again confirm it is an eye opening, mind blowing experience. It goes totally out of the music world but then comes back and hits harder than you’d ever expect. Among all the festivals and showcases TMW dares to go further than any other such event I have been to. It became a showcase for a better future but somehow manages to still show great music and bring together a really broad bunch of interesting and inspiring people. With this mix the event does what has always proven to be the best idea: it broadens the horizon and explores other territories to bring new ideas into it’s first focus: music. Daring!“

– Andraž Kajzer, MENT festival (SI)

TMW is founded and run by Shiftworks, previously known as Musiccase. The new name of the company traces the collective actions of reinvention, turning creative, cultural and communication tools into effective soft power engine.

TMW 2018 is presented by Telia.
TMW 2018 is powered by Nordic Hotel Forum, Eesti Meedia, Enterprise Estonia and Telliskivi Creative City.
TMW 2018 partners are the Estonian Ministry of Culture,  Luminor, Viru Keskus, Music Estonia, Solaris, Tallink, Taxify, Moe Vodka, La Muu.
TMW 2018 is supported by Go Travel, ERR, R2, Rada7, RGB, The Estonian Design Centre, Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center, Estonian Academy of Arts, Festivality, Kokomo, The Estonian Children’s Literature Centre,  Estonian Roundtable for Development Cooperation, Cinema Sõprus, The Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn City Enterprise Department, European Regional Development Fund, Tallinn Department of Culture, The European Commission, Ministry of the Environment, Interreg Europe.
TMW 2018 international partners are: Ebba Lindqvist PR, Chimes, Radio Helsinki, British Council, Embassy of Sweden in Tallinn, Finest Sounds, ETEP – European Talent Exchange Propgramme, Keychange.

Festival’s website is created by Velvet and Festivality, visual identity by AKU.

On Friday, April 6th the President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid opened the Creative Impact conference with the following speech. Over the course of 2 days, the conference featured 117 speakers from 25 countries.

It is wonderful to see so many friends of music, arts and ideas. First of all welcome, welcome to Tallinn!

Back in time and thousands of miles away, in southwest of Tennessee, 50 years ago this week, this was where Martin Luther King Jr. held his last and one of the most powerful speeches.

There was a huge thunderstorm outside when he took the stage that night in Memphis, amid the black garbage workers’ strike over unjust working conditions. It was there when he said what is now quoted on his memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, right up where you see it immediately. The one which reminds us that the choice for mankind was – and still is – not between violence and nonviolence, but between nonviolence and nonexistence.

Next day he was assassinated on the balcony of a motel, his last words being the ones said to a musician whom he asked to play a gospel hymn in the meeting later that night: “Play it real pretty!”

We all know Memphis as the birthplace of rock’n’roll and soul, both important not only as music styles, but as agents of change.

For us, who we can eat our lunch wherever we want to, it may be difficult to imagine all the dehumanizing intimidation that people then faced. It is not so long ago at all. All these separate drinking fountains, entrances to the movie theatres, or zoos where black people were allowed to go only when they cleaned the cages.

Just think what an effort – and therefore how much more impressive – it was to respond to all of this with… love.

Expressing love – the happiness of love, hope for love, and faith in love – this is what soul music focused on.

Those who preached nonviolent paths to justice spoke of the importance of touching people’s hearts. Lack of love creates ignorance. Ignorance shuts our eyes and ears to the possibilities of creating positive change.

Let us now get back to Tallinn. Here we obviously have our own experience with the power of music – after all, our own movement for regaining the independence 30 years ago is known as the Singing Revolution.

I am really proud of Tallinn Music Week taking place for the 10th time, named as “one of Europe’s top city festivals” by The Guardian last week. I am so proud to see how this festival has developed into a creative hub, combining the freshest thinking in music, economy, the future of our cities, and facing environmental challenges.

This year’s event will focus on how we can meet the sustainable development goals. At the turn of the century, international organisations put out a short list of millennium goals. They were only a few; they could be printed more or less on a paper as big as a train ticket. I found a copy of them on my chair entering the room of the IMF annual meeting, I think it was 1999.

