BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Historic rock festival comes back for its 25th anniversary

TALLINN - The Rock Summer Festival, first held in Tallinn in 1988, will hold a one-off event in mid-June to celebrate a quarter of a century since its birth.
Bryan Adams, Ivo Linna, Zucchero and former Sex Pistol John Lydon are set to perform at the Rock Summer Festival. However, the head organizer Juri Makarov said that they may sign more artists, as some negotiations are still taking place.

The organizers took heat after announcing the event at the beginning of February without revealing any headliners, while still asking 50 euros for tickets. The price of a ticket to the two-day festival now costs 60 euros, but in June the price will be 90 euros.

The original three-day festival was subtitled “Glastnost Rock - Rock for Peace!” and was held during a time of increasing defiance against Soviet rule. The free event attracted 190,000 people.
Rock Summer was then repeated nearly every year for the following decade, attracting names like Iggy Pop and Shaggy to what was otherwise a backwater of the international music circuit. The last time it was held was in 1997, after which the organizers went bankrupt.

“When younger people buy a tablet computer, they do not think that you can visit 10 to 20 concerts for the same price. In respect to the older generation, the sort of festival we are organizing has not been seen in Estonia for a while,” Makarov said.

Bad Boys of Dance are back

TALLINN - After touring the world for five years, the “Bad Boys of Dance” will be coming to the Baltic States this May! Rasta Thomas’ “Rock the Ballet” is the dynamic, high energy dance show set to awesome music against a backdrop of fascinating video projected scenery. The show is created by husband and wife team Rasta Thomas - director, and Adrienne Canterna - choreographer.

Since 2008, “Rock the Ballet” has thrilled over one million spectators and has been performed in more than 20 countries worldwide. The show continues to receive rave reviews and standing ovations. “Rock the Ballet” features fantastic dancing to classic and up-to-the-minute pop and rock hits, from Kanye West to Coldplay to Michael Jackson and more. The choreography is brought to you by Adrienne Canterna, with her explosive mix of “Pop Ballet” styles. “Rock The Ballet fuses superb classical technique with fresh, modern dance styles, from Broadway to hip hop to acrobatics.

Thomas founded the “Bad Boys of Dance” in 2007. Based in Takoma Park, Maryland, it is one of two dance companies housed under the Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Center, managed by Cedric Tillman and Kenneth Rascher. Thomas chooses the dancers from competition, Broadway, and ballet backgrounds. “Rock the Ballet” is a “Bad Boys of Dance” show that incorporates jazz, hip hop, tap and gymnastics into its ballet elements.

La première du piano Estonia

Un nombreux public est venu samedi soir au Dolmen pour l’inauguration du piano Estonia, affecté à la salle polyvalente. Un concert de près de deux heures était proposé.

L’installation de cet instrument de musique a été possible grâce à la Société des amis de Brantôme, présidée par Josette Lespinasse, en partenariat avec le Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental de la Dordogne. Les spectateurs ont écouté un programme de qualité : des chants de soprano, avec des œuvres d’Hector Berlioz, Sergueï Bortkiewick, Franz Schubert, Astor Piazzola, Celso Machado, Chick Corea, Sergueï Rachmaninov ou d’Anton Dvorak.

Jazz music knows no limits

TALLINN - Spring and Jazzkaar are inseparable. Tallinn International Festival Jazzkaar is the biggest Jazz Festival in the Baltics, held from 1990. In 2014 the Festival celebrates its 25th birthday. Combining an interesting and unique program with bold solution, Jazzkaar’s team is able to create the best festival with the smallest budget in the Nordic countries, bringing the biggest and most interesting findings of the world’s jazz scene to Tallinn and Estonia. The ten-day festival has also the biggest number of concerts per year in Estonia with more than 3,000 performers from 60 countries.

“Nowadays, Jazzkaar is the star event of Estonian jazz, bringing the world’s best performers. The name of the festival recalls the Estonian folk party Jaskar; it also reminds us of the variety of colors in jazz music – like in the rainbow, which all can be put under the umbrella of jazz. Jazzkaar is the arc uniting musicians, audiences, different periods and styles of jazz,” says Anne Erm, Artistic Director of Jazzkaar.

The goal of the festival has always been the same: the introduction of music on as large a scale as possible, starting with avant-garde and ending with mainstream jazz, including also the more interesting styles of world music and blues.

Tallinn Music Week 2013 : Bigger & better than ever : 04 to 06th of April

Coming up in April, Tallinn Music Week will be one of this year’s biggest Baltic music blowouts. Some 200 artists from Europe and Estonia are slated to perform at the much anticipated indoor music fest running from April 4th through April 6th.

