The tenth edition of the new music and city culture festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW), taking place from 2nd to 8th April in Tallinn, Estonia, has announced the first batch of this year’s line-up. From today single concert tickets are on sale next to the festival passes. TMW 2018 Festival + Conference Pass is available for €175€ until 1st February and Festival Pass for €60 at the TMW online store. TMW 2018 is presented by Telia Estonia.

The core of the weeklong TMW anniversary festival is the Creative Impact conference at Tallinn Creative Hub and music showcases across multiple venues in the city on three nights by 250 artists from all around the world. By now 67 acts from 18 countries have been confirmed in the line-up.

“In 2009, at the first ever festival we had exactly the same number – 67 artists altogether,” says Raimond Põldmaa, head of music programme of TMW. “This will be the 10th edition and so much has changed compared to the very first festival, where I as a high-school student saw my favourite Finnish band Disco Ensemble in Club Hollywood. They were one of the two foreign artists in the programme. Today we are fortunate to produce an international programme and showcase wonderful new talent from 30 different countries.”

The music programme from Thursday, 5th April to Saturday, 7th April offers a selection from experimental future sounds to chart pop, from jazz to metal, and from folk to classical music. Among the international artists is the joint project by the Finnish legends Ismo Alanko and Kimmo Pohjonen with their vocal experimentation and sonic adventures. The Yugoslavian-rooted DIY rapper, singer and songwriter GNUČČI and the glitter-punk riot grrrl band The Magnettes will join the festival from Sweden. From Denmark the soul band D/troit – a favourite of BBC´s Craig Charles – and the futuristic noise rock band ZRN will play in Tallinn, from Austria the rising star of juke and footwork, DJ Franjazzco, from Canada jazz, electro and soul exploring emcee Arlo Maverick, and from New York the architects of the “third wave ska” The Toasters will complete the line-up.

The 19-year-old Suzi Wu from North London will treat Tallinn to her “cocktail of Ian Dury, Happy Mondays and Patti Smith”. Romanian Karpov Not Kasparov will play their energetic live set based on the rules and strategies of chess. Russian artist Alexei Taruts will play with performativity and spectator perception, and the Icelandic instrumental trio Malneirophrenia will exhibit the mixture of classical and metal influences, with references to horror jazz.

27 Estonian artists have been confirmed by now – from household names to tomorrow’s stars. Among others, there will be performances by our esteemed folk stars Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, the internationally acclaimed drum’n’bass unit Indivision as well as the “Blues Man of the Year 2017” of UK’s Severn FM Andres Roots with drummer Anneli Kadak, the shoegaze band Holy Motors – soon to release a debut album under the US label Wharf Cat, and the TMW artist prize winner of 2016 I Wear* Experiment.

The Estonian Radio Children’s Choir will perform with Eeva Talsi, the lead singer of the popular bluegrass band Curly Strings. Featured in the line-up are also Avarus Trio, masters of delicate interplay of composed and improvised music, deep house legends Ajukaja & Andrevski and Neuronphase as well as an experimental death metal squad Neoandertals. Brave new sounds and visions will be represented by sensual and surreal lifehacker Florian Wahl, the girl rap duo HOAX, and the mix of trap and pop sounds by KKPalmy and Mick Moon.

TMW 2018 is curated by a wide range of collaborators, including some new showcases and venues. The dark music festival Beats From The Vault displays the selection of artists from industrial to drone, Berlin XJAZZ Festival presents their line-up of Estonian and international jazz artists, Blues Estonia agency offers an assortment of blues and rock combos, Estonian Choral Association offers an assortment of our finest choirs, Sveta bar is the venue for juke and footwork showcase Booty Powder whilst the legendary KuKu Art Club hosts the two-day art pop spectacle CryptoMarket.

The traditional TMW co-organizers on board are Raadio 2, Viljandi Folk, Üle Heli Festival, Manka Boutique Pop Festival, World Clinic, Intsikurmu Festival, Weekend Festival, Live Nation Baltics, Estonian Funk Embassy, Russian Theatre, Fenno-Ugria, Damn.Loud Agency in cooperation with the Finnish Tuska festival as well as the Latvian Positivus festival with I Love You Records label. Two of the festival’s showcases will be presented by Telia.

All the announced TMW 2018 artists can be found here.

TMW 2018 music festival takes place from 5th to 7th April. The remaining artists of the music festival along with the venues, special events and free City Stage concerts will be announced during February. The complete programme of TMW 2018 and the application of My TMW will be published online during January and February.

The core of the TMW jubilee festival taking place from 2nd to 8th April 2018 will be music festival by nearly 250 artists from different genres from all over the world and the entrepreneurial conference focusing on the impact of creativity that includes cross-sector discussions on future skills, design thinking, future cities, gender equality and sustainable development next to music industry topics.

The TMW city festival offers free city stage concerts, public discussions TMW Talks, a selection of the nicest eateries as TMW Tastes, a specially curated arts programme, Design Market and various activities in the public space.

TMW 2018 is presented by Telia. TMW 2018 partners are the Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Enterprise and Nordic Hotel Forum. Festival’s website is created by Velvet and Festivality, visual identity by AKU.

TMW 2018 Single Tickets are on sale from today for €10-20 at Piletilevi.

TMW 2018 Conference + Festival Pass for €175 (from 1st February €250), Festival Pass for €60 from 11th February €70) and Priority Pass for €150 are available in the web store.

Conference + Festival Pass gives access to the music festival, TMW conference and delegates’ bars as well as to the database of registered participants.

Festival Pass grants access to all concerts and includes special offers to other festival parts.

Priority Pass grants priority access to all TMW music festival events, including the opening concert and to the delegates’ bars as well as personalised programme recommendations.

All TMW 2018 passes offer discounts in the TMW Tastes participating restaurants and special offers of other festival parts. Clients of Telia receive additional benefits*.

