Visiting Cracow in September is a wonderful time to enjoy impressive music festivals organised in this beautiful Polish city. Actually, this is the time when Cracow hosts Jazz Juniors, one of the most beloved music events of the year. This year, there will be four days of celebration of jazz music starting on September 28th.
Jazz Juniors is a massive jazz festival with a long and vibrant history organised in Poland annually that combines performing and competition. As its name suggests, it aims to promote young musicians specialising in jazz who are just starting to perform professionally.
The contest indeed helps many musicians to kick-start their careers due to the international prestige of the event and the expertise of its hosts and jury. At the same time, the wonderful diversity of talents presented at the festival is making it a fantastic opportunity to celebrate this charming genre of music invented at the end of the 19th century.
This year the Jazz Junior festival has its 46th edition. Almost for half a century, this event has been entertaining music enthusiasts and opening new career opportunities for the young generation of jazz musicians.
The event is planned to last for four days starting on Wednesday, September 28th and ending on Sunday, October 1st.
While the detailed programme of the festival is yet to be revealed by its managers, the jury members have already been announced. Traditionally, Adam Pierończyk, the festival’s director is the head of the contest commission, while its special guests for the jury board are Reiner Baas and Trilok Gurtu.
The festival has been welcoming junior musicians since 1976. Its stage helped such famous Polish jazz musicians and bands as Marek Bałata, Krzysztof Ścierański, Leszek Możdżer, Walk Away and New Presentation to develop their careers in the past and it is still helping to find real gems among the young generation. Some of the most successful contemporary musicians performing at Jazz Juniors are Bartosz Dworak, Tomasz Chyła Quintet, High Definition and Levity.
Since 2012, Jazz Juniors has focused on promoting the winners of its competition even more making their path to the world of professional music easier.
Note that it is still possible to apply to the festival as a contest participant. The application deadline is August 31st. The requirements for competitions are being below 35 years old and having a real passion for jazz. Jazz Juniors is open to foreign participants.
Participation in the contest creates a lot of opportunities for musicians. First of all, there is a Grand Prix of 10,000 zł. Secondly, there is a variety of other awards. For instance, since 2020, the festival has had a special award commemorating late contest director Janusz Muniak. This award is given to the most prominent music player of the festival.
Finally, Jazz Junior attracts many music producers and concert managers who are eager to extend their networks and sign contracts with the contest participants.
During the time of the Jazz Juniors contest, Cracow will be hosting Cracovia Music Festival presenting amateur performers of choir singing and orchestra music from all over the world. If you want to immerse yourself in the world of music, visiting Cracow at the end of September will give you a chance to enjoy a variety of music genres. Furthermore, you can also attend weekly Folk Show scheduled on September 29th.
By the way, Cracow hosts one more annual jazz event. Although this year, Summer Jazz Festival was organised in July, you can keep a track of the festival to be able to attend it next year.
