Foto  © Gregory Giakis 2024

Kurt Maas Jazz Award 2025 - Final round on February 6 in Saal X

Finalists have been chosen: Adel Kövecs, Edi May, Benjamin Stadler, Fernanda von Sachsen, Katharina Pfeifer.

The public final round of the Kurt Maas Jazz Award 2025 will take place on Thursday, February 6, 2025 from 1:00 pm. In the final round of the competition, which focuses on the promotion of students at the Jazz Institute of the Munich University of Music and Theater (HMTM), five students will present themselves to the jury in Saal X at Gasteig HP8 in Sendling. The finalists are: Adel Kövecs (piano), Edi May (saxophone), Benjamin Stadler (trumpet), Fernanda von Sachsen (vocals), Katharina Pfeifer (saxophone).

The finalists were selected by a top-class jury consisting of: Camilo Dornier (founder), Prof. Claus Reichstaller (Head of the Jazz Institute at HMTM), Prof. Lydia Grün (President of HMTM), Annekatrin Hentschel (Bayerischer Rundfunk), Innegrit Volkhardt (Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich) and Michael Gottfried (jazz label ACT Music).

The Kurt Maas Jazz Award was launched in the 2012/2013 academic year at the Jazz Institute of the Munich University of Music and Theater on the initiative of Camilo Dornier and Prof. Claus Reichstaller. The competition serves both to promote jazz students at HMTM and to commemorate the jazz musician, educator and entrepreneur Kurt Maas, who died in 2011 and founded jazz education in Munich.

Attractive prizes await the winners:

First prize: funding for a five-week summer study program at  Berklee College of Music  in Boston, including flights, accommodation and meals.

Second prize: Funding for a four-week study visit to Brazil at the Sao Paulo State Music School “EMESP Tom Jobim” and/or the “Souza Lima – Conservatório e Faculdade de Música” in Sao Paulo, including flights, accommodation and meals.

Third prize: Financing of an honored performance at the Night Club des Hotels Bayerischer Hof in Munich with an audio-live recording of the concert for personal use.

Details of the final round:

Thursday, February 6, 2025, from 1:00 pm

Gasteig HP8: Saal X, admission free

13:00–13:30 Uhr: Adel Kövecs (piano)

13:45–14:15 Uhr: Edi May (saxophone)

14:30–15:00 Uhr: Benjamin Stadler (trumpet)

15:15–15:45 Uhr: Fernanda von Sachsen (vocals)

16:00–16:30 Uhr: Katharina Pfeifer (saxophone)