*From January 2018 clients of Telia can buy up to 2 TMW Priority Passes with a special discount code, up to 2 festival passes and up to 2 joint passes of the conference and festival. Telia clients can also buy discounted single tickets. The 20% discount applies to pre-bought tickets.

TMW launched its new website with the design of the upcoming festival edition. The author of the new visual identity is Estonian creative agency AKU and the website of the biggest Nordic city festival is created by Estonian design studio Velvet and start-up company Festivality. TMW 2018 is presented by Telia Estonia.

Telia has been a partner of TMW since 2013. Together, Telia and TMW have held the festival’s favorite artists voting as well as several youth-oriented campaigns and strived towards sustainable development goals. After five years of cooperation, joint activities will be upgraded to a new level.

“Telia and TMW have long collaborative history based on common values,“ comments Katrin Isotamm, Head of Communications at Telia Estonia. “TMW is a springboard of fresh ideas and tomorrow’s music with a comprehensive, forward-looking and responsible approach.  It resonates well with Telia’s mission, therefore taking the position as the festival’s presenter is a natural next step for us.”

The task of the TMW’s new design was to visualise the main topics of the next edition of the festival: tenth anniversary, sustainable development in all its facets, from inclusive communities to promotion of equal rights, a new beginning, ideas for the future and a shift.

Design agency AKU whose most notable projects include the visual identities of Parliament of Estonia, Estonian Pavilion at EXPO 2015, City of Tallinn, and banking app Pocopay, has created TMW’s visual identity several times. Their concepts for the previous editions of the festival have featured migratory birds and rare tropical plants as figurative comments on importing and exporting brave new sounds and ideas.

The visual identity of the festival’s jubilee edition is based on the concept of change, a shift to a new era. The key element of the bold and lively design is the letter X – symbolizing not just the celebratory Roman numeral 10, but the festival on crossroads, the nexus between its different endeavours, its experimental yet cohesive nature.

According to the creative director of AKU, Alari Orav, TMW is constantly changing and triggering considerable shifts in society: “Visually, this idea of constant change is expressed through the optical distortion created by the physical lens. The X-shaped glass tubing marks the festival’s 10th anniversary, the crossroad of ideas, and the freedom of choice.”

Another central element of the design is a custom typeface, created by the young typographer Aimur Takk. The typeface combines a variety of stylistic elements and carries a bold and friendly feel.

„We have dreamed of creating a custom typeface for a project – now it happened. This is our birthday present to TMW,” comments Alari Orav.

The new visual identity uses three colours – primary blue and red with jovial gold accentuating the festive jubilee feel.

The new website of TMW was created by design office Velvet in partnership with the start-up company Festivality that specializes on developing innovative festival and event platforms. The main aim has been to design a practical assistant for festival guests as well as conference visitors and artists by enabling easy navigation between different festival layers, artist profiles and web shop. The TMW web implements the brave jubilee visual and colour combinations created by AKU while aiming for a balance between festive emotion and practical ease of navigation by combining the best practice of user experience with the unique visual identity.

TMW 2018 programme will be launched on the website during January and February together with My Festival Schedule tool.

The core of the TMW jubilee festival taking place from 2nd to 8th April 2018 will be music festival with near 250 artists from different genres from all over the world and an entrepreneurial conference focusing on the impact of creativity that includes cross-sector discussions on future skills, design thinking, future cities, gender equality and sustainable development next to music industry topics.

The TMW city festival offers free city stage concerts, public discussions TMW Talks, a selection of the nicest eateries as TMW Tastes, a specially curated arts programme, Design Market and various activities in the public space.

TMW 2018 is presented by Telia. TMW 2018 partners are the Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Enterprise and Nordic Hotel Forum.

TMW 2018 Festival Pass is available for €60 in TMW web store until 10 February (from 11th February €70). The joint Conference + Festival Pass for €175 (from 1st January €250) is also available in the web store.

Festival Pass grants access to all concerts and includes special offers to other festival parts.
Conference + Festival Pass gives access to the music festival, TMW conference and delegates’ bars as well as to the database of registered participants.

TMW 2018 Single Tickets as well as a limited number of TMW 2018 Priority Passes for €150 will be on sale from January in the web store.

The Priority Pass grants priority access to all TMW music festival events, including the opening concert and to the delegates’ bars as well as personalised programme recommendations.

All TMW 2018 passes offer discounts in the TMW Tastes participating restaurants and special offers of other festival parts. Clients of Telia receive additional benefits*.

*From January 2018 clients of Telia can by up to 2 TMW Priority Passes with a special discount code, up to 2 festival passes and up to 2 joint passes of the conference and festival. Telia clients can also buy discounted single tickets. The 20% discount applies for pre-bought tickets.
TMW 2018 visual identity

The artist application round for the tenth edition of the new music and city culture festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) ended on November 1st with 1,450 applicants from 53 countries. Next up after Estonia were Finland, Russia, Belarus and Canada. Some of the most exotic places to apply from included South Africa, Senegal, Tunesia, Lebanon and Brazil.  

TMW2018 TOP10 applicants per country:

Estonia 254
Finland 203
Russia 164
Belarus 71
Canada 67
Poland 66
Latvia 55
United Kingdom 50
Hungary 45
Sweden 45

Maximum 250 applicants will be confirmed into the festival line-up by a broad team of Estonian and international music experts – representatives of different venues, festivals and record labels, as well as radio presenters, music managers, producers and promoters. The three-day music showcase programme will be announced during January and February 2018.

According to the head of the TMW music programme, Raimond Põldmaa it has always been the festival’s goal to present multiple styles of music.
“Next year we will celebrate our first jubilee. Having attended similar festivals abroad, I can definitely say that our music programme is one of the most diverse of its kind,“ said Põldmaa, adding that the increase of interest from foreign artists enables to present the most diverse international programme next to the best of Estonian music.

