Held alongside Estonian Music Week (EMW) in Toronto, Canada, the Nordic Connect Conference (NCC) returns for its second, expanded edition. While EMW features Estonian and Canadian talent performing to a wide audience, NCC is an industry initiative gathering artists and professionals from Canada and across Nordic and Baltic Europe in order to foster collaborations and opportunities. 

After a successful 2023 inaugural edition gathering 28 delegates working with Canadian and Estonian artists/companies, NCC 2025 will gather delegates from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Denmark, and Canada. This geographic expansion answers recent increased Canadian interest in the region, and the eagerness of Baltic and Nordic artists and businesses to engage with their regional and Canadian colleagues, will keep to the event’s boutique roots: NCC will gather several dozen Europeans and Canadians, including EMW artists and their teams. 

Inspired by the journey of the Estonian diaspora in Toronto, NCC will take place at significant community landmarks and leverage the Museum’s resources to share stories of the journey along the way. Activities will build from Estonia’s reputation as the gateway to the Baltic and Nordic regions, offering Canadians and Europeans access to opportunities to grow their businesses. In addition to access to EMW events, NCC activities include:

  • Speed meetings enabling artists and their representatives to connect with presenters and other professionals that can propel careers;

  • Regional market overviews from locals in partnership with regional music-export offices and others to bust myths and build expertise;

  • Discussions of topics of common interest, from diaspora-artist experiences, to language and culture preservation, decolonisation, and more;

  • Daycases: Daytime performances by Canadian artists, selected through an open call and in partnership with various organisations, give international delegates exclusive access to export-ready Canadian artists;

  • Networking activities, giving delegates the time and space to get to know each other and build relationships that can benefit the sector, while learning of the history of the Estonian diaspora and its mark on Toronto and the area. 

NCC’s commitment to supporting and incubating the future of the music sector comes through partnership with Humber Polytechnic (Toronto) and guidance from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, ensuring that the next generation of music professionals can gain valuable hands-on experience through fellowships and support for participation. 

As part of the build-up to NCC 2025, NCC will host activities at Tallinn Music Week (TMW), Apr 2-6 in Tallinn, to help foster relationships and boost careers. Already, interest in the regional market is clear: Canadians consistently comprise a large share of TMW showcase applicants, and previous attendees are overwhelmingly eager to return and build on regional successes.

If you are interested in joining NCC as a delegate, contact us. If you are a Canadian artist interested in showcasing at NCC, please check out our showcase application form, open until March 24. 

NCC is made possible through the support of the following partners, contributing expertise, access to networks and space, shared programming, and more: The Estonian Embassy in Ottawa, Music Estonia, Tempi (Denmark), Music Finland, Latvian Music Information Centre, Music Information Centre Lithuania, Folk Canada, International Indigenous Music Summit, Humber Polytechnic, Women in Music Canada, and others.

If you would like to attend please email us at: nordicconnectto@gmail.com