Springtime in Tallinn, and three days and nights of festive fun across the city’s concert venues and clubs, visitors can expect every genre from folk and indie to jazz and punk, from classical music to metal and more. Artists from AudioKinetica to Vul Vulpes will make this the happening music event in Tallinn this year.

For tickets and other info please visit the sites linked to, or contact the organizers directly at: info@tmw.ee - tel +372 672 6608.

You can also follow Tallinn Music Week on Twitter @TlnMusicWeek. For a look at the venues, please click here.

Birgit Õigemeel will represent Estonia in Malmӧ

The grand final of Eesti Laul, the Estonian Song Contest was completed and Birgit Õigemeel was selected as the country's representative to this year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Birgit will perform Et uus saaks alguse on the stage of Malmӧ Arena, on May 14th, during the 1st semi-final.

Eesti Laul : 5 more acts proceed to the final - line up completed

The 2nd semi-final of Eesti Laul 2013, the Estonian Song Contest, has been concluded and 5 more acts have qualified for the grand final that will take place on 2 March, in Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn, raising the finalists up to 10.

These are the  last 5 finalists, watch the performances by clicking on the title:

• Liisi Koikson & Söörömöö - Üle vee
• Birgit Õigemeel - Et uus saaks alguse
• Rasmus Rändvee & Facelift Deer - Dance
• Rolf Roosalu - With U
• Põhja-Tallinn - Meil on aega veel

You can listen to the songs and also read the lyrics here.

You can check out all about the 1st Estonian semi-final here.

The grand final of Eesti Laul 2013, will take place next Saturday, 2 March.

Estonia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and won the contest once in 2001 with the song Everybody by Tanel Padar and Dave Benton.

Stay tuned with esctoday.com to know all about this year's Estonian Song Contest grand final.

11/01/2013 : "Big City Fashion party" @ Casablanca, Roseni 9, Tallinn

"Big City - Fashion Party" on mõeldud külalistele, keda ei huvita mitte tavalised ööklubid, vaid kes on orienteeritud kõrgematasemelistele koosviibimistele. Nendele klientidele pakumegi võimalust osaleda üritusel "Big City". Kuna 13.jaanuar on vene vana kalendri järgi aastavahetus, siis toimub üritus vene stiilis.

Suurepärase atmosfääri loomiseks on kavas moeshow, mille käigus demonstreeritakse Itaalia moekultusfirma "LorMar" aluspesu, mille toodang on kättesaadav vaid Stockmanni kaubamajas ja Kaubamajas. ...

Lisaks kutsume üritusele Eestimaa parimad  Go-Go tüdrukud, kelle show taustal tutvustatakse ja pakutakse baarides vaid kõrgekvaliteedilist alkoholi  "Fashion Vodka". Valitud suupisted on saadaval VIP laudadel, mille valmistab külalistele "Sushi Panda" ja meie sõbralik ning professionaalne meeskond on teie teeninduses ja täiendab olemasolevat atmosfääri. Külalistel on võimalik tellida endale ka vesipiipe, mille toob teieni "Grand Shisha". Sisenemine naistele alates 18.eluaastast, meestele alates 21. eluaastast.

VIP laud 4-inimesele - 150 EUR
Sisaldab: sushivalik 50tk. , Fashion Vodka 0.7, Martini Asti - 1 pudel, AURA mahl - 1 l.
Ettetellimusel vesipiip puuviljadega 25 EUR

...........

Big City-Fashion party is a unique event that is dedicated to celebrate the New Year in the old style.

Big city offers you the best modern dance music, go-go dancers in sexy Russian costumes, presentation fashion underware clothes from Italian firm LorMar, great gifts from online store DonJuar.ee, and many more.

At the entrance, each guest will be able to enjoy a glass of champagne "Odessa". When ordering, vip tables, guests get a form of sushi from Sushi Panda and fruit basket. Also all the vip tables includes a bottle of champagne and a CD with music palyed at the event.

157 songs compete to be Estonia’s Eurovision entrance for 2013

157 songs, just two less than last year's record amount, were submitted to the contest Estonian Song 2012 by deadline on Monday, and one of them will be chosen as Estonia’s entrance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, LETA/National Broadcasting reports.

A music experts' jury will select 20 semi-finalists from all the songs that were submitted and those will be declared this Thursday at ETV’s evening show “Ringvaade”.

"Estonian Song 2013" producer Heidy Purga said that for five years now, more than a hundred songs have competed at the contest. "Participation has been active and each year there are many new surprise contestants, who haven't participated at "Estonian Song" before,“ said Purga.

In semi-finals on February 16 and 23, ten songs will be selected by people and jury that will get to the final concert on March 2 at the Nokia concert hall in Tallinn.

Robbie Williams announces concert in Estonia

Tallinn is the only city in Northern Europe with a date scheduled for UK pop artist Robbie Williams's "Take The Crown - Stadium Tour 2013."

