International jazz festival Saalfelden

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The International Jazz Festival Saalfelden is a music festival with a focus on jazz , which takes place annually at the end of August in Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer and has existed since 1978. Since 2016 there has also been an offshoot of the smaller festival Drei Tage Jazz , which takes place in January.

Program of the first festival year (1978)

history

Founded as Drei Tage Jazz , the festival first took place in May 1978 in Saalfelden. At that time, Irene Schweizer , Leroy Jenkins , Cecil Taylor , Clifford Thornton and the Vienna Art Orchestra played among others . Initially, the concerts were held on a meadow at the then ranch inn .

From 1979 the event changed to an extensive festival that placed a special focus on innovative projects in a tent city. On three days of concerts in the main tent, the festival offered an overview of current trends, usually in sixteen concerts. Added to this was the by-series Short Cuts , which was located from 2002 at the Kunsthaus NEXUS: In addition to contemporary jazz and were now new improvised music , contemporary composed music and electronic music regularly represent.

The festival was on the verge of collapse several times due to economic difficulties: In 1989, as in 2005, the festival had to be canceled for financial reasons. Since then, the association Center for Contemporary Music has been running the festival with the Saalfelden Tourist Association (as economic director) with the help of significantly increased subsidies from the state and federal government: the supporting program was expanded and consolidation was successful. A total of 25,000 visitors came to the 2019 anniversary edition on five days to watch the extensive range of concerts; There were 80 concerts on different stages, around 60 of which were free.

In recent years, Austrian musicians have always had the opportunity in the opening concert to present groundbreaking new programs in Saalfelden for the first time, for example Lukas Kranzelbinder with his project Shake Stew in 2016 . The festival is one of the most important jazz festivals in Austria; For more than 30 years it has been considered "the cultural flagship of the Salzburg region - and has paved the way for art and culture in the most varied of directions."

Venues

With the restart in 2006, the festival moved from the former tent city in the Ramseiden district to the center of Saalfelden: Concerts take place in the Congress Saalfelden (main stage; with live broadcasts of the main acts in the tent in front of the congress), the Kunsthaus NEXUS (short cuts) , on Rathausplatz, next to Ritzen Castle , in the district court, a bookbindery and the municipal park (free jazz concerts); further free concerts take place on alpine pastures, mountain farms and mountain inns.

Discographic notes

Elliott Sharp's Carbon (Elliott Sharp, Zeena Parkins, Bobby Previte) at the International Jazz Festival Saalfelden 2009

Web links

Commons : Jazzfestival Saalfelden  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria , the festival will not take place in August 2020. See Coronavirus: Jazz Festival Saalfelden also canceled (Kurier, April 18, 2020)
  2. ↑ a b c d Thousands of visitors expected at the 40th Saalfelden Jazz Festival. In: Tyrolean daily newspaper. July 4, 2019, accessed May 30, 2020 .
  3. ↑ The ranch anniversary stage
  4. ↑ Jazz Festival: Significant increase in visitor numbers (ORF)
  5. ↑ Jazz Festival Saalfelden (jazz newspaper)
  6. ↑ Jazz Festival Saalfelden (mama-thresl.com)