Kurt Maas Jazz Award

The Kurt Maas Jazz Award (KMJA) was established in the 2012/2013 academic year at the Jazz Institute of the University of Music and Theatre Munich (HMTM) on the initiative of Camilo Dornier and Prof. Claus Reichstaller, Director of the Jazz Institute.

The award honours Kurt Maas Kurt Maas and his life’s work as a musician, entrepreneur and pioneer of academic jazz education in Munich. It is exclusively aimed at students of the Jazz Institute of the HMTM and is awarded every two years.

Each edition of the competition offers a five-week summer course at Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA) as first prize, a four-week study trip to Brazil (The São Paulo State Music School – EMESP Tom Jobim and/or »Souza Lima – Conservatório e Faculdade de Música« in São Paulo) as second prize, and an honoured performance at the Night Club of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich with an audio live recording of the concert as third prize. – Conservatório e Faculdade de Música” in Sao Paulo) and third prize is a paid performance at the Night Club of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich with an audio live recording of the concert.

The award ceremony will take place during a grand award concert at the Isarphilharmonie at Gasteig HP8. In addition to the ensembles of the award winners, the Munich University Jazz Orchestra (MUJO), the big band of the Jazz Institute, led by Claus Reichstaller, will provide the musical backdrop. The prize concert also always features top-class guest artists: Abraham Laboriel, Dusko Gojkovic, Tia Fuller, Klaus Doldinger, Ivan Lins and Patti Austin have all performed in the past.