Some of these goals were fulfilled because world leaders focused on growth and freedom of trade. This lifted living standards globally. Not to the levels most of us here enjoy, but at least to the levels that lessened importantly starvation and other suffering, mostly in Asian countries.

This growth has not always given people more equal rights, though. Not all of those who now are not starving can freely speak out or be free of class-based, ethnic or religious discrimination. These things – they take policy, and economic policy is not enough. Here we have not yet been strong enough. Yet, people themselves, especially now, when they are better nourished, they are moving up on the Maslow pyramid. People are not giving up – they are constantly questioning the right of some to oppress others. It leads to tragedies, it leads to death, yet humankind is not giving up on humanity. Martin Luther King was right – there can never be safety for mankind anywhere, unless there is justice everywhere.

Last year, war raged on in Syria. Rohingyas were killed and driven out of their homes. As always, Africa has been left behind quite a bit. You know, we never treasure what we have plentifully. Here, in Estonia, for example, clean drinkable water is not at all treated as it deserves. It is very often wasted, because there is a lot of it. When I was in Africa, I felt that young people there are treated as we treat water – because there are so many, they do not get the love they deserve from society. There is exploitation, lack of schooling, child trafficking, and death.

However, if we look at the world – the big wild world with love, we shall overcome. Please spend this conference looking at the world with love. Let us appreciate what we have – the beauty of human beings, the beauty of nature, the beauty of similarities and the beauty of differences as well. Also, the beauty of the different opinions. Let us treat what is threatening everything beautiful with the power of our love for that’s what is truly beautiful.

Let’s do it. Let’s clean up the world.

Let us use technology to help Africa to overcome its deep-rooted problems and leapfrog into the future.

Let us use technology to grow our economies, without ruining our nature. That was so 20th century to get rich on the expense of our environment.

Let us be green and eat clean, but please – without wasting resources that can feed much more people with responsible application of science and technology.

Let us respect each other, but without demanding, that other people give up their cultural space for the newcomers to feel properly respected. Let us also remember that when moving globally, we are always not just moving out of our own home, our own culture, but always also into someone else’s home, their cultural space.

Let us respect cultural and religious differences, but be adamant about repressive habits belonging to the past. After all, all holy texts can be read as the message of love, not the message of violence.

Let us give people safe communication in the cyber sphere, by giving honest people globally the possibilities to identify themselves to each other and create protected data exchange for those who can trust each other online. Digital signatures should be human right, not a privilege of Estonians, Luxembourgish and a few others; they are just a drop in the ocean.

If we do this, someone can one day tick all the boxes in the SDG list as well, for sustainable development goals are lengthy and hard to memorise, unlike millennium goals were. Finally, it does not matter. Just do not read those papers, do not speak that bureaucratic language, just listen to your heart and act with love, and that would do. It will all translate into better world. That is what matters. Remember – play it really pretty! Please!

The tenth edition of the new music and city culture festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW), unveils schedule of this year’s Creative Impact conference. The two-day conference, taking place on 6th and 7th April at Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel) will focus on new economy, the future of music, better cities, and design thinking. TMW 2018 is presented by Telia Eesti.

TMW 2018 Conference + Festival Pass is available for €295 at the web store. Starting from Wednesday, 28th March there are also conference day-passes on sale.

The anniversary year conference programme will host 117 speakers from 25 different countries. For the first time in the festival´s history and most likely for the first time in the history of the whole Estonian conference market, TMW has also hit the target of gender balance with 65 female and 53 male speakers confirmed as the panellists. It has been achieved in a year when TMW will be hosting an extensive programme within a pioneering European project Keychange that is investing in the empowerment of female music creators and innovators.

The combined conference and festival pass for €295 is available at the web store. The pass guarantees access to the two-day conference as well as priority access to TMW music festival venues and a ticket to the TMW opening concert in Russian Cultural Centre on 6th April on the basis of pre-registration. Starting from 28th March there are also separate conference passes on sale: 2-day pass that is only valid for the 2-day conference programme for €175 and a 1-day conference pass for each of the days for €100.