„The growing interest of international music communities towards TMW shows that there’s really something to gain by performing here. In recent years, the number of applications from neighbouring countries like Russia and Finland has risen dramatically, but there’s also an increased interest from Sweden, Poland and Hungary. Canada, the sixth largest recorded music market on the planet, can be found in top5 of our applications list!“

 

The 10th edition of the city festival TMW will take place in Tallinn, Estonia from 2nd April to 8th April 2018.

Held each spring in the capital of Estonia, TMW is a city festival with an extensive music and arts programme and a comprehensive new business conference – a weeklong celebration of talent, curiosity, creativity, freedom and equality.  Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018, TMW’s core is the new music festival that offers a multi-genre mix of around 250 artists from the Baltics, across Europe and beyond. Among the notable acts that have performed at the festival throughout nine years are British folk legend Vashti Bunyan and Mancunian post-punk troupers The Membranes, Scottish dream pop master C Duncan, Finnish synth-pop troubadour Jaakko-Eino Kalevi, the piano experimenter Hauschka from Germany, and Danish-Finnish indie-supergroup Liima.

The festival’s role as a significant platform for both emerging and established musicians around the world has grown steadily. Among the artists who have successfully tested their international breakthrough potential at TMW are Danish dark rockers Get Your Gun, Belorussian cold-wave group Super Besse, Russian postpunks Motorama and Glintshake, Estonia’s very own folk innovators Maarja Nuut, Trad.Attack! and Eeter, as well as TMW 2017 artist award winners Mart Avi, Erki Pärnoja and NOËP.

In addition to the music festival line-up and two-day new business conference, TMW offers a series of free City Stage concerts, a selection of eateries within TMW Tastes, TMW Arts programme, Design Market, TMW Talks series with topics from music to science and societal issues, and various City Space activities.

TMW 2018 Festival Pass for €60 and TMW 2018 Conference and Festival Pass for €175 are available at TMW web store 
Festival pass grants access to all concerts and offers discounts at the TMW Tastes restaurant festival.
Conference and Festival Pass grants access to the TMW conference panels and priority access to the music festival. TMW 2018 conference schedule will be gradually released from December 2017.

Keychange, a collaborative European programme led by PRS Foundation which aims to empower women to transform the music industry, is proud to announce 60 female artists and innovators for a groundbreaking programme spanning two years. Announced today at Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival, the successful participants will take part in a series of showcases, discussions, collaborations and a programme of creative labs at seven international festivals. Backed by an innovation fund to help test new projects and ideas, Keychange will culminate with a final event in Brussels at the European Parliament in 2019, at which Keychange partners will present a manifesto for change.

Estonian artists are represented by the 10-strong squad of post-romantic unit HUNT, turbulent jazz/neoclassical explorers Kirke Karja Quartet, zither-wielding folk stylist Mari Kalkun, singer-songwriter Grete Paia and young rap duo HOAX, in addition to a host of industry professionals from artist managers to music journalists – Liisi Voolaid, Thea Lillepalu, Merli Antsmaa, Natalie Mets and Silvia Urgas will all have the opportunity to forge new collaborations that will push the future development of the music industry and position women at the forefront of innovation.

Reeperbahn Festival saw a hugely successful Keychange panel Chaired by PRS Foundation CEO Vanessa Reed  with appearances from Garbage’s Shirley Manson,  Reeperbahn Festival director Alex Schultz and emerging UK rock artist  Nadine Shah. Exploring how to empower those who are underrepresented and how men and women can work together to accelerate change, the panel set the standard for empowering women to transform the music industry before today’s official announcement of Keychange’s successful participants which included endorsements from Reeperbahn Festival’s Keychange Ambassadors Alexa Fraser and Emily Haines.
Ten participants from six European countries – Sweden, Spain, Iceland, Germany, Estonia and the UK- will form a 60 strong network of female artists and innovators who will have opportunities to showcase and work together at leading industry festivals in Europe and in Canada.
On Keychange’s successful participants, Vanessa Reed, Chief Executive of PRS Foundation said “Selecting the 60 participants from over 200 nominations was a really tough process for our partner festivals and we were extremely impressed by the diversity and quality of all the women who applied. The final list demonstrates the exceptional talent of the next generation of female artists and innovators and makes for a very exciting European network. I’m convinced that together these women will be a creative and entrepreneurial force to reckon with in the future.”
Keychange aims to accelerate change and create a better, more inclusive music industry for present and future generations. Keychange is led by PRS Foundation and is supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and in partnership with Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg), Iceland Airwaves, BIME (Bilbao), Tallinn Music Week, Way Out West & Musikcentrum Sweden, The Great Escape and Mutek (Montreal).

Successfully securing €200,000 from the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, having scored 96/100 in its bid to run a European talent development programme, the long term goal of Keychange is to ultimately transform Europe’s music industry for current and future generations. Keychange will accelerate recognition of women’s artistic and economic value and empower them to work together across European and international borders.

More info:
keychange.eu
prsformusicfoundation.com

Tallinn Music Week (TMW) and Music Estonia present Estonian artists Mart Avi and Saint Cheatersburg at the international showcase festival Moscow Music Week, taking place in the capital of Russia this week from 7th to 10th of September.

In spring 2017 Tallinn Music Week hosted a record number of young and furious Russian acts, among them ГШ / Glintshake, БЦХ, Lucidvox, Shortparis and Spasibo. Now it’s time for Russia to introduce the bravest and boldest of Estonian music – post-pop producer and vocalist Mart Avi and art-punk band Saint Cheatersburg.

