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About

I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.
Nat King Cole

2024 applications
are open

The story of a successful Jazz Competition

I am proud to say that after 17 years from its debut, Bucharest International Jazz Competition is ranked as the second jazz contest in Europe and the third in the world. The Competition contributes significantly to building a positive image of Romania in the world, allowing the inclusion of our country on the international map of major jazz events.
Dedicated to professional musicians, the event

successfully debuted in 2007, registering an unexpected participation for the first edition – 30 bands from 25 countries.
The trend was maintained, the popularity of the event increasing significantly, rightfully earning the title as the most visible and strong competition in the region. On her visit in Romania, Natalie Cole was delighted to find an event of this kind and welcomed the movement dedicated to the new jazz generation.
The 17th Edition will start on the 7th of July gathering 21 bands from 4 continents. Bucharest becomes the world capital of jazz.
 

Natalie Cole & Luigi Gageos, competition's director

Under the slogan "100% jazz and more" the public is invited to enjoy global trends, "creme de la creme" of major jazz centres worldwide, well defined concepts, daring ideas, in unique developments. The competitors' portfolio includes participation in prestigious international events as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Thelonious Monk Festival, Red Sea Jazz Festival and Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival USA.
I am convinced that the jazz projects this year will keep the halls full as it was every time. We invite both genre lovers, and those uninitiated in the mysteries of jazz to enjoy evenings full of creativity and freedom of expression, an explosion of colour and energy.
 

A whole week dedicated to jazz...concerts, jam sessions and workshops, at the end of which the best artists of the new generation of jazz will be known.
Bucharest International Jazz Competition takes place within the International Festival EUROPAfest, with a tradition of 30 years, developed under the High Patronage of Her Majesty Margareta and His Royal Highness Prince Radu since 2005, which gained the EFFE award - Europe's finest festivals.


Luigi Gageos
Director of EUROPAfest
 

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The jury of Bucharest International Jazz Competition is international and it includes artists and teachers, recognized experts in the field, with experience in identifying new talents in the world of jazz.

Svetoslav Nikolov - Bulgaria

Svetoslav Nikolov has been Programme Director of Jazz FM in Bulgaria since 2006. Just a few months earlier he joined the team of the only radio station for jazz in the country as presenter of the morning show. Svetoslav Nikolov's focus as Programme Director is to emotionally bond artists and audience while working on expanding the jazz scene and attracting new aficionados to the genre. He established several contextual jazz festivals and concert series drawing on local communities, the heritage, education and nature, three of them starting in 2022. He is assisting in programming jazz venues and festivals. Several special radio projects are directed to bringing culture into education and exporting classroom work at arts schools to the radio waves. With the aim to solidify the music scene and to give impulse to it, he started new programming of specially recorded concerts presented by the artists and of following the complete process of a music project development. To achieve the maximum impact various media are used - audio, video, photo and text, while the content is presented on air and online on all possible digital platforms. To pass on his expertise he has been lecturing on jazz festivals - Jazz Forum Stars Zagora, Bansko Jazz Academy, etc. In Bulgaria he is on the jury panel of various competitions - the National Competition for Young Jazz Performers, Evergreen Fest, Golden Spring of the Bulgarian National Radio, among them. Before heading Jazz FM, Svetoslav Nikolov has been news anchor and producer and host of current affairs and arts programmes on the Bulgarian National Radio, Radio Free Europe, the Bulgarian Section of the BBC. In a media career of 28 years, he has also worked on other radio and TV stations, as well as on internet news websites. Through the years he developed various projects documenting the jazz tradition in Bulgaria through the stories told by its founders. He was executive producer of a historical album of the first Bulgarian professional jazz vocalist Leni Vylkova recreating never recorded songs from the 1940s or released and then lost. Currently he is producing an album and concerts project of jazz vocalist Mimi Nikolova. He was the editor of the autobiographical book of one of Bulgaria's jazz legends Dimityr Simeonov.

Poster

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Regulation

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Application form

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General Rules 2024

The 18th Bucharest International Jazz Competition, 5 - 13 July 2024, is open to bands and vocalists of all nationalities.

Applicants must be born after 1st of July 1979.

The leader of the band can be older than 45 years.

Competition Procedure

Eligibility
Bands may have up to 6 performing musicians and they may include:

  •     instrumentalists and vocalists
  •     instrumentalists
  •     vocalists

Individual musicians can apply for the Jam Session section.

