Talks

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Fri, 4 Apr

Youth Talks

17:00 Music: balm, boost or burden?

They say youth is a golden season and song makes the heart sing with joy. Yet music also  serves as a vessel for sorrow, rage and anguish – from punk to emo rap, from grunge to murder ballads. For artists and audiences born into the digital age, pop melancholy feels like home, as does the ethos of emotional authenticity and public vulnerability. But which offers better solace for a troubled mind – drowning one’s worries in party anthems, or finding comfort in the shared experience of kindred spirits? What perspective comes from today’s youth, forged in the crucible of global pandemic, climate dread, the  pressure of PISA tests and the relentless self-promotion on social media?

Musicians An-Marlen and Gameboy Tetris aka Pavel Botšakov are in talks with Kirke Trochynskyi

18:00 Time of my life! Being a young volunteer at festivals in Estonia and abroad

Voluntary work means dedicating one’s leisure hours, vitality and talents without financial reward or material gain. Yet for countless people, it proves to be life’s most exhilarating adventure – a transformative journey of skill-building, gathering rich experiences, forging lasting friendships and profound self-discovery. These moments of giving freely can illuminate one’s path forward, shaping the very trajectory of future endeavours and career aspirations.

Speakers:
Hannele Känd, Events and Delegations Project Manager at Invest Estonia, Head of Logistics at Viljandi Folk Music Festival, Tour Guide and Founder of Koplikandi tours
Maris Praats, communications specialist at National Foundation of Civil Society of Estonia

Moderator: Ella Mari Mäger

Sat, 5 April

17:00 – 18:00 Live & Talks: Tuulikki Bartosik & Sander Mölder
How to stay creative and authentic when technology is omnipresent? There’s no easy answer here, but these two artists have found a way that works. Catch an exclusive live performance of the very latest music from Tuulikki and Sander, and join a Q&A session where they dive into their unique ‘no-tech’ creative process.

The Q&A will be hosted by music tech veteran Graham Ball.

The event is in English.

18:00 – 19:00 Music Book Club

Dive into a literary rock’n’roll adventure by three authors! Journey through Estonian punk revolution, anecdotal rock trivia, and the secret history of Kosovo’s underground.

The event is in English.

J.M.K.E.’s To the Cold Land by Brigitta Davidjants

This 33 1/3 series book examines Külmale maale (To The Cold Land, 1989) by J.M.K.E. – Estonia’s most legendary punk outfit. The album’s significance spans multiple sociocultural contexts from its release to today, maintaining its relevance for 35 years and crowned the finest Estonian album ever by 102 music critics in 2014.

J.M.K.E.’s journey illuminates subcultural organisation not just within Estonia but throughout the Soviet Union, where popular music and alternative movements endured decades of censorship. The narrative reveals popular culture’s pivotal role during Estonia’s transition from totalitarian rule to early capitalism, and from traditional subcultural frameworks to post-subcultural society.

Useless Music Knowledge by Hannes Tschürtz

A treasure trove of anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tales from the golden era of pop and rock music. It brims with delightfully obscure trivia (such as Cher once babysitting Anthony Kiedis), utterly mad revelations (including how Dirty Dancing unwittingly catalysed the rise of hip-hop, and the bizarre legal saga when Fleetwood Mac took Fleetwood Mac to court; and quirky punchlines to settle pub arguments (like the fact that ZZ Top—perhaps mostly renowned for their facial hair—are three people, of which one has no long beard. The guys name, however, is Beard.

Memoir 5/5 by Ismail Myrseli

This ethnomusicological art book covers a period from the first anti-fascist alternative music festival in Prishtina during Yugoslav times, called “Boom Festival”, to the present. It consists of tailored history, narrative, memoirs and diaries from five musicians and music professionals from Kosovo and Serbia from the 1980s until today, concentrating on different ways of storytelling and approaches to hostile national relations through shared experiences and musical information for Kosovo and respective ex-Yugoslavian areas. The author has asked different musicians what they do from 5 PM to 5 AM. 5/5