Jazz Juniors Competition 2025

Six best bands have been qualified by an international jury for the final auditions of the 2025 Jazz Juniors Competition (part of the Kraków Jazz Week festival). The following musicians will perform on 2 October at Kraków’s CRICOTEKA club:  Birds of Unknown (Slovenia)  Sedno (Poland)  Public Lunch (Poland)  MJG Noisecript (Poland)  JuMa (Poland)  Symbiosis 5 (Hungary) The final stage of the 49 th Jazz Juniors, one of the most prestigious competitions for young musicians, is approaching fast. More than thirty bands from Poland and all over Europe have enlisted for this year’s edition. The varied programmes of those gifted young artists are assessed by a highly multicultural jury, representing different countries and musical perspectives. The jury consists of the Norwegian trumpeter and composer Nils Petter Molvær (chair of the jury, Jazz Juniors Festival’s artistic director and artist-in-residence since last year), another Norwegian artist – Solveig Wang, and the Amsterdam-based Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Soheil Shayesteh. “ I must say it is a pleasure to be artistic director of Junior Jazz, but to choose who will be in the competition is not an easy task. So many great musicians and bands. And in a way, they all deserve to be there. But in the end we have to choose six bands. I wish you all good luck!” commented Nils Petter Molvaer, chairman of the Jazz Juniors Competition jury. The final auditions will be attentively followed by a group of our international partners and guests, who represent foreign festivals, famous jazz clubs and record labels, as well as music institutions. For the young contestants, this is a chance for prestigious concert invitations and contracts. The Jazz Juniors 2025 International Partners Board consists of: Branislav Dejanovic (Nisville Jazz Festival, Serbia), Enrico Moccia (Fara Music Festival, Emme Record Label, Italy), Zsolt Hernádi (Budapest Music Center, Opus Jazz Club, Hungary), Ratko Zjaca (Jazz u Vinogradu, Croatia), Michał Hajduk (NOSPR, Poland), Jakub Krzeszowski (Jazz po polsku, Asia), Vinko Mihajlovic (Petrovac Jazz Festival, Montenegro), Saso Popovski (Jazz Factory Festival, Macedonia), and Vojislav Pantic (Pancevo Jazz Festival, Serbia). As in previous years, there will be numerous prizes and awards, including the Janusz Muniak Award (est. 2020), commemorating one of the greatest patrons of Kraków’s jazz youth – the sax player and head of the legendary club in Floriańska Street, Janusz Muniak. The final auditions of this year’s Jazz Juniors Competition will be held on 2 October 2025 at 7 p.m. at the CRICOTEKA Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor, 2–4 Nadwiślańska Street. Entry is free of charge! For the full programme of the Jazz Juniors Festival, visit: www.jazzjuniors.com.pl/festiwal/ The event is held under the honorary patronage of Aleksander Miszalski, President of Cracow Nils Petter Molvaer – Jazz Juniors artistic director 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 For more information, visit: www.jazzjuniors.com.pl www.facebook.com/festiwaljazzjuniors www.instagram.com/jazzjuniors ---