Foto: Fernanda von Sachsen at the KMJA Finale 2025, © HMTM

Kurt Maas Jazz Award 2025 - Prize winners have been chosen

1st prize: Fernanda von Sachsen (vocals) | 2nd prize: Edi May (saxophone) | 3rd prize: Katharina Pfeifer (saxophone)

July 4, 2025: Prize concert at the Isarphilharmonie

In the final of the Kurt Maas Jazz Award 2025, which took place on Thursday, February 6, 2025 in front of a packed audience in Saal X (Gasteig HP8), Fernanda von Sachsen prevailed against four competitors and won 1st prize. This will send her to a summer course at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, a cooperation partner of the Jazz Institute of the Munich University of Music and Theater (HMTM). Fernanda von Sachsen is studying jazz vocals with Sanni Orasmaa and Enkhjargal Erkhembayar.

The 2nd prize - a four-week study trip to Brazil (EMESP Tom Jobim - Sao Paulo State School of Music and/or Souza Lima - Conservatório e Faculdade de Música, Sao Paulo) - went to Edi May (saxophone, jazz composition with Prof. Gregor Hübner). The 3rd prize - an honored performance at the Night Club of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich with an audio-live recording of the concert - went to Katharina Pfeifer (saxophone, class of Prof. Florian Trübsbach). In addition to the prizewinners, Adél Kövécs (jazz piano, class of Prof. Tizian Jost) and Benjamin Stadler (jazz trumpet, class of Prof. Claus Reichstaller) also played in the final.

The jury consisted of Camilo Dornier (founder), Prof. Claus Reichstaller (Director of the Jazz Institute of the HMTM), Prof. Lydia Grün (President of the HMTM), Annekatrin Hentschel (Bayerischer Rundfunk), Innegrit Volkhardt (Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich) and Michael Gottfried (jazz label ACT Music).

The winners of the competition will perform and receive awards at a prize concert on Friday, July 4, 2025 at the Isarphilharmonie in Gasteig HP8. The guest of honor will be Danilo Perez, Artistic Director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and one of the world's leading jazz pianists.

Advance ticket sales are expected to start in April 2025 via München Ticket.

About Kurt Maas Jazz Award

The Kurt Maas Jazz Award was established in 2012 at the Jazz Institute of the Munich University of Music and Theater on the initiative of the entrepreneur and jazz promoter Camilo Dornier and the director of the Jazz Institute, 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. The lifetime achievement of this artist is honored, especially in connection with the establishment and management of the jazz department of the Richard Strauss Conservatory, the nucleus of today's Jazz Institute of the HMTM.

Biographies of the prizewinners:

1st prize: Fernanda von Sachsen

Surrounded by music and as the daughter of an opera singer, Fernanda von Sachsen began playing the piano and singing in a choir at the age of five. Her singing style is influenced by the traditions of vocal jazz and her classical training. Lyrical melodies, expressive harmonies and edgy rhythms characterize her style of arrangement and composition. It is important to her to give voice to her opinions and feelings. She is currently studying jazz singing with Sanni Orasmaa and Enkhjargal Erkhembayar at the HMTM. Fernanda von Sachsen has already performed in several European countries as well as in Brazil and soon in Korea; among others at the International Jazz Week Burghausen, at the Jazzclub Unterfahrt and at the Jazz Festival Craiova (Romania). She is a scholarship holder of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now and has also received scholarships to participate in workshops such as the New York Voices International Vocal Camp.

Foto © Jakob Marsmann

2nd prize: Edi May

The German-English saxophonist, clarinettist, improviser, composer and teacher Edi May moved from Germany to England with his family at the age of eight. In England, he completed a bachelor's degree in jazz clarinet at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Edi May has been living in Germany again for three years, where he completed his Master's degree in jazz saxophone with Prof. Florian Trübsbach at the HMTM and is currently studying jazz composition with Prof. Gregor Hübner. He performs with his international jazz trio with Californian drummer Nate Carruthers and New York bassist Ilan Gold. With his main rock/free-jazz project “Three and a Half”, he has been playing frequently in Germany for two years and has recently been on tour in England and Mongolia. His debut album with “Three and a Half” called “3.5” was released in August 2023.

Foto © Carolina Vogt

3rd prize: Katharina Pfeifer

Katharina Pfeifer has been studying jazz saxophone with Prof. Florian Trübsbach at HMTM since 2023. She received classical piano, clarinet and trumpet lessons as a child. The latter led her to the school big band and thus also to jazz. At the age of 16, she dedicated herself to the saxophone and three years later began her bachelor's degree at the Maastricht Conservatory (NL).

During her studies, Katharina Pfeifer had the opportunity to perform with the “Fringe Orchestra” (under the direction of Jesse Passenier) at renowned festivals such as the “Nijmegen Music Festival” and the “North See Jazz Festival”. The young tenor saxophonist founded her own quartet in 2021 and writes for her own compositions in the field of modern jazz. In the same year, she completed her bachelor's degree with Reiner Witzel cum laude and won the Henriëtte Hustinxprijs for it.

In addition to her own project, she plays with musicians and bands such as the Jazzrausch Bigband, Henning Sieverts, Sebastian Pfeifer, Samuel Restle Oktett and Karoline Weidt.

Foto © Sebastian Pfeifer