My Life, My Music

When I wondered about who should be the guest for the start of the Christmas week I thought about people I’d worked with and with whom I could find out more and have some fun. Saša Krajnc was in my mind straight away. He was always fun to be with when he worked at RTV Maribor and his teaching role as a dance leader is fascinating too. Known by many for his current role on RTV News I’m sure you will find this conversation very interesting. Some lovely music too!

My first interview with Samo Šalamon was nearly eight years ago and since that time Samo has offered his music to audiences across too many countries to mention, as well as a load of albums and he was already cited as one of the greats back then. Never a person to lose an opportunity, the period of restricted travel we have all been subjected to was a chance for Samo to complete something he had been thinking about for a while. Just a simple idea, you ask 35 top international guitarists to add whatever they wish to 35 compositions Samo has already recorded an outline of. Result 3 new albums with one already released and the others coming over the next few months. Three of the tracks are included in this show along with 5 other great performers. The album series is entitled “Almost Alone”.

Last week the show featured the stage world of musicals and there are some musical tracks again here as my guest is singer, director and musician Anja Strajnar. She has a very broad experience having performed in musicals, solo vocal shows as well as with her own band, Akordika, and other bands and performers and even dubbing Disney animated films. Besides performing, her partner and their family are an important part of her life and they like to spend time together and travel and experience other cultures. To record the show and remain safe and distanced, we recorded the show in her private studio in Ljubljana.

Most of us like a musical but where do we see a really professional show except in the main cities and maybe not even in Slovenia. Nejc Lisjak has been organising, directing and acting in professional shows in the small conurbation of Radomlje for more than 5 years and, as a result, his audiences come from far and wide, even from outside Slovenia. We recorded this conversation at the very hall in question where surprising flexible facilities are available to enable the real experience of a live musical. When the current restrictions allow, you must keep an eye on - Pepelka – muzikal on Facebook

When I discovered that Slovenia had spent a very large amount of money to become part of a super computer network in Europe I felt it would be interesting to make a programme around this new venture. The new Peta-scale computer, named after the Slovenian mathematician Jure Vega, will come into operation in March 2011 and it will be a joint operation between the Euro HPC and the Institute of Information Science of the University of Maribor, where the director is Dr Aleš Bošnjak. We spoke about this computer and computing technology in general and I also discovered that Aleš is a keen pianist, coming from a very musical family.

Sit back and relax, this week I talk to yoga teacher Patricija Roj but not only about yoga it’s also about her music. Patricija sings herself so we enlisted the help of musician Igor Bezget and recorded three of the tracks during the making of the show. Dim the lights and join us on her journey.

Spela Logar had a dream from primary school days to travel to the UK and study English. Having completed secondary schooling, she started to study Slovene but felt her heart wasn’t in it so she found herself an au-pair job in the suburbs of London. 6 months turned into a year as she was accepted for an English course at West Herts College. She has never questioned this good fortune having also spent time studying in Scotland she is now happily back in Slovenia teaching. Her choices of music also follow her journey so there is much variation in this inspirational story.

Barbra Drnač loves dance, she moves with elegance and comes to our conversation with a smile and nothing but positive thoughts. Her professional life is certainly focused on dance and has been visible for many years in her dance TV show and many other appearances. In 2014 she became an ambassador of the Europa Donna association, yet her life is clearly as a leader, a dance expert and being a great supporter of her daughter Tereza Poljanič and her own remarkable achievements. Not surprisingly the music she chooses to accompany our conversation is lively and is easy to dance to.

Today’s journalism rarely offers a chance to get behind the face of many people in our society. My Life, My Music offers conversations that allow time to understand how the guest has reached their goals and what is important to them. Along with 8 tracks of music chosen by the guest the programme takes a journey though many different personal philosophies with inspirational guests from all walks of life.

This week the show was recorded in RTV radio studios in Ljubljana as I invited the Director of the Slovene National Biological Institution, Dr Matjaz Kuntner to talk about the importance of the work carried out there. Of course, as ever, the conversation takes many turns as we visit the worlds’ ecology, many areas of research, a personal lifetime fascination of Matjaz, spiders and their role in structural engineering as well as a great range of music that fits well into an RSi playlist. A really interesting and personal show not to be missed!

