Submitted by Boyan Pinter
Tallinn Music Week 2023 was an exciting and immersive event that brought together music industry professionals, artists, and music enthusiasts from all over the world. The conference sessions held during the event were a major highlight, offering a diverse range of panels, discussions, and workshops. The 15th edition of the festival brought together 188 artists from 41 different countries and 173 conference speakers and professionals from all over the world. 51% of the music programming had women or queer representation.
One of the notable aspects of Tallinn Music Week 2023 was the presence of HEMI (Hub for the Exchange of Music Innovation). HEMI, a collaborative initiative supporting music talent from Central and Eastern Europe, played a significant role in the event. HEMI organized networking events, mentoring sessions, and showcases, providing emerging artists with opportunities to showcase their talent and connect with industry professionals. This inclusion of HEMI added a vibrant and diverse element to the conference, facilitating cross-cultural exchange and fostering collaborations between artists and music industry representatives.
The musical performances at TMW this year featured an impressive lineup of both established and emerging artists. Venues across Tallinn came alive with captivating live shows, ranging from intimate acoustic sets to high-energy performances. The music program encompassed a wide array of genres, allowing attendees to discover new sounds and experience the richness and diversity of the international music scene.
The showcase included some wonderful artists from Estonia, Romania, Canada, and Italy. At Vaba Lava we had the pleasure to enjoy a good dose of rock and roll, with the psychedelia blues-infused sounds of Elephants from Neptune washing over us. Later that evening the audience danced to the pumping rhythms of roots cross-over Trad.Attack! who put on a great show. Next door, at Fotografiska, we enjoyed the optimistic-electronic music of K not K.
We ducked into F-Hoone for the Intsikurmu Festival stage, which showcased a diverse range of artists. We had the pleasure to enjoy the Italian act Queen of Saba, who had the audience practically eating out of their hand, and the funky fresh Dimitri’s Bats from Romania, who brought their best moves to the stage.
On the following day the same venue held the “Made in Canada” reception. This is where we witnessed the amazing artist Storry, whose musical talents greatly outshine the dark history that surrounds her life and artistic career. Storry started with a Mozart aria, then took us through a few tracks of contemporary R’n’B, which were heavy, yet steeped with a lighthearted sense of humor that comes to those with experience. For us, it was another testament to the fact that music can heal both the performer and the listener. At the end of the show, we were all delivered to a new plain, while Storry stayed behind to take photos with her, recently acquired, fans in Estonia.
Tallinn Music Week will return during April 3 – 7, 2024 in wonderful Tallinn, Estonia.