The winner of TMW 2017 artist prize Mart Avi will perform twice at Moscow Music Week – at BoLь/STORONA showcase in Aglomerat club and at New New World Radio showcase in Powerhouse on Friday 8th September.
Manufacturing a fascinating coherence from televisual gloss, bubbles of vaporwave and sudden pangs of estranged memory, his music is reminiscent of the all bygone pop-eras steamed out, and stretched out into the trans-humanist future. Renowned music critic Simon Reynolds has said that “Avi’s music and performance could be a missing “aftershock” from my glam rock book Shock and Awe – Euro Eighties neo-glam aesthetics meets modern R&B.“

 

Estonia’s finest art-punk squad Saint Cheatersburg will take the stage at Ionoteca Showcase in Kitayskiy Letchik Dzhao Da on Saturday 9th September with their whimsical ballads, crafted pop songs and straight up acid ghetto funk, guaranteed to invigorate the ears and limber up the minds and legs of the listeners. Expect the live act in the New York tradition of performance art meets music in a head-on collision.

On Friday 8th September, right before the main musical frenzy at the clubs of Moscow, Tallinn Music Week’s delegation will also hold a reception to Moscow Music Week guests at Uku Bar on Pokrovka Street. Prior to the reception, Helen Sildna, the founder of Tallinn Music Week, shares the story about how a little showcase festival in Estonia has turned into one of the most significant soft power diplomacy tools in Europe. The Q & A session takes place within the MMW conference at Dostoyevski library.

TMW delegation and Estonian artists at Moscow Music Week

Friday 8th September 17.00
Q & A session with Helen Sildna, Founder and Director of Tallinn Music Week
Dostoevsky library (Chistoprudny Bulvar, 23c1)

Friday 8th September 18.00–19.30
Tallinn Music Week reception at Uku Bar (Pokrovka Street, 17)
Greetings, drinks, snacks, DJsIndrek Spungin and Sven Liba (Saint Cheatersburg)

Mart Avi live
Friday 8th September
20.10 BoLь/STORONA Showcase, Aglomerat (Kostomarovskiy per., 3)
Facebook event
02.00 New New World Radio Showcase, Powerhouse (Goncharnaya Street, 7/4)
Facebook event

Saint Cheatersburg live
Saturday 9th September 21.00
Ionoteca Showcase, Kitayskiy Letchik Dzhao Da, Lubyanskiy pr-d, 25
Facebook event

 

The activities of Estonian delegation at Moscow Music Week are supported by Music Estonia, European Regional Development Fund and The Embassy of Estonia in Moscow.
Moscow Music Week 2017 showcase festival and conference will take place in Moscow, Russia this week from 7th to 10th September. Gathering music industry professionals from Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and USA, the conference programme consists of lectures, workshops and panel discussions. Versatile line-up of about 120 Russian and international acts unfolds in Moscow’s best concert venues within the showcase festival programme. More info

The 10th anniversary edition of the Tallinn Music Week (TMW) festival will take place in Tallinn, Estonia from 2nd April to 8th April 2018. TMW is a city festival with an extensive music and arts programme and a new business conference – a weeklong celebration of talent, curiosity, creativity, freedom and equality. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018, TMW’s core is the new music festival that offers a multi-genre mix of around 250 artists from the Baltics, across Europe and beyond.

TMW’s artist applications for music programme are welcome until 1st November 2017 at artist.tmw.ee
TMW 2018 Festival Pass for €45 is on sale at TMW Store until until 31st October
TMW 2018 Conference + Festival Pass is on sale for €150 at TMW Store until 30th September

 

The artist application round for Tallinn Music Week 2018 music programme is now open at artist.tmw.ee. The 10th edition of the city festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) will take place in Tallinn, Estonia from 2nd April to 8th April 2018. 

Held each spring in Tallinn, Estonia, TMW is a city festival with an extensive music and arts programme and a new business conference – a weeklong celebration of talent, curiosity, creativity, freedom and equality.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018, TMW’s core is the new music festival that offers a multi-genre mix of around 250 artists from the Baltics, across Europe and beyond. The line-up, spanning from outsider mavericks to chart-pop acts and from folk innovators to classical musicians, is put together on the basis of artist submissions by a broad team of Estonian music experts and event promoters.

Applications from all regions and music genres are welcome until 1st November 2017 at artist.tmw.ee. 

The festival’s role as a significant platform for emerging acts around the world has grown steadily. TMW 2017 received an all-time record number of nearly 1,500 applications from 59 countries with over 250 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, the tandem of Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke and film-maker Danielle de Picciotto, and the piano experimenter Hauschka from Germany. Among the artists who have successfully tested their international breakthrough potential at TMW are Danish dark rockers Get Your Gun, Belorussian cold-wave group Super Besse, Russian postpunk flag-bearer Motorama, Estonia’s very own folk innovators Maarja Nuut and Trad.Attack!, electropop act NOËP, and many others.

Besides showcases presented by local promoters TMW2017 featured the border-crossing showcase curated by Estonia’s Üle Heli festival, international C3 Festival, and Japan Sound Postcard project, a special Canadian programme, and the 15th anniversary of Finnish Fullsteam Agency.

TMW will once again fill the entire week from 2nd to 8th April 2018. In addition to the music festival line-up and two-day industry conference, TMW offers a series of free City Stage concerts, a selection of eateries within TMW Tastes, TMW Arts programme, Design Market,  TMW Talks series with topics from music to science and societal issues, City Space activities and the comprehensive two-day conference programme.

Throughout the festival’s nine-year existence, TMW conference has hosted numerous high-profile speakers from international music industry experts to global game-changers from business to science and policy-making. Music industry experts that have participated in TMW conference throughout the years, include the founder of Sire Records Seymour Stein, influential managers Simon Napier-Bell and Peter Jenner; artists-turned authors Viv Albertine of The Slits and Bob Stanley of St Etienne, the acclaimed music critic Simon Reynolds, and many others.

TMW 2018 artist application round is open until 1st November (included) at artist.tmw.ee. 