The show is set for August 20 (the Day of Restoration of Independence in Estonia) and will take place at Tallinn's internationally celebrated Song Festival Grounds, the organizer, BDG Music, announced. The Tallinn concert will feature special guest Olly Murs.

Tickets go on sale via Ticketpro on December 2 at 10:00. They will be available in five countries, with a total of 33,000 tickets up for sale in Estonia, 20,000 in Finland, 7,000 in Latvia, 5,000 in Lithuania and 5,000 in Russia. A maximum of six tickets can be purchased at a time.

Williams released the dates for his 2013 European tour at a press conference in London on Monday.

Mihkel Poll concert : 9th of August, 2012

"MAN`S SONG" : XX Viljandi Folk Music Festival - July 26-29th, 2012

It is said that women forgive and men forget. That is probably one of the reasons why women have played a more important role in passing songs on from one generation to another. Thus, traditions have always been tied to strong gender roles. This has created a passion which motivates people to search for the source of new life and preserve your own.

The contemporary world which worships hastiness and superficiality, forces rituals to the background and the fact that the physical force of men is no longer the most important aspect of the continuation of life has led to the homogenization of gender roles. In light of this, the next Viljandi Folk Music Festival tries to emphasise that we do still need the feminine touch and attitude but we also cannot do without the male point of view and their way of expressing emotions both in music and in our everyday life.

The next festival is titled "MAN`S SONG". We will emphasise male songs, which are the affair of honour for men and which motivate both themselves and women and children.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – still as hot as their namesake

TALLINN - Bands are like buses. You wait for ages for one to come, and then a bunch all come at once. The Baltic Times talks about the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the latest in a line of bands and artists (including Manic Street Preachers and Lady Gaga) who have, or are due to play, in the Baltics during the summer.

As the Red Hot Chili Peppers prepare to play at Zalgiris Arena in Kaunas on July 28 and the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds on July 30, their history shows that they’ve been a band of survival, power and – with over 65 million albums sold – lots of love from across the world. It’s hard to believe that next year the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be celebrating their 30th anniversary. Whilst familiar to audiences across the world, there’s still freshness to their work that ensures they’re continually attracting new fans, whilst giving plenty for their dedicated fans to enjoy.

And their number of hits is voluminous. Amongst many, many others “Californication,” “Under The Bridge” (one of those songs that became a massive hit without many realizing that it was actually a bitter reflection on the nature of heroin addiction) and “Love Rollercoaster” (which famously first appeared on the soundtrack for “Beavis and Butthead Do America”) have all managed to become massive successes wherever in the world they’ve been released.

Estonia's "Kuula" makes the cut for Eurovision

Ott Lepland's song "Kuula" (Listen), Estonia's entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, has made it through to Saturday night's final in Baku. 

In the event's second semifinal on Thursday night, entries from 18 countries competed for the ten remaining slots in the big show. Judges and televoters from the participating countries were impressed enough with Lepland's romantic ballad to tap it for advancement.

The other nine countries that make it though were Lithuania, Bosnia and Hertzegovina, Serbia, Ukraine, Sweden, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Norway, Malta and Turkey.

They will join the winners of the first semifinal round, Iceland, Greece, Albania, Romania, Cyprus, Denmark, Russia, Hungary, Moldova and Ireland, and automatic finalists France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the UK and Azerbaijan, in the main competition in the Baku Crystal Hall.

Saturday night's contest, which airs on ETV, will begin at 22:00 local time (19:00 UTC).

Estonian pianist Hando Nahkur is performing at the College of Southern Maryland on May the 6th

Estonian pianist Hando Nahkur is performing in Ward Virts Concert Series on the 6th of May at 3 PM at the College of Southern Maryland at Prince Frederick Campus (115 J.W. Williams Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678).

The concert is free but seats are in limited quantity, so patrons are encouraged to arrive early.
No tickets or reservations are needed.
More information about the Ward Virts Series can be found at:  http://www.csmd.edu/Arts/WardVirts/index.html

Hando Nahkur, born in Estonia, has distinguished himself as one of his country’s most outstanding young artists. He has garnered top prizes in both national and international piano competitions, including Estonia, Italy, Greece, Russia, the United States and Canada. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded a prestigious Golden Medal of Merit (Canada) in 2005, joining prominent musicians who have made unique contributions to Estonian music life in Toronto. In 2010 his CD DeusExClavier was named “Record of The Year - Die Platten des Jahres” by ZEIT-ONLINE in Germany. At age sixteen, he made his debut with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Orchestra of the Estonian National Opera, Tallinn Music High School Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Music High School String Orchestra, the Bergslagen Symfoniker, the St Andrew’s Festival Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Let the Antarctic feeling enter into your musical experience : 10.05.2012 - 20:00

TALLINN - There is not a single day when we cannot marvel at the beauty of our planet Earth. Every corner of it seems to be complete, although we might not think so. Everything about it is unique. Thus, there is no wonder that we are used to hearing the music which is exclusively dedicated to a certain place on the planet. This time the lucky lot is raffled by the Antarctic continent, as top musicians gather together to perform their vision of the continent, in the “Antarctic Concerto,” which will take place on May 10 at Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn.