 

Application

 

Application procedure is the same for all.

 

1st Round - Selection of semi-finalists

The admissions panel and adjudicators will evaluate each application. The application must include 2 - 3 pieces of different styles.


2nd Round - Semi-final on 5 - 11 July

  •     Semi-finalists will perform 50 - 60 minutes in the competition’s concert hall
  •     Semi-finalists will perform 50 - 60 minutes in an unconventional space
  •     Semi-finalists will perform 60 - 80 minutes in jam sessions

Competitors have complete freedom in choosing their repertoire.

3rd Round - Final and Gala, on 12 - 13 July

  •     Finalists will perform 30 - 40 minutes in the competition’s concert hall
  •     Finalists will perform 30 - 40 minutes in an unconventional space

Competition Entry Requirements

Registration in the competition will be made based on digital documents:

1. application form - Annex A (for band), Annex B (for each member), Annex C

2. audio recordings for the competition - mp3 / mp4 format

3. two different group photos, color, landscape format, min 1MB

4. copy of the bank confirmation for the payment of the registration fee

5. short presentation of the group - max. 10 lines, word document

6. copy of passport | identity card for EU citizens, for each group's member

7. technical rider  

All digital documents will be sent using www.wetransfer.com as follows:

- make a folder and name it as your band

- copy all digital documents in the folder

- archive / compress the folder ( .zip )

- send the folder by www.wetransfer.com to email office@jmevents.ro and jmevents.ro@gmail.com

- please mention: " Application - band's name"

 

The registration fee for one application / group is 140 Euro and will be paid by bank transfer as follows:
Amount: 140 Euro. The payment will be sent free of charge to the payee. 
Recipient: jmEvents

IBAN Account:  RO82 BACX 0000 0004 3583 4003
Bank name: Unicredit Bank - Millenium Branch
Address: 88 Calea Victoriei, Bucharest
Swift Code: BACXROBU
Subject: Registration fee for BIJC for...(band's name)

Drafts / bank cheques are not accepted.

 

The registration fee is non-refundable. The registration fee will be refunded only to those competitors who have complete application documents and are not accepted in the Semi-final based on the recordings.

 

 

Registration deadline is March 1, 2024 ( 23:59 ).

Confirmation of the applicants' registration in the competition will be made before March 30, 2024.

The participants will have a professional technician and sound system along with back-line of drum kit, acoustic or digital piano, bass amplifier, guitar amplifier and microphones.


For Finalists ( 3 - 5 bands ) the organisers will provide free accommodation, organised through the system of the competition, for the entire period of the Final. This offer is available only for those bands that have already used the accommodation system of the competition, being accommodated until the Final in the same hotels.

Each finalist band, which falls under the mentioned conditions, can receive the amount for accommodation the next day after the Gala Concert. Any claim after this date is not accepted.

For Semifinalists the organisers provide accommodation options at special prices. If you are interested please make a request to office@jmevents.ro


The total amount of the prizes is 7.000 Euro: cash and concerts engagements.

  •     Grand Prize Winner              1.200 Eur
  •     Best Band       400 Eur
  •     Best Vocalist   400 Eur
  •     Best Jam session 200 Eur
  •     2 – 3 concerts engagements for one or two finalist bands

The jury together with the organizers can decide to award special prizes, without financial value, under the name "Special prize".

The prize-winners will have priority in being included in the programs organized by jmEvents both nationally and abroad.

Final performers will receive diplomas, upon request. Prizes will be awarded by a Jury whose members are well known personalities of the jazz musical world. The Jury will use the standard criteria as:

  •     style / interpretation
  •     improvisation
  •     technique / diction / articulation
  •     musicality
  •     time and rhythm
  •     intonation

All the decisions of the Jury are final and non-appealable. The public preference will be considered for the final decision. 

Each award-winner must receive his or her prize personally the next day after the Gala Concert. Any claim for the prizes after this date is not accepted.

 

The concerts could be broadcast by the Broadcasting Corporation or recorded for later transmission. A live or deferred broadcast by other Romanian or foreign Broadcasting Corporations is possible, as well as a complete or partial re-broadcast of the concerts on mass-media or online channels.

By applying to take part in the competition, the applicants give their implied consent for this recording as well as for its transmission under the conditions mentioned above. The participants and the prize-winners have no claim to additional fees.