The full line-up of around 200 acts will be announced in February 2018.

TMW 2018 Festival Pass for €45 and TMW 2018 Festival + Conference Pass for €150 are on sale at TMW web store.

Festival Pass grants access to all concerts and offers discounts at the TMW Tastes’ restaurant festival.
Festival + Conference Pass grants access to the conference seminars and priority access to the music festival.
TMW 2018 conference schedule will be gradually published from December 2017.

 

Tallinn Music Week 2017 in numbers:

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

 

Comments by TMW 2017 delegates:

Vanessa Reed, Chief Executive, PRS for Music:
“Tallinn Music Week is unlike most other music industry conferences I’ve attended because it’s pushing the definitions of what an event of this kind can be in the 21st century. It embraces art, politics, tech and urbanism in a bold and intelligent way. It crosses genres and sectors in easy to find spaces, which give you an insight into Estonia’s past and present. It breathes the energy of a city where smart young leaders are using music & the creative industries to drive social and political change. I’ll definitely be back in 2018 for TMW’s 10th anniversary.”

Ivan Novak, member of Laibach:
“The West is dead, it has lost its mojo! If you want to hear some really good new music, discuss relevant things about music and culture and get a blast of life from the young and beautiful city, come to Tallinn Music Week!”

Simon Reynolds, music critic and author:
“I had a fabulous time at TMW 2017 – saw many interesting bands, met many interesting people, had many interesting conversations – and all in the setting of one of Europe’s most charming cities. I’ve been to great number of music festival/conferences over the years and this was one of the very best experiences.”

John Robb, musician and journalist:
„Way more than just a music conference, the boundary breaking TMW is in the premier league of music events not just by its sheer ambition and scale of music. Culture and creativity that it celebrates. It’s also this open minded spirit and genre breaking ideal of collaboration that not only sees the myriad of stages in the beautiful Estonian capital full of music from classical to hardcore from hip hop to left field and sometimes all merged into one but a genuine positive spirit that seems to be infusing the forward thinking of the government and society of its host country. In a world were the doors seem to be closing and borders coming down TMW is bucking the trend and inspiring the real future for music, culture and the kind of lives that we want to lead. TMW knows that a broken world needs a culture hug!”

Stepan Kazaryan, head of Moscow Music Week and BOLь:
„TMW is growing both in popularity and in terms of professionalism every year. And I’m happy to mention that young bands from the New Russian scene that I support so much back home and that were selected by TMW curators this year managed to enjoy success among both professionals and the audience in such controversial times. TMW showed once again that it is truly independent and politically unbiased event, which became very rare in our todays common European home.“

Moddi, musician and activist:
“At Tallinn Music Week, I met people who truly care for music, and who understand that we are in this together. Good things happen in the beating heart of Europe.”

Kimmo Pohjonen, musician:
„I was pretty amazed what has happened to the Estonian music scene. So many interesting acts with really wide music range. I felt cool self-confidence and professionalism which was followed by all the Estonian acts I heard. Many different and great venues with good technical conditions all around the town and the overall feeling very positive. And I really mean this. Can’t wait the next year which is 10 years celebration to TMW and 100 to Estonia.“

Damien McGuinness, BBC:
“This festival is a stimulating mash-up between innovative music, ancient folk songs, international politics and human rights — a Baltic speciality that is a natural fit in this fascinating region. That’s because music in Estonia is about more than simply listening to something funky. Throughout Estonia’s history song has been political. During centuries of foreign oppression music safeguarded a unique national identity. And in the dying days of the Soviet Union, song galvanised the opposition movement that led to national independence. Today Tallinn shows that artists can still help save the world.”

Estonia took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July. Last Thursday 29 June, Tallinn Music Week, in collaboration with an extended creative team, organized a free concert on Tallinn’s Freedom Square to mark the start of the presidency, attracting nearly 15,000 people.

Photos by Patrik Tamm

The line-up of the opening concert featured popular Estonian artists like Kukerpillid, NOËP, and Winny Puhh. The square, featuring wood installations that formed a ’digital thicket’, also included cafés and street food stalls, as well as a playground entitled the Children’s Republic.

The ’digital thicket’ installation that encompassed the stages and the square told Estonia’s Presidency story ’Unity through balance’. Made of 7 solid cubic metres of wood and 700 identical wooden elements, it was created by Sille Pihlak and Siim Tuksam from the PART architectural practice, the most recent winners of the Estonian Young Architect of the Year Award. Pihlak and Tuksam have also created the timber frame city space bandstands and smart garbage sorting containers for the last two editions of Tallinn Music Week festival. The ’digital thicket’ will find a new home in the Tallinn Botanical Garden as trellises for the climbing plants there.

 

The audience was greeted by Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, and Jüri Ratas, the Prime Minister of Estonia.
“The eyes of Europe are on us and once again we are greater than our size would suggest. We must use this time wisely and boldly, we must speak ourselves but, above all, know how to listen to others. The more familiar Europe is with our way of thinking, the greater Estonia is. The better we understand others, the more united Europe is,” said Prime Minister Ratas.

Donald Tusk noted that coming from Poland, he can understand the importance of language in preserving cultural identity and quoted, in Estonian, the poem “We keep together like this” by Paul-Eerik Rummo from 1964.

On Friday 30 June, Jüri Ratas and Jean-Claude Juncker gave a joint press conference at the Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel) where Juncker praised the opening concert, highlighting the enthusiasm of and the warm welcome given by the people of Estonia.

The start of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU was also celebrated at the Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel) on Thursday with a formal reception and gala concert for select guests. Both events were broadcast live by the Estonian Television (ETV).