Boris Simončič is the Director of the Mirje Medical Centre in Ljubljana. He is a doctor of dental medicine, but he and a team of practitioners and researchers are also pioneering stem cell therapies in oral indications as well as other clinical areas. Of course, this means regenerative medicine and I want to know where this might lead us all. As well as his remarkable professional work he is a gently spoken humanist caring deeply about his patients and our futures. In this conversation I further discovered quite a rocker so there is great music here!

From a visitor point of view in past years Maribor has always seemed to be a place where people come for a day or two as part of a tour around Slovenia. More recently there has been a significant effort to make the city and its surroundings a real tourist destination with so much to enjoy that staying for a whole holiday is required! Doris Urbančič Windisch has been in the field of tourism for most of her working life and Maribor is a destination she is proud of. As Director of the Maribor and Pohorje Tourist Board I invited her to talk of her love for the region and what visitors from home and abroad have been missing.

When you go to a show and have a really great time do the people who made it happen behind the scenes cross your mind? Well when it comes to the sound my guest in this show certainly deserves the applause. Gaber Lesjak is the live sound engineer for Narodni Dom in Maribor and not only does he love his job he has many tales to tell.

When I saw Igor Bezget making daily appearances with presentations and music on Facebook I was interested to talk to him about the idea, which we did, socially distanced, in the woods! Igor has been on My Life My Music before but that was many years ago and since our first conversation he has travelled the world and recorded so many fascinating artists I wanted to hear more. This programme tells some of that story, initially about Facebook but mostly his musical journey of discovery of the world’s fascinating rhythms! All nine music tracks were made by Igor, many edited at airports where he had time to be productive. The music is performed, not just by Igor, but hundreds of amazing musicians from the US, Africa, India and even Slovenia!

After many years in the business of restoring properties for her clients Jade Van Baaren has gained a lot of knowledge in the field of interior design. She also enjoys the challenge of finding out who the client is and what they are really looking for in their new home. After 14 years in Slovenia Jade seems pretty commited to staying here with her husband and bring up their 2 children in this very pleasant land.

Dr Stephen Minger is one of the pioneering researchers in human stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. He is one of the founders of a company, providing expert analysis in emerging healthcare and is involved in gene/cell-based therapies, human tissue fabrication, implementation of robotics/synthetic intelligence, machine-brain interfaces, and stem cell technologies and more. When I met him, I was fascinated by his direct approach and an amazing ability to explain the highly complex in a completely understandable way. Now, in the middle of a worrying period of the whole world trying to resolve the issues of Covid 19, who could be a more appropriate guest. He’s really into the world of rock too!

Supporting Act first came to my notice on social media and having listened I wanted to talk to them about their music. I’m a fan of great quality rock of all types and when I heard the track, “When The World Comes Around” I was surprised that such quality existed in a local band and I’d not heard them on the radio. This show explores their past and how they see their music. It also includes a lot of great musicians that are their inspirations!

Miha Murn is an artist, he likes to paint and, of course he wants to make a living out of art. This he does with some serious success as he came up with the idea of combining art with business, any business. He runs an agency that connects businesses to his very large and ever-growing list of artists who only too happy for their works to be displayed in public places, in company offices in car parks and even toilets. In under 5 years he now has agency offices in Ljubljana, Prague, Hong Kong and recently opened in London. Find out more details by listening here!

Mateja Hannah Hočevar is a journalist, author, chairs interviews in Ljubljana Library and also likes to travel, in a way that means she really meets new people and societies! Her husband is from the Netherlands so between them they have many experiences to draw on. There was much to discuss and discover in this fascinating conversation.

Roger Cox comes from Rabun Gap School, Georgia in America where he coaches, amongst other sports, basketball. His school has a Presbytarian history and the teaching still has a very holistic approach based on its religious background. Students may be pushed but always in a caring and encouraging way. It was very interesting to talk with Roger and in many ways I felt not all education has such a positive and practical approach. Jaka Oberlast, from Maribor, is a student there and in some years it would be great to talk to him too to see what thoughts and skills he brings home to Slovenia.