BMW Welt Jazz Award 2015 finalists announced. FAT – Fabulous Austrian Trio and Manu Codjia Trio nominated for final concert and award ceremony on April 18.

Munich. The Austrian trio FAT – Fabulous Austrian Trio and the French trio around Manu Codjia are the two finalists of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2015. A panel of expert jurors nominated both ensembles for the grand finale on April 18, 2015, held at the auditorium of BMW Welt. After the final concert, the winning trio will receive a prize of 10,000 Euro while the runner‑up will receive 5,000 Euro. In addition, the audience award will be presented. Following this year’s motto “Playing my Guitar”, six renowned jazz ensembles presented their talents to a full house during the Sunday-morning matinees between January and March. With this year, the international competition has entered its seventh season. 

The Finalists

FAT – Fabulous Austrian Trio (Austria)

Guitarist Alex Machacek has been living in the USA for more than ten years. Born in Vienna, this 42 year old continues to cultivate his Austrian heritage as part of the “Fabulous Austrian Trio”. With bassist Raphael Preuschl and drummer Herbert Pirker the trio’s work centres on Jazz-Rock inspired by World Music. Machacek began playing classical guitar at age eight before venturing into the world of rock and jazz. At 16, he began studying jazz guitar at the conservatory of Vienna and continued his studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In addition to John Scofield and Allan Holdsworth, Machacek cites Frank Zappa as his most important source of inspiration. To this day, he works in close collaboration with Zappa’s drummer Terry Bozzio. 

Manu Codjia Trio (France)

Emmanuel Codjia began his career as a musician at age 14. After having acquired the basics of classical guitar in his hometown of Chaumont, the trio’s founder increasingly turned to jazz during his studies at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique in Paris. He subsequently received numerous prizes including best solo artist at the Concours national de jazz and became a member of the Orchestre National de Jazz under the direction of Paolo Damiani. Since 2007, he recorded four albums of which “Covers” displays the most jazzy rock elements. At this year’s BMW Welt Jazz Award, the French‑Ivorian musician will be accompanied by the musicians featured on this very album, bassist Jérôme Regard and drummer Philippe Garcia.

The Jury

The distinguished jury choosing the winner of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2015 is made up of a panel of renowned jazz experts. Headed by Oliver Hochkeppel (journalist for music and cultural affairs at the German daily “Süddeutsche Zeitung”), the jury will include Andreas Kolb (editor-in-chief of the magazines “JazzZeitung”, “neue musikzeitung” and “Silberhorn”), Roland Spiegel (editor at the music desk and jazz expert at German broadcasting station Bayerischer Rundfunk, BR‑KLASSIK), Heike Lies (musicologist, Music and Music Theatre Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the state capital Munich) and Christiane Böhnke-Geisse (Jazz & Music Consulting and Promotion).

With her usual charm, Beate Samson, jazz expert and editor at the German broadcasting station Bayerischer Rundfunk, BR‑KLASSIK, will lead through the evening’s programme of this final concert. The exclusive award trophy was designed by BMW Design and will be presented by Dr Ian Robertson, member of the board of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing BMW, Sales Channels BMW Group.

The audience award, donated by the exclusive resort Schloss Elmau, will be presented to the ensemble favoured by the audience. It includes an exclusive stay at Schloss Elmau as well as a concert on its premises. 

The final concert and award ceremony will take place on April 18 at 7 PM in the auditorium of BMW Welt. A limited number of tickets is still available at BMW Welt. 

This year’s edition of the BMW Welt Jazz Award will once again enjoy the generous support of BR-KLASSIK, JazzZeitung, Ludwig Beck department store, resort Schloss Elmau and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the city of Munich. In addition, kunstevent also supports the grand finale and will be presenting a selection of paintings by artists Carl-H1 Daxl, Maja Jiranek and Ursula Leinfelder. 

Photographic material is available at BMW PressClub (www.press.bmwgroup.com)

and via LoeschHundLiepold Kommunikation GmbH

on behalf of the department for public relations of BMW Welt.

Telephone: +49-89-720187-10

Email: bmw-welt@lhlk.de

For further questions please contact:

Dr Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-24753

Leonie Laskowski

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-45382

Daria Gotto-Nikitina

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Spokesperson Marketing, BMW Welt and FIZ Future

Telephone: +49-89-382-60340

Internet:  www.press.bmwgroup.com, Mail: presse@bmw.de

www.press.bmwgroup.com

Email: presse@bmw.de

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business. 

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview  

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