 

The opening concert of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union concert featured artists like the Estonian Radio Children’s Choir conducted by Kaie Tanner and Kadri Hunt, the Estonian Cello Ensemble, Estonian Voices, Frankie Animal, Genka, Kadri Voorand, Kukerpillid, Mari Jürjens, Miljardid, NOËP, Vaiko Eplik, Winny Puhh, and a joint choir with conductor Veronika Portsmuth, and dancers with choreographer Arolin Raudva. The performances were blended into a continuous whole by composer and DJ Sander Mölder.
The concert was organised by Tallinn Music Week and Kingent Management.

Visual and lighting design, stage and area design: Emer Värk, Rene Jõhve (Cuu Club), PART architectural practice
Director of sound: Kaspar Brandt (RGB)
Production and choreography: Arolin Raudva
Visual identity: Martin Veisman, Ruum 414
Food area: Tallinn Street Food Festival, KrõbeRäim, MTÜ Mondo Süüria köök, Bite My Bagel, Paulig Coffee Truck, Kolm Nuudlit, BBQ Truck (LV), Nohik Kohvibuss, Street Food Team, Homeart interior design shop
Playground and workshops: the Children’s Republic tour, the Year of Children’s and Youth Culture 2017
Main organiser: Estonian Government Office
Additional information: eu2017.ee

Tallinn Music Week’s (TMW) partner Telliskivi Creative City has issued the artist award to post-pop producer and singer Mart Avi, multi-instrumentalist Erki Pärnoja and electro-pop artist NOËP. The award includes 1300 euros prize money and access to the mentoring programme of Music Estonia.

The winners were selected by TMW music industry delegates among the 133 Estonian artists from this year’s TMW edition. All winners have a distinguished sound and artistic image as well as export potential.

 

The delegates pointed out Mart Avi’s artistic concept, modern and unique sound and playful vocals. Music critic and scholar Simon Reynolds noted that “unlike with a lot of conceptronica, his thoughtful thoughts don’t get in the way of the seduction effect.” Anastasia Connor of Drowned in Sound labeled Avi as a “true child of post-genre“ and his TMW performance as one of her most extraordinary concert experience of recent years.

Mart Avi’s live was based on his latest highly praised album “Rogue Wave.”
”After recovering from a severe fracture I directed my new skeleton into the TMW performances,” says Avi. “I had proper fireworks going on in my head that I tried to direct down from the stage, to avoid going up in flames myself.” Avi is not going to stop here: ”The prize money will go to cover technical damages and future “after-shocks”. I’ll also be working on a new album, hopefully to be released this year. Thank you!”

 

Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Erki Pärnoja presented his first solo album “Efterglow” together with his band. TMW delegates noted his unique Nordic touch, impressionist guitar riffs, film like soundscape and high instrumental skills of the whole band. Chris Kellogg of the USA KEXP station called Pärnoja a “fantastic discovery”, the editor of Tape Op Alex Maiolo pointed out that Efterglow shows the unique Nordic feel of “landscape soundtrack”.

 

Pärnoja said that this year’s TMW was especially busy and fruitful: ”We made four shows. In Club Sinilind the audience and band erupted in a riot, the home concert opened up a real new format of a common understanding between the artist and audience. At the largest concert in Vaba Lava we experienced some pin drop moments – such a deep stillness as if no one was even breathing. The gig in BiitMe Record Store was the dot on the I for our TMW tour.” Pärnoja hopes to perform “Efterglow” live a lot more: “I think live performance brings the recorded material to new life and moves it further. We have quite a few showcase festivals in Europe coming up this year and the prize is a big help for this.”

The electronic indie pop artist NOËP aka singer and producer Andres Kõpper was praised for his engaging and skilful performance including the hit singles “Move” and “Rooftop”. Clotaire Buche of the French music agency Junzi Arts praised NOËP as the “next big thing” whilst Jeffrey Barney of the US Minneapolis Magazine called the multi talent one-man-band “a possible global draw”.

 

Kõpper, already a successful act under the Swedish Sony Music label, is pleasantly surprised: “TMW is still a great opportunity to present one’s music and live skills internationally without crossing country borders.” He plans to use the prize money for the finishing touches of new songs and possibly a new microphone.

Telliskivi Creative City, TMW’s long-term partner has awarded the artist prize for the second time. Telliskivi has become an ever more active partner of the festival as well as a great contributor to the cultural life of Tallinn. Apart from festivals like TMW and Jazzkaar Telliskivi hosts a number of cultural events, it’s a location for the band house, offices of TMW and Music Estonia.

Earlier winners of the TMW artist prize are: Popidiot (2009), Iiris (2010), Ewert and The Two Dragons (2011), Talbot (2012), Elephants From Neptune (2013), Odd Hugo (2014), Maarja Nuut (2015) and I Wear* Experiment (2016).
The ninth Tallinn Music Week took place from 27th March to 2nd April presenting 250 artists from 32 countries, a conference programme and discoveries of the city space, film, arts, food and public talks.

The tenth Tallinn Music Week will take place from 2nd to 8th April 2018. Artist application will open in September 2017.

Festival passes at 35 euros and conference passes at 100 euros are on sale in the TMW web store 

The urban culture festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) drew 36 823 visitors last week, including 1193 delegates attending the TMW Creative Impact conference. 250 artists from 32 countries performed at the festival that in addition to the music and comprehensive conference programme also offered many discoveries of the city space, film, art, food and public talks. The festival is presented by Nordea Bank, supported by Telia, Nordic Hotel Forum, Eesti Meedia, Enterprise Estonia and Estonian Ministry of Culture.

The ninth edition of TMW attracted nearly 37 000 visitors from 27th March to 2nd April. The overarching topic of this year’s festival was sustainable development and its many areas from environmental urban development to inclusive communities and equal opportunities.

The TMW conference Creative Impact on 31st March and 1st April was attended by 1193 delegates, among them 781 international delegates. President Kersti Kaljulaid called TMW in her opening speech the test polygon of the society that shows how to creatively find a compromise between different opinions.

