There is more to Ljubljana than shopping

Concerts and music conferences are something!

The ninth edition of the festival of musical discoveries will take place in more than 15 concert and conference halls throughout Ljubljana from March 29 to 31, 2023. This year, MENT Ljubljana is again focusing on new and stylistically colorful performers, as well as more established ones from all over Europe. . The MENT conference is also an indispensable part of the festival: it attracts hundreds of professionals from all over the world who visit Ljubljana to enjoy a wide-ranging musical program, establish new collaborations, meet professionals from the Balkan region, strengthen their network of people and get the latest information on trends in the music industry. industry.

This year, MENT presents the Baltic Focus, a joint initiative dedicated to the lively and vibrant scene of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania . It will bring together a wide range of performers and professionals through presentations and conference topics related to the Baltic states. Baltic Focus is a joint effort of the organizations Music Estonia, Music Latvia and the Lithuanian Music Business Association, with the support of the Baltic Cultural Fund.

MENT will also join forces with the Ljubljana electronic music and artistic sound festival SONICA and the SHAPE+ platform with a specially organized SONICA & SHAPE+ stage where adventurous electronic music from Eastern Europe will be presented. This year's conference will be attended by SONIC founder and artistic director Martin Bricelj Baraga, as well as SHAPE+ manager Michael Brenner, and MENT's Specials include two workshops by SHAPE+ "veterans" Wojcieh Rusin and Katarina Gryvul.

CONCERT PROGRAM Croatian post-hardcore crew Latvian indie dance duo Bel Tempo intimate indie pop from Hungary boebeck Italian nu jazz adventurers DayKoda Slovenian modular explorer DUF Latvian r&b/hip hop diva Eliza Legzdina Croatian singer and songwriter/pop phenomenon Fran Vasilić indie quartet from the Amsterdam underground Global Charming Slovenian messengers of the regional folk tradition Gugutke Lithuanian singer and composer Jausmė Irish shoegaze dreamers Just Mustard Slovenian experimental folk trio Kačis Ukrainian representative of modern electronica Katarina Gryvul Austrian post-club producer Kenji Araki Italian lo-fi romantics LAZZARETTO Slovenian algorithm ambassador Luka Prinčič Estonian alter r&b singer manna non-conformist avant-jazz trio Miha Gantar Trio Slovenian audiovisual electronic project GMB+jesusonecstasy: Nexus AV Czech futuristic duo NIVVA jazz metal duo from the United Kingdom O. Lithuanian noise lovers Plié Serbian garage rock charmers pro it type south London techno punks PVA Slovakian leftfield indietronica Sam Handwich Slovakian experimental electronic duo Tittingur Austrian pop rock multi-instrumentalist UCHE YARA French post-punk crew Unschooling Slovenian ambient electronica XUL Polish futuristic composer and instrument maker Wojciech Rusin Estonian noise rock veterans Zahir birds of unknown (SI) Klotljudi (RS) Lelee (SI) Moveknowledge (SI) Nesen (LV) Planeta Polar (LT) Puuluup (EE) Wu-Lu (UK) Zouj (DE) CONFERENCE PROGRAM

MENT presents 16 new speakers , highlighting some details of the conference program. Baltic Focus offers a full-day program dedicated to the music scene of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In cooperation with the Runda Regional Association of Independent Discographers, Runda's digital day will focus on digital music content.

In addition to the already announced interviews with Christof Ellinghaus, the founder of the independent publishing house City Slang and the legendary Slovenian concert promoter Igor Vidmar, there will also be an interview with Elena Natale, the founder of the Tallinn club HALL, which is considered the focal point of the Baltic electronic club scene.

Martin Bricelj Baraga, founder and artistic director of Ljubljana's SONICA festival, will also be a guest of the conference, and will present the history and activities of the festival and cooperation with the European platform SHAPE+. MENT's conference also includes other interviews, presentations and workshops. Post-covid festival and concert booking, sustainable tours, breaking into the international music market, film and commercial dubbing, web3/DAO community opportunities, as well as traditional listening sessions and speed dating and networking sessions.

16 NEW SPEAKERS Agnese Cimuška (Music Latvia, LV) / Aleksandar Bošković (Believe, RS) Dominika Maša Kozar (Kino Šiška, MENT, SI) / Elena Natale (HALL, EE) Inna Lytovka (Music Export Ukraine, UA) / Ļena Šme (Skaņu Mežs, LV) Kaytlin Davies (Friends With Benefits DAO, DE) Martin Bricelj Baraga (SONICA, MoTA, SI) Login Kochishki (Password Production, PIN Music Conference, MK) Martynas Butkevičius (8 Festival, 8 Days A Week, LT ) Matwe Kaščak (SPFM, Nová Cvernovka, SK) Michal Brenner (SHAPE+, CZ) / Tanya Korenik (UCE, EE) Roman Demchenko (Sveta Bar, DamnLoud Agency, EE) Victor Diawara (Loftas, LT) / Zoran Stajčić (Ravnododna, HR)