An international jury consisting of Nils Petter Molvaer (chair), Solveig Wang, and Soheil Shayesteh, has awarded the Grand Prix of the 2025 Jazz Juniors Competition to the Birds of Unknown trio from Slovenia. The 2nd prize goes to Public Lunch (Poland), and the 3rd – to Symbiosis 5 (Hungary).
Six bands appeared in the final auditions of this year’s Jazz Juniors Competition, held on 2nd October at Kraków’s Cricoteka: Birds of Unknown (Slovenia), Sedno (Poland), Public Lunch (Poland), MJG Noisecript (Poland), JuMa (Poland), and Symbiosis 5 (Hungary). Their performances were assessed not only by an international jury, but also by the International Partners Board.
‘The decision has been exceptionally difficult since all of you are excellent musicians,’ said Jazz Juniors artistic director, artist-in-residence and chairman of the jury Nils Petter Molvær, addressing the finalists. ‘We have nevertheless made our choice and selected the winners.’
Grand Prix winners of the 49th Jazz Juniors Competition – Birds of Unknown from Slovenia
The jury has awarded the Grand Prix of the 49th Jazz Juniors Competition (PLN 10,000) to the Slovenian trio Birds of Unknown, consisting of: Patricija Škof (vocals), Tibor Pernarčič (tenor saxophone), and Tilen Beigot (guitar). The trio made its debut in 2020 on the RTV Slovenija national radio. Since then, they have appeared at numerous jazz festivals in Europe. In 2022 they released their first album, Gently Sailing, nominated for Radio Terminal’s ‘Album of the Year’
2nd prize winners – Public Lunch, Poland
The 2nd prize (PLN 5,000) goes to Public Lunch, a band founded in 2024 by graduates of the Gdańsk Academy of Music: Wojciech Wojda (piano, music composer), Szymon Kowalik (saxophones), Paweł Kasprzewski (electric guitar), Filip Arasimowicz (double bass), and Maciej Chrzęszczyk (drums). Just a year ago, the band entered the studio to record its debut album. Today they are the runners-up in the Jazz Juniors Competition!
3rd prize winners – Symbiosis 5, Hungary
The 3rd prize (PLN 3,000) has been won by the Hungarian quintet Symbiosis 5, in the following lineup: Máté Drippey (sax), Benedek Virág (guitar), Levente Kapolcsi-Szabó (piano), Tamás Gyányi (bass), and Roland Majsai (drum). They previously received the 1st prizes in the 2022 Getxo International Jazz Competition and Sibiu Jazz Competition, as well as 1st prize, audience award, and two special awards in the 2023 Müpa Jazz Showcase in Budapest. Last year, they released their second album, titled Wondering.
The Polish band Sedno – recipients of Janusz Muniak Award
The Janusz Muniak Award (PLN 5,000), endowed by Trzech Kumpli brewery, has been presented by the jury to Sedno band, founded in 2022 by four graduates of the Wrocław Academy of Music: Adam Bławicki (sax, flute), Rafał Krzywosz (bass guitar, bass synth), Dawid Opaliński (drums), and Filip Miguła (keyboards). 2024 saw the release of their debut EP SPRAWY. In the same year, they won a prize in the Jazz Fruit / Mladi ladi jazz in Prague.
Thanks to the kind support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Jazz Juniors Festival and Competition hosts, as in previous years, a group of foreign partners – representatives of prestigious festivals, concert venues, and record labels. Jazz Juniors has been building this partnership network for eleven years with a view to promoting young Polish musicians in Poland and abroad, which is the central idea behind our competition. Having listened to the final auditions, the partners present special awards in the form of invitations to play concerts and appear at festivals. This year’s International Partners Board consists of: Zsolt Hernádi – Budapest Music Center / Opus Jazz Club (Hungary), Branislav Dejanovic – Nišville Jazz Festival (Serbia), Enrico Moccia – Fara Music Festival & Emme Record Label (Italy), Ratko Zjača – Jazz u Vinogradu (Croatia), Sasho Popovski – Jazz Factory Festival (Macedonia), Vinko Mihajlovic – Petrovac Jazz Festival (Montenegro), and Voja Pantic – Belgrade Jazz Festival / Pancevo Jazz Festival (Serbia).
Our partners’ awards include the following invitations to play festival concerts:
Birds of Unknown will appear at Fara Music Festival (Italy) and Petrovac Jazz Festival. JuMa has been invited to play at Opus Jazz Club, Jazz Factory Festival, and Belgrade Jazz Festival.
Public Lunch will perform at Nisville Jazz Festival and Petrovac Jazz Festival. Symbiosis 5 has been invited to Jazz u Vinogradu,
and MJG Noisecript – to Pancevo Jazz Festival.
Additionally, Birds of Unknown will sign a contract with Emme Record Label, represented by Enrico Moccia. The label will record and release the band’s album.
The international jury of Jazz Juniors Competition, consisting of: Nils Petter Molvær (chair), Solveig Wang, and Soheil Shayesteh.
The announcement of competition results ends the first day of Jazz Juniors 2025. From Friday to Sunday, the festival stage will host this year’s stars: Kasia Pietrzko Trio, Nothing Personal trio from Norway, Piotr Damasiewicz (trumpet) with Dominik Wania (piano), and the Norwegian drummer Erland Dahlen. For the grand finale of Jazz Juniors and the entire Kraków Jazz Week 2025, Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet, electronics) will join forces with Soheil Shayesteh (kamancheh, electronics) and Sinfonietta Cracovia under the baton of Paulina Porszke, in the premiere performance of Soheil Shayesteh’s Perceptual Dialogues, composed specially for the 49th Jazz Juniors final concert held at Kraków Philharmonic. In this programme, the music of the Near East, jazz, electronics, and orchestral grandeur are going to meet.
Photos by Michał Łepecki
Tickets for the Jazz Juniors events are available from:
https://www.bilety24.pl/koncert/1279-krakow-jazz-week-2025-131315?id=771124
The full programme of Jazz Juniors festival: www.jazzjuniors.com.pl/festiwal/
Nils Petter Molvær – Jazz Juniors artistic director
The event is held under the honorary patronage of Aleksander Miszalski, President of Cracow.
ORGANISERS:
Film and Jazz Music Foundation
Zbigniew Seifert Foundation / Seifert Competition
CO-ORGANISERS, PATRONS AND PARTNERS:
Co-financed from the funds of the City of Cracow.
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the ‘Muzyka’ programme implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.
Organised with financial support from the Małopolskie Province.
CRICOTEKA Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor
Sinfonietta Cracovia
HEVRE
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Trzech Kumpli brewery is a partner of Jazz Juniors Festival and Competition.
MOTORING PARTNER:
BYD / PGD Group