Registration is now open for the 3rd European Jazz Conference, taking place 22 to 25 September 2016 in Wrocław, Poland, European Capital of Culture for 2016.

The European Jazz Conference 2016 is co-organised by Europe Jazz Network (EJN), the National Forum of Music and Jazztopad Festival, takes place in the framework of the European Capital of Culture 2016 and it is supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland and by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

The Conference will take place at the newly-inaugurated spectacular venue of the National Forum of Music,where participants will have the opportunity to connect with hundreds between the main professionals of the creative music sector in Europe and to and get involved in different keynote speeches, debates, working groups and networking sessions. Moreover, every evening at the venue there will be a showcase programme of the most interesting and innovative jazz from Poland. The Conference is open to all EJN members free of charge and to external participants upon payment of a registration fee (200€ for international and 100€ for Polish participants).

The theme of 2016 is "LISTEN UP!". The concept of listening will be approached on different angles, from listening to your community/audience when you are an artist or a presenter, to the issues of social inclusion in cultural work within our rapidly-changing societies and to the way in which listening as a personal experience has changed in modern concert halls and with new streaming technologies.

The 2016 Conference will start with a keynote speech by Danilo Perez (Panama), world-renowned musician and UNESCO Artist for Peace. Danilo will bring his experience of working with the communities in Panama and more broadly will talk about the way an artist “listen to his community” in his creations and work.

Following to this there will be a panel debate “listening to our changing times” with Danilo Perez, Francois Matarasso (UK, writer and researcher), Stéphanie Touré (FR, responsable des actions culturales - Banlieues Bleues) moderated by An De Bisschop (BE, academic, expert in community arts). This broad topic will be further analysed in parallel working groups, each one focussing on a different aspect of the issue, with the speakers of the debate and Patricia Zarate (Chile), musician, Executive Director of the Panama Jazz Festival with a strong expertise in music therapy.

Georgina Born (UK) will begin the day of Saturday 24th September 2016 (10.30-11.30) with a second keynote speech. Georgina Born FBA OBE is Professor of Music and Anthropology at Oxford University and recently held visiting professorships at McGill University, University of California, Berkeley, and Oslo University. As a musician active in the avant-garde UK scene she worked with Henry Cow, Lindsay Cooper, Derek Bailey, and was part of the Feminist Improvising Group. In her keynote speech she will talk about the relation of music with public spaces versus institutionalised spaces as well as present her latest research on different forms of listening around the world.

Ben Ratliff (US), New York Times long-time pop and jazz critic, author and New York University’s professor, will talk about his latest book “Every song ever - listening in the age of musical plenty” that presents an original approach to listening to music at a time where online streaming services are more and more influential, especially for young people.

Scott Cohen (US) will chair a working group on "Strategic Communications for Cultural Organisations" on Saturday 24 September (11.30-13.00). This working gorup will run in parallel with 4 other working groups centred on sharing expertise and run by EJN members. Scott Cohen is the co-founder of digital distribution pioneer The Orchard, the leading digital distributor in the world with offices in more than 25 countries. As a well-recognized public speaker and lecturer, Scott travels the world evangelizing new business models for the digital age.

Participants to the Conference will also share their experiences and learn from their peers on new ideas for audience development and for engaging children in creative music, on how to develop positive collaborations between promoters, artists’ managers and agents, on collaborations and co-commissioning of work among promoters in Europe.

We look forward to meeting you all in Wrocław!!!

You can check the full programme of the European Jazz Conference 2016 here: www.europejazz.net/sites/default/files/EJC2016_programme.pdf

DEADLINE FOR EXTERNAL REGISTRATIONS: 16 SEPTEMBER 2016

European Jazz Conference Wrocław 2016

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