Brian Harris BMW the leading Louisiana BMW dealership in Baton Rouge is pleased to inform you that the short list of this year’s finalists is out. Throughout the course of the 2012 edition of the BMW Welt Jazz Awards, the jury was most impressed by the ensembles Agustí Fernández’ Aurora Trio - Barcelona and Mathias Eick Quintet - Oslo. Only four years after its creation and following this year’s motto “Jazz and the City“, BMW has established the BMW Welt Jazz Award firmly as a renowned award in the field of music. Following a total of six matinees from January to March, a jury of experts nominated two outstanding ensembles after the final matinee on March 25. The two nominated finalists will compete on May 5, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the Grand Auditorium of BMW Welt as part of the final concert of this year’s cycle.
Agustí Fernández’ Aurora Trio - Barcelona
Since becoming a professional musician at the age of 13, pianist Agustí Fernández has been a part of Barcelona’s vibrant jazz scene. There, the stylist from Palma de Mallorca founded several orchestras, was director of numerous Catalan festivals, worked for stage, film and television, for puppet theatre and for the most renowned choreographers of the Spanish dance scene. He taught at the Catalan College of Music and was involved in over 50 CD productions. Since 2005, he has concentrated predominantly on the Aurora Trio along with British Bassist Barry Guy and drummer Ramón López, likewise a figurehead of Barcelona’s music scene. The three multi-award winners are working on a new, most suggestive jazz vocabulary reduced to its minimum structures.
Mathias Eick Quintet - Oslo
In addition to the excellent musical education there are several other reasons why so many outstanding jazz musicians come from Norway, a relatively small country in terms of its population. A prime example is 32-year-old Mathias Eick, who complements the proud line of Scandinavian trumpet players such as Nils Petter Molvaer or Arve Henriksen, musicians that excel with an unconventionally lyrical and weightless tone. Eick uses it untiringly for virtually all styles of jazz in the bands of varying top performers such as Jacob Young, Mike Stern or Manu Katché, in the NuJazz formation Jaga Jagist as well as with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Most recently he has focused on his own quintet, which will now also be performing at BMW Welt.
The high-ranking jury of experts includes Oliver Hochkeppel (music and culture journalist at the daily newpaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung”), Andreas Kolb (editor-in-chief of the publications “JazzZeitung” and “neue musikzeitung”), Roland Spiegel (music editor, main focus on jazz, at the Bavarian radio station “BR-KLASSIK”), Heike Lies (MA in musicology, working in the field of music and musical theatre at the Department of Culture of Munich), and Christiane Böhnke-Geisse (artistic director at jazz club “Unterfahrt”).
The final concert will be hosted by Beate Sampson, jazz expert and editor at Bayerischer Rundfunk. The award trophy will be presented by Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the board of BMW AG. The winner of the first prize will receive 10,000 Euro and the ensemble receiving second prize will receive a sum of 5,000 Euro. In addition, the audience’s favourite ensemble will also be honored with the audience award, donated by Schloss Elmau. The audience award offers the winning ensemble a residence and the opportunity to give an exclusive concert at Schloss Elmau.
The final concert will be held at the Grand Auditorium at BMW Welt. Tickets can be purchased at BMW Welt or München Ticket*.
Further information visit www.bmw-welt.com/JazzAward .
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