The 11th jazzahead!, the world's largest and most important specialist jazz trade fair, came to a successful end in Bremen, Germany this past Sunday. With a total of 969 exhibiting companies and 2,742 professional participants, the number of visitors from the jazz industry has risen yet again. The trade fair organisers attribute this to the extremely good reputation that jazzahead! enjoys as an international platform for jazz.
Music programme is well attended
The 40 showcase concerts were also once again accessible to the general public. Around 15,000 visitors went along to the concerts at the weekend. “jazzahead! is not just the most important jazz industry event, it is also a crowd puller", said Hans Peter Schneider, CEO of MESSE BREMEN & ÖVB Arena, summing up the festival. This is also evidenced by the increase in visitor numbers for the jazzahead! clubnight: around 6,500 people went to see the concerts put on at 34 venues.
Jazz für Kinder (Jazz for Children): cornerstone laid for Symposium 2017
This year jazzahead!, working in cooperation with the federal state (Land) of Baden-Württemberg, launched the project “Jazz für Kinder" (Jazz for Children) during a round table. The aim of the long-term project, according to Uli Beckerhoff, artistic director of jazzahead! “is to reach more children, where possible from primary school age onwards, using the most important element of jazz: improvisation". He added that the symposium planned for 2017 will be looking primarily at the teaching of jazz in schools. Compared with other countries in Europe, he said, jazz is not currently taught as part of early year’s school education and thus cultural education in Germany, which the organisers attribute primarily to the lack of teaching of the elements of jazz within a school context. Selected experts from Germany took part in this year's first round table in preparation for the symposium.
Finland is the jazzahead! partner country for 2017
After Switzerland successfully presented itself to international and regional visitors as this year's jazzahead! partner country, MESSE BREMEN has invited Finland to be its partner country at the trade fair (April 27-30, 2017) as well as at the festival (13- 30 April 2017) next year. “In terms of variety of high-quality jazz and range of talent, it’s not an overstatement to say that Finland punches above its weight. Ranging from brilliant piano trios to contemporary big band music, and from minimalistic Nordic tones to groovy club jazz, there’s something to discover for everyone. We are extremely excited to showcase the multifaceted Finnish jazz scene at jazzahead! next year", said Tuomo Tähtinen, Managing Director of Music Finland.
It is not just the partner country's jazz scene that will be presented in Bremen, the culture of Finland far beyond the bounds jazz and music will also be taken into account. The two-week culture programme will be coordinated by the Finland Institute in Germany. The fact that a festival produced jointly with partners from the partner country, with numerous local partners and jazzahead! works perfectly is confirmed by this year's experiences: never before have there been so many interconnections in the content of the jazzahead! festival.
jazzahead! concerts also on ARTE Concert
For those unable to see the 40 showcase concerts live or for those wishing to relive them, all the video recordings are available to view on the jazzahead! website and concerts recorded live at Kulturzentrum Schlachthof can be viewed on ARTE Concert.
SAVE THE DATE
jazzahead! Festival: April 13-30, 2017
jazzahead! Trade Fair: April 27-30, 2017
Music programme is well attended
The 40 showcase concerts were also once again accessible to the general public. Around 15,000 visitors went along to the concerts at the weekend. “jazzahead! is not just the most important jazz industry event, it is also a crowd puller", said Hans Peter Schneider, CEO of MESSE BREMEN & ÖVB Arena, summing up the festival. This is also evidenced by the increase in visitor numbers for the jazzahead! clubnight: around 6,500 people went to see the concerts put on at 34 venues.
Jazz für Kinder (Jazz for Children): cornerstone laid for Symposium 2017
This year jazzahead!, working in cooperation with the federal state (Land) of Baden-Württemberg, launched the project “Jazz für Kinder" (Jazz for Children) during a round table. The aim of the long-term project, according to Uli Beckerhoff, artistic director of jazzahead! “is to reach more children, where possible from primary school age onwards, using the most important element of jazz: improvisation". He added that the symposium planned for 2017 will be looking primarily at the teaching of jazz in schools. Compared with other countries in Europe, he said, jazz is not currently taught as part of early year’s school education and thus cultural education in Germany, which the organisers attribute primarily to the lack of teaching of the elements of jazz within a school context. Selected experts from Germany took part in this year's first round table in preparation for the symposium.
Finland is the jazzahead! partner country for 2017
After Switzerland successfully presented itself to international and regional visitors as this year's jazzahead! partner country, MESSE BREMEN has invited Finland to be its partner country at the trade fair (April 27-30, 2017) as well as at the festival (13- 30 April 2017) next year. “In terms of variety of high-quality jazz and range of talent, it’s not an overstatement to say that Finland punches above its weight. Ranging from brilliant piano trios to contemporary big band music, and from minimalistic Nordic tones to groovy club jazz, there’s something to discover for everyone. We are extremely excited to showcase the multifaceted Finnish jazz scene at jazzahead! next year", said Tuomo Tähtinen, Managing Director of Music Finland.
It is not just the partner country's jazz scene that will be presented in Bremen, the culture of Finland far beyond the bounds jazz and music will also be taken into account. The two-week culture programme will be coordinated by the Finland Institute in Germany. The fact that a festival produced jointly with partners from the partner country, with numerous local partners and jazzahead! works perfectly is confirmed by this year's experiences: never before have there been so many interconnections in the content of the jazzahead! festival.
jazzahead! concerts also on ARTE Concert
For those unable to see the 40 showcase concerts live or for those wishing to relive them, all the video recordings are available to view on the jazzahead! website and concerts recorded live at Kulturzentrum Schlachthof can be viewed on ARTE Concert.
SAVE THE DATE
jazzahead! Festival: April 13-30, 2017
jazzahead! Trade Fair: April 27-30, 2017
For more information contact All About Jazz.