“Here you can think away all contradictions and make room for all different opinions! Think about how to use technology to overcome contradictions and if that is not an option, then think how to talk yourselves and your conversation partners through the contradictions so that finally they will simply dissolve. Show us what a resourceful spirit and flexible mind can achieve!” said Kaljulaid.

President Kaljulaid’s opening speech

The 30 discussions of the conference presented 112 speakers, among them London’s first night czar Amy Lamé, influential pop culture author Simon Reynolds, founder of Sound Diplomacy Shain Shapiro, Barbara Gessler from the EU Culture Directorate and others. TMW conference also presented inspiring stories like the “Forbidden songs” of Norwegian Moddi, the North-Korea experience of Laibach, the nomadic artists Alexander Hacke and Danielle de Picciotto as well as the award-winning sound engineer Mandy Parnell.

Helen Sildna, founder and head of TMW pointed out the symbolic value of the conference venue, Russian Cultural Centre: “With the creative impact we can bring communities, nations and mindsets together. That’s the core of our debates.”

TMW 2017 concerts took place on 80 stages across town. In addition to the showcase concerts on main stages also more than 100 city stage concerts brought music and audiences to unusual places from a thrift store to a hotel suite. Among the most popular events were the techno marathon at the railway station Balti Jaam, the Weekend Festival club night in Club Hollywood, concerts by Jazzkaar, Jazz association and Viljandi Folk at Vaba Lava and Radio 2 showcase at Von Krahl. The sold-out opening concert “Radio Head Rewritten” at Kultuurikatel, conducted by Kristjan Järvi was one of the highlights as well as a joint concert by power-folk band Trad.Attack! and the Ukrainian electro-folk group Onuka.

Tommy Cash and the Danish rapper Black Daniels played secret gigs at the garage hack. Also new and notable were the concerts at the thrift store Uuskasutuskeskus and Tallinn Botanical Garden as well as three acoustic sets at people’s homes.

Other TMW events – the gallery tours, film screenings, restaurants and city space actions –  also attracted lots of visitors. The footpath from the railway station to Telliskivi Creative City was lit up with light installations by students of Estonian Academy of Arts, music and street food. Old soviet era garages at the foot of Tallinn’s business district were given a new lease of life. Special Mexican and Japanese home dinners were popular as well as the unique Trash Cooking dinner by top chef Peeter Pihel.

The TMW pop-up restaurant, run by Ungru from Hiiumaa island this time, attracted full houses of foodies as well as participants to the talks on topics from future urban developments to space exploration. 30 songwriters and producers joined the international song writing camp.

The public vote for the favourite artist, organized jointly by Telia, Spotify and TMW is open until midnight of 5th April. The winner will be announced next week. More info.

The video competition #hoolin about sustainable lifestyle will end on 7th April. More info.

The tenth Tallinn Music Week will take place from 2nd to 8th April 2018. Festival passes at €35 and conference passes at €100 are on sale at TMW web store.

Tallinn Music Week 2017 in numbers:

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

Tallinn Music Week 2016 in numbers:

250 artists from 30 countries
34 676 festival visitors
1036 conference delegates, 781 international delegates
128 international press
70 venues
195 505 website visits from 144 countries

Tallinn Music Week thanks the supporters:

Presenter: Nordea Bank.
Main sponsors: Telia, Nordic Hotel Forum, Enterprise Estonia / Visit Estonia and Eesti Meedia
Festival centre and official hotel: Nordic Hotel Forum
Partners: Uber, Viru Keskus, Telliskivi Creative City, Solaris, Music Estonia, NGO Mondo, Lingvist, Tuborg, LaMuu, Fritz-Kola, Moe Peenviinavabrik, architecture practice PART
Supporters: Ministry of Culture, Tallinn Cultural Heritage Department, Tallinn Enterprise Department, European Fund of Regional Development, Embassy of Canada, British Council, Swedish Embassy.

TMW sustainability initiative was supported by Ministry of Environment, NGO Mondo, Representation of the European Commission in Estonia, Government Office, embassy of Sweden and KODA by Kodasema.

Festival website and #hoolin campaign: Velvet
Festival app: Festivality
Festival visual design: Mariana Hint-Rääk, illustration Viktor Gurov
Music compilations: Eesti Pops

Comments by partners and visitors

Indrek Saar, Estonian Minister of Culture:

“Tallinn Music Week has grown from a music festival into an internationally influential urban culture and vision festival that touches the key topics of the society bravely. Within a short time the festival has become an active and effective promoter of Estonian music and talent in the world and a shaper of the European cultural policy.”

Gerd Müller, Head of Nordea

“Nordea’s relationship with Tallinn Music Week is based on mutual respect and constant learning. We at Nordea have had an honour of being close by and offer our support to see how a week-long music event has become a forum that throughout the year contributes to and promotes debate on social matters. How Helen and her team has grown from concert organizers into opinion-leader in the society.”

Barbara Gessler, Directorate General Education and Culture, European Commission

“Tallinn Music Week has displayed the creative potential of Estonia and its capital in a very impressive way. It shows how the creative sector and pop music in particular can bring about societal changes and open up new horizons, for the economy and across generations. The festival’s presence in the city and the way it is supported by its citizens and government and promoted by the musicians, artists and designers proves that music and creativity can make a real difference in and for Europe.”

Vanessa Reed, Chief Executive, PRS for Music:

“Tallinn Music Week is unlike most other music industry conferences I’ve attended because it’s pushing the definitions of what an event of this kind can be in the 21st century. It embraces art, politics, tech and urbanism in a bold and intelligent way. It crosses genres and sectors in easy to find spaces, which give you an insight into Estonia’s past and present. It breathes the energy of a city where smart young leaders are using music & the creative industries to drive social and political change. I’ll definitely be back in 2018. I have a feeling that there are even greater things to come as Helen Sildna, the festival’s pioneering Director, leads us towards TMW’s 10th anniversary.”Ivan Novak,

Ivan Novak, member of Laibach:

“The West is dead, it has lost its mojo! If you want to hear some really good new music, discuss relevant things about music and culture and get a blast of life from the young and beautiful city, come to Tallinn Music Week!”

