Who else is coming?
As we put the finishing touches on the MENT 2026 conference programme, packed with interviews, round tables, mentorship sessions, networking moments, and, we hope, a few good laughs, we’re excited to unveil another group of speakers ready to share their knowledge, experience, and spark.
This announcement shines a light on several agents shaping artists’ touring lives across Europe. Joining us in Ljubljana this February are Jess Kinn (ROAM Agency), Rok Košir (Most Music Agency), Quérine Appeldorn (EBB Music), and Juliana Volož (JV-Promotion).
Juliana Volož will take part in a conversation on showcasing in the spheres of traditional and contemporary roots music, alongside Petra Hradilová (Czech Music Crossroads) and Valentina Zanelli (Afrovision Festival, Torino Music Meeting Showcase Festival). Meanwhile, Bożena Szota (Ethno Port Festival, ZAMEK Culture Centre) will contribute her perspective to the UPBEAT Listening Session.
One of the CE/MENT debates will zoom in on booking agency work in the electronic music sphere, exploring what it means to build, support, and co-create artists’ careers today. The discussion brings together Jo Hunter, founder and managing director of KLS Bookings, Katarzyna Stuczyńska (Annex Agency), and Mark Grossmann (disconnect), with moderation by Berlin-based booking agent and event curator Yuko Asanuma (setten).
Chris Angiolini from Ravenna joins the panel dedicated to European venues. Back in 2003, he founded Bronson Produzioni and went on to open the iconic Hana-Bi beach venue and Bronson Club. He is also the mind behind the boutique festivals Transmissions and Beaches Brew. The panel will be moderated by Tom Bonte, general director of Ancienne Belgique, one of Belgium’s most renowned concert venues, right in the heart of Brussels.
Slovenian perspectives will be well represented too. Katarina Damjanov (Ljubljana Castle) and Jan Surina (the legendary MKNŽ) will share their insights from the local promoter landscape. A range of distinctive showcase festivals will also be in the room, including Oskar Štrajn from ESNS, Europe’s leading showcase festival and conference, and Tatiana Lehocka from Slovakia’s SHARPE.
Lucia Udvardyová (Easterndaze, SHAPE+) will moderate the interview with the already announced Valentina Magaletti. Udvardyová currently works with the SHAPE+ platform, a pan-European initiative supporting innovative music and audiovisual art, contributes to CTM Festival’s discourse programme and magazine, and she’s the film curator at WOMEX.
With Music Slovenia newly strengthened as the national music export office, its presence at MENT will be especially visible. Representing this momentum, Primož Kristan, secretary general of the Slovenian Music Information Centre (SIGIC) – a long-standing co-producer of the MENT Conference, will also take the stage.
Finally, Sebastian Hoffmann will host an ‘International Touring Survival Kit’ presentation. Based at the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), he coordinates the Touring Artists help desk, focusing on administrative regulations for cross-border cultural work.
More speakers and a detailed programme will be announced in January.