At Today Translations, we certainly know how to inaugurate a new office space.

February finally saw the completion of the new office floor and with it the Josephine Baker Music Room – a creative space that seeks to inspire the artistic and creative merits of translation and linguistics.

Today Translations’ closest friends and long standing clients celebrated the opening with company staff, and were treated to live music from Sara Spade, an elegant jazz musician armed with nothing but the charm of her ukulele and her soothing voice.

This begs the question, however: What is a music room doing in office of a translation company?

“I have always believed that linguists, despite often having very background roles, possess the artistic capabilities we often only associate with, say, musicians or painters,” said Jurga Zilinskiene, managing director of Today Translations.

“Dissecting different languages is a complex and inventive process, which requires very creative thinking. I don’t think many people realise that.”

The music room was named after the American-born French actress and musician, Josephine Baker, who rose to world-wide prominence and fame in the 1920s. “Besides being a long-standing fan of hers, the fact that she was multilingual and performed both in English and French inspired me to name the room after her,” said Jurga Zilinskiene.

The backdrop made Sara Spade’s music all the more fitting, as her graceful music had the same mesmerizing effects on guests as Baker’s would have had on her audience in the day.

Now that the music room has been truly inaugurated, its day-by-day use will mainly be for meeting sessions for staff and guests, as well as language strategy and localisation briefings. However, rest assured that it will live up to its name and host a number of after-work events and performances in the coming months, as well.