 

During the development of Bucharest International Jazz Competition, the participating bands and musicians are not allowed to perform in any other spaces except for those of this competition.


The infringement of rules has as consequence the exclusion from the competition, which is irrevocable, and/or taking pecuniary measures. 

For further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at office@jmevents.ro !

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Performance was our main goal since the beginning.

We had thought everything we did as if we would have been on any of the great stages of the world. Even if it was hard, in a society in a continuous change, it was the only thing that we could have done. The results did not let themselves to be expected.

Today, Bucharest International Jazz Competition is a renowned brand in over 50 countries, and the best proof is the presence year after year, of musicians from all around the world, as well as the recognition of the Romanian values at a global level.


  • Luigi Gageos

    director

  • Petru Stoianov

    vice-president

  • Margareta Paslaru

    artist

  • Bogdana Horatiu

    event coordinator & management

  • Delia Pufu

    organising committee

  • Andra Ciobanu

    organising committee

  • Loredana Helgiu

    web development

  • Ana C. Dobrescu

    graphic designer & media production

  • Bogdan Voiculescu

    visual & art director

  • Volunteers Team

Artists

Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It's not an occupation or profession, it's a compulsion.
Duke Ellington

21 bands with musicians from 18 countries were accepted in the Semi-final: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine and The United States of America.

2024 application

Program

We all do 'do, re, mi', but you have to find the other notes yourself.
Louis Armstrong

Tickets

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.
Ornette Coleman

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15

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Partners

Life is not about finding our limitations, it's about finding our infinity.
Herbie Hancock

Bucharest International Jazz Competition takes place within EUROPAfest, event organized under the High Patronage of Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown and His Royal Highness Prince Radu.

organizers

co-organizers

main partners

partners

special thanks

media partners

Media room

Jazz is music made by & for people who have chosen to feel good in spite of conditions.
Johnny Griffin

Press Kit

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Press Releases

Media Coverage

EUROPAfest 2016 launches the 2nd event Bucharest International Jazz Competition 14 – 21 of May 2016

EUROPAfest launches the 10th edition of Bucharest International Jazz Competition, one of the most appreciated jazz events, by the public and by specialists, the event being ranked among the first 3 european jazz competitions.

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8 days of 100% jazz EUROPAfest – Bucharest International Jazz Competition

Between the 16 and 23 of May the capital vibrates on jazz rhythms. Bucharest International Jazz Competition, at its 9th edition reunites in the Semifinal 15 of the jazz bands of the moment from as many countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, South Korea, E

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EUROPAfest 2015 launches the first event Bucharest International Jazz Competition 16 – 23 of May 2015

EUROPAfest launches the 2015 edition of Bucharest International Jazz Competition, one of the most appreciated jazz events, by the public and by specialists, the event being ranked among the first 3 european jazz competitions. The application period is ope

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EUROPAfest – Bucharest International Jazz Competition 22 bands from 21 countries – Europe, SUA, South America Bucharest, the capital of world jazz

Between 17 and 24 May Bucharest will vibrate on jazz rhythms. Bucharest International Jazz Competition, taking place under the EUROPAfest brand brings on the Capital’s scenes 22 bands from 21 countries: Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Est

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Europafest 2014, over 20 years of good music! It’s all about live quality music!

This year we celebrate 21 years of EUROPAfest. 21 years in which jmEvents offered to the large public a festival which distinguishes itself through live music, professionalism and elegance. Since 2005, EUROPAfest takes places under the Patronage of Their

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Margareta Paslaru and the american jazz trumpetist Mike Davison hold 4 workshops during EUROPAfest 2014

EUROPAfest hosts this year 4 workshops held by 2 great personalities from the both the international and the local artistic world. Workshop: Margareta Paslaru 22 mai | “General Rehearsal“ 20:00 | Ibis Caffe Under the motto: “During our youth we strive t

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Bucharest International Jazz Competition begins So, you think you can jazz?

Between the 17 and 24 May, Bucharest will vibrate on jazz rythms in a unique and effervescent note, reuniting bands from USA, Germany, UK, Italy, Poland, Finland, Israel, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, and Romania. Bucharest International Jazz Competition, wh

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Contact

I sing like I feel.
Ella Fitzgerald

Address       C.P. 13 - 63
                   Bucharest 13
                          Romania
           +40 740 759 566
       office@jmEvents.ro