My life, my music

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...

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,...

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...

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 par...

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 po...

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 po...

This week my guest takes us on a very personal journey. When Vlasta Veselko discovered tango, there was just one place to go, Argentina, where she could learn every aspect of the life of this dance from its origins. Her story is very intimate and her love of this dance and the personal experiences it offers are captivating. It’s not a surprise that the music that accompanies this conversation feat...

It seems from my conversation with her that Anja Golob lives with words. By that I mean that for her the art of writing is the way in which she can express not simply a meaning or a fact but layers of emotion and life that maybe some have lost touch with. We speak about the way she hears music as well as plays and writing and I discover a little of myself that maybe I had lost touch with. All too...

When Hai Ottenheim decided to move to Slovenia with his partner he cannot have known exactly what the future would hold. In fact his strong personal beliefs and experiences have made him a very open person and as such a fascinating man to talk to. His love and broad knowledge of music and what it means to him makes this a very personal story and the music spans many years and genres. He has grown...

Don Menza was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, where he began playing tenor, saxophone when he was 13. He worked with so many artists, the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones as well as Louie Bellson, and many more, he composed "Groovin' Hard" and "Time Check" and his son Nick Menza was drummer for the heavy metal band Megadeth. This year Don reached the amazingly...

There is no doubt in most people’s minds that we need to take care of the ecology around us, but what should we be doing? Of course, we all think about using fossil fuels, plastic waste and carbon emissions but can we really do enough? Maria Lucia Cruz Correia is an artist come from Portugal, is married to a Slovene artist and they both live in Belgium. She has been coming to Slovenia for some yea...

The RORC Fastnet race is one of the most challenging yacht races as it covers a mix of waters from the Solent in the South of England via Land’s End into the Atlantic to the Fastnet rock off the southern tip of Ireland and back around the Scillies to Plymouth for the finish, a total of more than 600 nautical miles. I had the good fortune to talk with one of the most experienced skippers of a two-h...

Wanting to fly gliders may have been the start of it all but ending up as a US marine in Afghanistan as a woman cannot be somewhere every girl sees their future. It’s what Anja Brumec managed and she looks back at most of it as an amazing life lesson. This lady simply gives, right now she spends a lot of her time helping people know just how their dogs should be trained to be well behaved and a re...

The Eurovision Song Contest brought much new music to our screens but for all of us in Slovenia there was one special entry, the winning entry from Slovenia, Zala and Gasper and their song Sebi. Their haunting music is really something special so I asked them to join me in making a show to explain what is behind their music and tell us something of entering this annual European event. We met in Ma...

If you are a fan of jazz songs and other similar styles then singer and musician Peter Savizon is a voice you have to hear. His heroes are many, like Nat King Cole, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder and so many more, and his voice is up there with these greats too. Whilst here in Slovenia he has gained great respect for the many musicians, jazz groups and big bands around the country. He has, of cours...

If you are a lover of early Jugoslavia rock, reggae and more then you will at least have already heard the work of this week's guest. Borut Berden has been interested in sound from a very early age, it led him to work with Radio Student, Studio Tivoli and today, Studio Ritem, which he has built from scratch. His experience is very broad from mixing gigs on the road to many different tasks in studi...

This week My Life My Music is rather different. A colleague, Tatjana Milovanovič, introduced me to a Polish student who is spending a year in Slovenia studying on an ERASMUS exchange. Turns out he also has a weekly radio show back home at his university so I not only invited him to be a guest but to take over much of the programme and introduce us to Polish rock music. The result is a beautiful in...

Dr Milivojevič is well-known in the field of psychoanalysis from his work with drug addicts and also in identifying how we communicate with each other. He has written many books and travels from his home in Serbia to other countries including here in Slovenia where he has recently been conducting workshops in transaction analysis. Maybe you will discover something about yourself.

If you listen to RadioSi you will have heard my guest this week as she works with us and also with RTV television. But there is much more to discover with Veronika Žajdela, from acting to reporting from film festivals and jumping out of airplanes and looking after her three dogs and travelling to far flung places and ......just listen to the show! Great music too!

Very happy that His Excellency Myles Geiran, the Irish Ambassador to Slovenia was willing to visit Radio Si at our studios in Maribor and to record this show with me. Of course we talked about diplomacy and some details of his vital job as well as the relationship between Slovenia and Ireland. He also brought some very typically Irish music along with his choices so there is much to learn and enjo...

These days many parents have to consider just how to ensure their children's education is for the best even though their work takes them away from the UK. Jonathan Locke and his wife, along with their two children have faced this problem for 20 years as Jonathan's work took him to many countries around Europe. he has been in Slovenia for more than 2 years now so I invited him to the studio to disc...

This week My Life, My Music reaches show 300. It's impossible to believe the privilege that I have been allowed in talking at some length to so many inspirational people from all walks of life here in Slovenia and many from other countries too. I have discovered much about the people of Slovenia and along the way about myself too. I can only say thank you for this amazing opportunity. But how to c...

Sara Isakovic was very focused on being a winner in the water from a very early age. Just how much of her passion and determination came from her parents becomes clear when you hear the whole story. Having spent so much of her life achieving she now spends time inspiring others to reach their personal or business goals.

This week the show stays in-house and I talk to someone you hear a lot on Radio Si except normally he is not speaking English. Yes, it’s the moderator with the smooth voice, Ivo Kores, and there is much to discuss. He has had other roles at RTV, not just radio but the morning show on television as well. Having also worked at a commercial radio station we visit this area and, as you may have heard...