News .
The Jazzaar Festival goes on hiatus in 2024!
At the board meeting on 7 November 2023, the Jazzaar Association unanimously decided against presenting the Jazzaar Festival next year. Unfortunately, this also means that we cannot offer any workshops or jam sessions for aspiring young musicians in 2024.
The board has been compelled to take this course of action for reasons of financial constraints. Given the deficit of the current year, combined with the deficits of previous years, the association’s financial position has become so untenable that it would have been irresponsible to organize another edition of the Jazzaar Festival in April 2024 without the appropriate sponsorship and donor support.
Nevertheless, the Board of Directors will not rest from its commitment in 2024 but will dedicate the time freed up to developing new financing concepts, acquiring new funding sources, and programming Jazzaar 2025. It is and remains the endeavor of all involved to continue the over 30-year tradition of fostering young aspiring musicians in 2025.
We would like to thank all our existing partners, supporters, and helpers, and of course the youth musicians, for their understanding regarding our decision. We are of course available for further information.
The Jazzaar Association Committee
Contact for further information:
Thomas H. Henle, President 079/403 20 15
Past News .
Latest CD Release - Aug 23, 2023!
It’s finally out in audio format on all digital platforms!
Tribute to Maynard Ferguson by The Jazzaar Festival Big Band with Peter Erskine & Wayne Bergeron, directed by Fritz K Renold.
Click here for more info on how to access the album.
The Jazzaar Festival 2023 event took place live at the Kultur und Kongresshaus Aarau on April 21st and 22nd with two live concerts marking the 31st edition of its youth program, “Bandstand Learning with Role Models”.
Featured Artists and Sectional Leaders
Lineup 2023 .
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Nominations for the 2023 Grammy Awards
The Jazzaar Festival 2019 live recording of Remembering Bob Freedman with Ron Carter & The Jazzaar Festival Big Band received a Grammy Award nomination under the category of 'Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album".
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Reto Peter
Reto Peter was a drummer of the first iteration of Jazzaar (then called The Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra), and through a connection to Fritz Renold he went on to go to Berklee College of Music to study Music Production & Engineering. Since then, he has been making records in Europe, NYC, and the San Francisco Bay Area and is credited on Gold and Platinum albums by Green Day, Modest Mouse, The Counting Crows, Flipsyde, and many chart-topping artists from his native Switzerland.
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Phil Hilfiker
Phil Hilfiker, a saxophonist / composer & arranger / music educator is another of our alumni that we're most proud of. His talent, wit and hard work did not fail to earn him the well deserved success he enjoys as a musician. Besides that his humility and gratitude is something we also admire about him.
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Mathias Kunzli – Drummer / Percussionist
Drummer/percussionist Mathias Kunzli is one of the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra's earlier generations of young musicians that is successful in the international music scene. We're proud to feature him in this segment and wish him continued success that is well deserved.