The previously mainly music-focused TMW conference is taking a wider approach and will be addressing topics from future skills and better cities to gender politics and civic initiative. TMW is proud to present a list of distinguished visionaries from various walks of life as speakers. In addition to the keynote presentations, panel discussions, speed-meetings and workshops the conference also offers inspirational stories by creative minds across cultures and generations.

The conference will take place in seven halls at the Tallinn Creative Hub, a converted former power plant where Estonia hosted the meetings of the EU Council in 2017. Practical sessions of the conference require online registration.

Conference opening speech will be held by President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid on Friday 6 April at 10.00 together with an opening address by TMW founder Helen Sildna followed by special opening keynotes by Senior Vice President at Telia Company, Henriette Wendt on innovation and sustainable development goals and by Director of the TU Institute of Health Sciences and Sports Sciences, Kristjan Port on future technologies and cities as clusters of creativity.

Margus Simson, Head of Digital Channels at Luminor Group, will give insights on digital trends in global financial markets.

Luminor Estonia will also host a session on financing for creative content, innovation and intellectual property, featuring experts like Luminor Estonia’s Chief Economist Tõnu Palm and Head of Business Banking Krõõt Kilvet leading a discussion on how to evaluate your creative content and bulletproof it via a solid business plan.

A session on climate change as a challenge for the planet will host Jan Dusík, Principal Advisor on Strategic Engagement in the Arctic and Antarctic at UN Environment, together with Siim Kiisler. Estonian Minister of Environment who has been elected as the next President of United Nations Environment Assembly presiding over the next UNEA meeting in March 2019 titled “Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production”.

The complete programme of the TMW 2018 conference

More info about the confirmed speakers and Creative Impact conference

After the release of latest single ‘Naato Vastavaa’, Indian indie rock sensation Alluri is ready to unleash his music at TMW where he will be playing at the World Music Stage at Erinevate Tubade Klubi on Saturday 7th April.

Alluri is a musician from Hyderabad, India whose unique brand of indie rock is taking the music world by storm, one continent at a time.  His music is as grand and euphoric as anything you’d find from Arcade Fire and has a touch of Morricone too.

Now working between India, the UK and Italy, Alluri has teamed up with producer/mixer Tommasso Colliva (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Franz Ferdinand, Muse) and Italian musician Massimo Martelotta, from cult ‘cinematic Italo-funk’ band Calibro 35, on powerful and unique music sung in the local Telugu language of Hyderabad.

Alluri’s latest single ‘Naato Vastavaa’ (‘A Trip’ in English) boasts his powerful vocals sung in his mother tongue Telugu and is led by a thumping drum beat with a euphoric brass section and retro keyboard sounds. Since its release, the track has been added to Apple Music’s A List: Indian Pop playlist and Apple Music France’s Rock playlist, as well as enjoying radio play from BBC Asian Network and Amazing Radio.

Alluri’s forthcoming album is set for release later this year. “My second album is very different from my first album in many ways and it was emotionally inspired by the first album,” says the musician. “After making the first album I felt as if I couldn’t truly share songs written in English with family and friends back home. I felt I needed to write songs in Telugu to re-infoce my Telugu idenity which I had neglected till then. All the songs came out in a burst.”

Live, Alluri is a force to be reckoned with. He blew everyone away at the Trans Musicales festival in France with his stellar cover of ‘Anarchy in the UK’ by the Sex Pistols. The cover got approval by the one and only Glen Matlock – bass guitarist for the Pistols – who shared the video on Twitter.

Catch Alluri live at TMW 2018 World Music Stage on Saturday 7th April at Erinevate Tubade Klubi, Tallinn.

TMW 2018 World Music Night is true to its name and brings together artists from around the world – including India, Portugal, Israel, and the shores of the Baltic Sea. The stage will host Balkan and Afrobeat vibes and chess-and-world-music-inspired artists and also bands that play traditional music.

TMW 2018 World Music Stage pre-sale tickets for 12 euros available at Piletilevi.

Access to the concert is also guaranteed with the TMW 2018 Festival Pass, Conference + Festival pass and Priority Pass. The TMW passes can be purchased from the web store.