Musicians, hurry up, STG is almost here!

Press conference at Kino Šiška about the Slovenian Music Week
festival to take place between 5 and 8 February (Photo: Jani Ugrin)

The festival was made possible in particular through the cooperation between the co-producers, the Slovenian Music Information Centre and Kino Šiška, as well as thanks to support from the British Consulate, the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary and the Consulate of the Republic of Austria.

At the press conference, Barbara Švrljuga, Secretary General at SIGIC, pointed out that SIGIC has been supporting STG from the very beginning and that the concept of STG is similar to the major tasks performed by SIGIC. Both involve exchange of information also with music bodies in other countries, act as a link for national musicians and promote Slovenian music at home and abroad. Furthermore, already at the Slovenian Music Week 2011 SIGIC organized a training workshop for musicians. It has also co-operated at the international level, supporting foreign festival partners, such as the Austrian  festival Waves Wienna. It intends to reinforce this co-operation with the help of a project intended for the networking of music professionals in central European countries. This year, the online magazine Odzven, issued by SIGIC, will organize workshops of music journalism combining practical work with lectures and intended for experienced writers as well as beginners. Workshops will be led by the music critic and publicist Igor Bašin. Within the framework of the workshops, three lectures will be given by Matjaž Manček, Gregor Zemljič and Luka Zagoričnik.

Altogether, 111 music performers applied for this year's STG contest. The national jury has, with the help of international festival partners, selected 12 national music ensembles: Barely Modern, Bro, Furry Walls, Hamo & Tribute 2 Love, Helahirn, Icarus Down, Katice, Kill Kenny, Moonlight Sky, Napravi mi dete, Puppetz and The Vast Blast. They will give twenty-minute performances at such venues as Orto bar, Menze pri koritu (AKC Metelkova mesto) and Kina Šiška and will be joined by musicians from abroad. At least one of the above-mentioned national music groups will receive the support of this year’s six festival partners (Exit, Springfestival, Sziget, Taxirat, Waves Wiena and Terraneo), who have committed themselves to promoting the groups at their festivals.

SIGIC is involved in STG as a co-producer, whilst Odzven organizes a workshop
on music journalism. In the photo: Barbara Švrljuga (SIGIC)
and Simon Kardum (CUK Kino Šiška). (Photo by: Jani Ugrin)

Activities surrounding this year’s festival will be additionally supported by the Austrian Music Export and Waves Wienna, which will organize bus transport from Vienna and Graz on 8 February, thus bringing to Ljubljana the actors of the Austrian music industry and enhancing cooperation and communication between Slovenian musicians and Austrian music promoters. STG achieved another important success. With the help of the British consulate, it will bring to Ljubljana producer Greg Haver, known for his cooperation with Manic Street Preachers. Greg Haver will make a record with one of the above-mentioned music groups in one of the Slovenian music studios.

A new feature of this year’s event is that Kino Šiška and Radio Terminal will invite national music clubs and related radio stations from the neighboring countries to participate in discussions and networking. Slovenian music performers are invited to send their tapes until January 25 to STG studio, where an international commission will review them.

The price of tickets for the full event is 38 €, daily ticket amounts to 15 €.