Brian Reich, communications expert:

“I returned to Tallinn Music Week and the Creativity for Change conference believing nothing could top my experience from last year – and I was wrong. This year’s event was even better. As always there was an extraordinary group of people gathered to share smart ideas and commit themselves to efforts that improve the world. But this year, it was also clear that the issues being addressed – from the role of technology and creativity in creating economic opportunity for everyone to how we can use our imagination to break down barriers and drive innovation – were more important to the future of society than ever before. Tallinn is a vibrant hub for people who are doing ambitious, important and wonderfully creative work, and the ideas emerging from TMW will have wide-reaching impact. Leaders in business, philanthropy, government, science, the arts, and more should look at Tallinn as a model for how to make great things happen.”

Simon Reynolds, music critic and author:

“I had a fabulous time at TMW 2017 – saw many interesting bands, met many interesting people, had many interesting conversations – and all in the setting of one of Europe’s most charming cities. I’ve been to great number of music festival/conferences over the years and this was one of the very best experiences.”

John Robb, musician and journalist:

„Way more than just a music conference, the boundary breaking TMW is in the premier league of music events not just by its sheer ambition and scale of music. Culture and creativity that it celebrates. It’s also this open minded spirit and genre breaking ideal of collaboration that not only sees the myriad of stages in the beautiful Estonian capital full of music from classical to hardcore from hip hop to left field and sometimes all merged into one but a genuine positive spirit that seems to be infusing the forward thinking of the government and society of its host country. In a world were the doors seem to be closing and borders coming down TMW is bucking the trend and inspiring the real future for music, culture and the kind of lives that we want to lead. TMW knows that a broken world needs a culture hug!”

Stepan Kazaryan, head of Moscow Music Week and BOLь:

„TMW is growing both in popularity and in terms of professionalism every year. The conference panels made me miss both of my lunches, so interesting they were. This year the quality of the bands also jumped drastically. And I’m happy to mention that young bands from the New Russian scene that I support so much back home and that were selected by TMW curators this year managed to enjoy success among both professionals and the audience in such controversial times. TMW showed once again that it is truly independent and politically unbiased event, which became very rare in our todays common European home.“

Moddi, musician and activist:

“At Tallinn Music Week, I met people who truly care for music, and who understand that we are in this together. Good things happen in the beating heart of Europe.”

Kimmo Pohjonen, musician:

„I was pretty amazed what has happened to the Estonian music scene. So many interesting acts with really wide music range. I felt cool self-confidence and professionalism which was followed by all the Estonian acts I heard. Many different and great venues with good technical conditions all around the town and the overall feeling very positive. And I really mean this. Can’t wait the next year which is 10 years celebration to TMW and 100 to Estonia.“

Sven Nuutmann, Chairman of the Board, Eesti Meedia:

“Eesti Meedia goes hand in hand with events that share the same values with our organization. These values include passion, creativity, courage and responsibility. The organizers of Tallinn Music Week are clearly one of the most creative and courageous teams in Estonia, who are not afraid to push boundaries, experiment with new ideas and do it all with great passion. TMW is a living proof of the fact that responsible behavior is our common goal, whatever the field.”

Katrin Isotamm, Communications Manager, Telia Eesti:

„TMW has a strong and committed team. Every year they break new limits and do something extraordinary and different. From Telia’s point of view, our partnership is full of great ideas and inspiration. We especially cherished this year’s focus on sustainable development because in that way, this important subject will find the wider audience it needs.”

Feliks Mägus, CEO of Nordic Hotel Forum:

„TMW is without a doubt one of the most beautiful success stories of Estonia – a committed team, led by a strong leader, transforms a cool music festival into a powerful urban culture festival which is talked about all over the world. TMW thinks big, widens our horizons and helps us see further into the future than we could or dared by ourselves. We are very happy to support the festival and the creation of big ideas and be part of the synergy that happens here between music and people.”

Piret Reinson, Head of Marketing, Enterprize Estonia:

„Tallinn Music Week is the most beautiful reflection of what Estonia is and what is possible here. How many different stages, food outlets, great ideas and good music. Ans all these places full of nice open-minded people from dozens of countries. Culture and ideas will make Estonia big. I am incredibly happy for the resonance created by TMW. The more Estonians take part of that metropolitan borderless world, the more confidence we gain.”

In all great art, there are no borders. An immigration of ideas is the key and an open mind is an open heart. In the modern world where populism and cynicism run amok in music and life, it’s great to see an event moving forwards untainted by the nervous breakdown of modern times. Tallinn Music Week is fast forwarding to a far better future. It understands the music is the key. The fluidity of ideas and emotions of the good stuff.

Classical orchestras jam with rappers, technology is threaded with mystical ancient folk, bands play stunning old cinemas, dive bars and open squares. The cobbles of a beautiful old city echo to high decibel of beautiful noise in a life-affirming party of music, ideas and impassioned talk.

Way more than just a music conference, the boundary-breaking TMW is in the premier league of music events not just by its sheer ambition and scale of music. culture and creativity that it celebrates. It’s also this open-minded spirit and genre breaking ideal of collaboration that not only sees the myriad of stages in the beautiful Estonian capital full of music from classical to hardcore from hip hop to left field and sometimes all merged into one but a genuine positive spirit that seems to be infusing the forward thinking of the government and society of its host country. In a world where the doors seem to be closing and borders coming down TMW is bucking the trend and inspiring the real future for music, culture and the kind of lives that we want to lead.

Tallinn Music Week knows that a broken world needs a culture hug.