For the Jazz Juniors 2023 final auditions (to be held during Kraków Jazz Week on 12th October), an international jury chaired by Polish sax player Adam Pierończyk has qualified six performers deemed best by the jurors: Mateusz Kaszuba Trio (Poland), Hilarious Disasters (Poland-Ukraine), Alvaro Pinto Quartet (Portugal), Paweł Krawiec Trio (Poland), Know Material (Poland), and Kravchenko Clees (Luxembourg-Ukraine).
We are approaching the finals of the 47th Jazz Juniors, one of the most prestigious competitions for young musicians. 51 bands from Poland and all over Europe have sent their entries for this year’s competition. The following artists will perform in the finals:
Mateusz Kaszuba Trio (Poland)
Hilarious Disasters (Poland-Ukraine)
Alvaro Pinto Quartet (Portugal)
Paweł Krawiec Trio (Poland)
Know Material (Poland)
Kravchenko Clees (Luxembourg-Ukraine)
The young, gifted musicians will be auditioned by our jury, consisting of acclaimed virtuosos. The jury is particularly multicultural this year, since it represents three different continents: South and North America, as well as Europe. It consists of Cuban trumpeter Jorge Vistel, Cuban saxophonist Maikel Vistel, Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras, Swiss drummer Florian Arbenz, and Polish saxophonist Adam Pierończyk.
‘The Jazz Juniors competition finals will be more international than last year, when they were strongly dominated by Polish bands,’ says Adam Pierończyk, chair of the jury. ‘We are also happy to see, in the six lineups that have made it to the finals, young musicians not only from Western countries (Portugal and Luxembourg), but also from the East (Ukraine).’
The auditions will also be closely followed by our international partners and guests, representatives of foreign festivals and music labels, which gives the musicians a chance to obtain prestigious concert invitations and recording contracts. This year’s International Partners Council consists of Abel Petneki (Budapest Music Center, Hungary), Branislav Dejanovic (Nisville Jazz Festival, Serbia), Enrico Moccia (Fara Music Festival, Italy), Marius Giura (Garana Jazz Festival, Romania), Joseph Paice (Pizza Express, UK), Jakub Drożdż (Jazz po polsku, Asia), Martyna van Nieuwland (Music Meeting Festival, The Netherlands), Vilém Spilka (Jazz Fest Brno, Czechia), and Michał Hajduk (NOSPR, Poland).
As in the previous years, the winners will scoop a host of awards and prizes. These include important individual awards, earned since the festival’s earliest days by Poland’s greatest musicians. One of them, the Janusz Muniak Award (established recently, in 2020) will go to the competition’s most outstanding instrumentalist.
The Jazz Juniors final auditions will be held on 12th October from 7.30 p.m. at Cracow’s Cricoteka. They are open to the public.
Event organizers:
Film and Jazz Music Foundation
The Zbigniew Seifert Foundation