It can be said that the concert is going to be handled by four creative individuals who all have their special impact on the overall picture. “I have no data on anyone ever creating a major work on the theme of the Antarctic, which is why it is a great challenge for me as a composer,” the author of the composition Peeter Vahi, whose trip to the White Continent has served as an inspiration to write such work, says; he also outlines the mastery of the conductor of Tallinn Sinfonietta Andres Mustonen, the virtuosity of guitarist Remi Boucher and video projections created by Aivo Spitsonok.

Remi Boucher is possibly the most interesting attachment to the Antarctic concerto. Born in 1964 in Canada, he has become one of the most successful guitar players in today’s music. “Remi Boucher has fire, passion, zest and poetry and he has them in spades. There is hope for the guitar when it is played like this,” is what International Guitar Magazine writes about the artist, and these words only emphasize his effort, which has led him on this musical journey. Travelling around the globe, winning many international awards and playing with major symphonic orchestras, Boucher has established his sound and given extra value to his compositions.

Talbot takes top prize at "Tallinn Music Week"

A bass and drum power duo has won the Skype Award at Tallinn Music Week for an approach that blends punk and extreme genres of heavy metal with digital wizardry and savvy marketing.

Talbot, consisting of drummer Janno Nuutre and bassist Magnus Andre, quarries what may some of the heaviest rock textures to come out of the north, and as such is a complete contrast to the unplugged-ish sad-man songs of last year's winner and currently the best-known export Ewert and the Two Dragons.

But Talbot has also impressed with its finesse. Check it here.

"Talbot comes off as a whole," said Skype Estonia head Tiit Paananen. "Everything rocks along with them in sync - the music is great, the website is on the level and social marketing is well-thought out. The band is forward-looking and an active performer on the world's stages. That's what we like to see. "

Formed in 2008, the band's sound is described in one statement as "pressing an aurally heavy but icily decorated psychedelic impression on listeners," while notices from critics and promoters abroad have also been positive. John Rogers of the Brainlove label said Talbot "marries bone-crunching force with dextrous musicality.“

The Skype award is worth 3,500 euros. Says Nuutre, who plans to invest the money into - what else - equipment upgrade: "The question is merely in what you want to do. If you want to form a band, it is as easy as that - you form one and don't let anything stop you. Our eyes opened right after the first tour - you just realize at some point that there's no limit."

Kristopher Rikken

Lady Gaga plays Tallinn in August

Lady Gaga is performing at Tallinn's Song Festival Grounds on August 25, as part of her third world tour - "The Born This Way Ball."

Also performing will be British glam-rock band, the Darkness, and DJ Lady Starlight, a press release from BDG Music said.

Beginning her tour in South Korea this month, Lady Gaga plans to give around 100 concerts around the world.

The diva will perform in Vilnius on August 21, Riga on August 23, Helsinki on August 27, and Stockholm on August 30.

Tickets for the Tallinn gig go on sale on April 30 at Ticketpro.

Known off stage as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, the five-time Grammy winner was named the world's most powerful woman by Forbes magazine last year.

*** KERLI ***

The rise of Estonian chillwave

"California Scheming" by Maria Minerva

Welcome to the world of Estonian chillwave. Lo-fi "hypnagogic pop" has caught on in the past few years in the U.S. (thanks to bands like Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi), as well as in England, where entire outlets like Transparent Blog discuss its impact. But that unmistakable sound — grainy, dreamy, loopy — hadn't emerged from the Baltic region until now.

Maria Minerva, a.k.a. Maria Juur, offers a stranger take than usual, largely because of her beautiful and mysterious lead vocals. She uses reverb to create endlessly echoing, indiscernible vocals, but instead of sounding maddening, as it probably should, it's captivating. She repeats a melody with a killer hook over and over again, incorporating gloomy organ loops and a beat that succinctly clicks to the tick of a clock.

Still, it's easy to lose track of time when you're listening to "California Scheming": Like a psychologist giving hypnotherapy, Minerva puts susceptible listeners in a daze. Then she expands those exposed minds with spacey laser samples and other cosmic oddities, all of which are represented by random items like pineapples in the bizarre music video. If her lead is enticing enough to bring other Estonian chillwave acts to worldwide attention — the up-and-coming Ragatmika is already gaining traction — it should surprise no one.