Keynote Speakers

Ariadna Castellanos is one of the most original and versatile Jazz pianist and composer of her generation" Vanity Fair NYC. She has toured all over the world sharing stage with Herbie Hancock, Paco de Lucía, Michael Camilo... She studied classical music (London), Jazz (NYC), flamenco (Spain) and electronic music (Boston) and she is recently moving to Indie Festivales and compositions.She has two albums with Universal music: Flamenco in black and white (flamenco piano) and MJUZIK ( electronic music ), one of them nominated for best production at Latin Grammys. She is the only Spanish person to receive the Berklee Presidential Award and she recently talked at TEDx . She is now involved in the recording of her third album: Monster.

What advice would you give to people who want to get more involved in music?

We are so lucky to have Spotify, YouTube, sound cloud...where we can find all sorts of music! I will encourage people to really look for great music and not leave it to the radio-tv -clubs to deliver the music you should listen to. I will advise them to be curious & daring, cause there is so many amazing things out there waiting to be listened!

Do you have a quote or saying that you live by, that illustrates your priorities?

I keep changing my mojo, but lately I read this one by Borges that I love: "The future is not what is going to happen, the future is what we are going to create"

Jo Carter has been a fundraiser for over 20 years and is currently Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at Nordoff Robbins which is the UK's largest music therapy charity. Prior to working at Nordoff Robbins Jo held various positions at the NSPCC and Shelter. Jo is passionate about the work of Nordoff Robbins and sees every day how the power of music can change lives. Even with the most disabled, sick or isolated adult or child, music enables the part of someone who is well and the part which is reachable, to express their feelings, fears and hopes and to take part in the world around them. Music is something that everyone can respond to and it doesn't require words which means that it enables anyone and everyone to have a conversation and to have their voice heard.

“Pablo has a BSc in Physics from Southampton University and an MBA from Insead in France (85J). Following his MBA he spent 13 years in the chemical industry (Courtaulds PLC) latterly developing joint ventures in Asia and running a German acquisition for two years. On moving back to the UK he helped a friend acquire 5 coffee bars which subsequently became Caffe Nero. The business floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2001 and was taken private in 2007. It now has over 850 outlets in the UK, UAE, Poland, Cyprus, Turkey, Ireland, Croatia and the USA. He now works part time for Caffe Nero and continues to build their extensive music programme, which supports many unsigned musicians through curating their in-store music, hosting over 400 gigs in the Caffes and sponsorship of music festivals. He is also an active angel investor and sits on the Board of a number of tech businesses as well as the family business, Ettinger of London. More recently, a chance meeting with a Director of Timeout and a senior banker with a passion for music as well as an impromptu stage performance duetting with Jamie Cullum led to the founding of TALENTBANQ, a music business focused on live music production and developing the careers of unsigned musicians. An incubator and accelerator for talented musicians. Whilst not working Paul mentors young entrepreneurs, skis competitively and plays jazz piano.”

What advice would you give to people who want to get more involved in music?

Work hard, network continuously and talk to everyone. At some point a door will open.

Do you have a quote or saying that you live by, that illustrates your priorities?

Be nice to everyone on the way up, you might meet them on the way down.

Is there anything else you would like us to include when we promote you?

Talentbanq is always looking for live music opportunities for our roster of 50 outstanding musicians whether it is corporate events or touring opportunities.

Sulinna Ong is the Global Vice President of Artist Marketing at Deezer. Ong is responsible for leading Deezer’s Artist Marketing team worldwide and setting its strategy and working directly with artists, artist managers and record labels to identify opportunities that will appeal to content creators and music lovers.

Ong brings 16 years’ experience of pioneering global marketing strategies in the music industry, as well as directly managing major artists; coupled with stints marketing leading edge software, AI and robotics products.