Foto (by A. Kissenbeck): Martin Zenker und Mandhai Tugsuu

Review: IASJ Meeting 2023 in Helsinki

From 26. 05. - 01. 07. 2023 this year's IASJ (International Association of Schools for Jazz) Meeting took place in Helsinki/Finland. It was hosted by the Sibelius Academy, which is affiliated with UNARTS Helsinki.

Present were Prof. Martin Zenker (Boardmember of the IASJ), Prof. Dr. Andreas Kissenbeck (Organistor of the IASJ Meeting 2021 in Munich) and the students Nico Weber (trumpet) and Khasar Ganbaatar (saxophone). As artistic director, David Liebman was on site and shared his experiences with Miles Davis, among others, with the participants.

The equipment of the Sibelius Academy and the premises are of exceptionally high quality and offered ideal conditions. During the six-day events, there were numerous presentations, discussions, concerts and workshops. Outstanding were especially the concert of the teachers, the jam session as well as the final concerts of the students.

In addition, future strategies of the IASJ were discussed in internal meetings. Finally, Martin Zenker and Mandhai Tugsuu officially applied for the organization of the IASJ Meeting 2025 by the Mongolian State Conservatory in Ulan Bator.

Personal experience report by Nico Weber:

I was invited to the IASJ meeting in Helsinki in April, the most important intertnational jazz meeting of the International Association of Schools of Jazz. On June 25th I flew to Helsinki and arrived in the evening. There was a small get together at the Music Center in Helsinki with all the students who were already there. The next day the meeting started with an official welcome. Afterwards we had to perform in our assigned combos. Based on the performances, small changes were made in the lineups. I was very happy with my assignment, because our combo had a very interesting instrumentation: vibraphone, fretless bass and drums in the rhythm section and alto sax, trombone and trumpet as horns.
We then had our first rehearsal with our instructor for the week: Jukkis Uotila.
I found the first rehearsal quite interesting, as the band was just getting together then. We then agreed to put together a program of original compositions. In the evening, one of the highlights of the whole meeting took place: The lecturer concert of Dave Liebman, Tim Hagans, Aaron Goldberg, Anders Jormin and Jukkis Uotila. To hear all these jazz legends live was an indescribable feeling!
The following two days had the same schedule: in the morning there were lectures, then from noon on combo rehearsal and in the evening jam session with everyone.
On Tuesday, Dana Hall gave a talk on jazz education that really impressed me and made me think. It was about how the Jazzmasters of that time learned the music and how the whole thing is practiced in Jazz schools today and how important the tradition of the music is.
Thursday was then a day off and Friday was already our final performance. It was a lot of fun to perform with the band and also to listen to all the other bands.