Istanbul Jazz Festival is now accepting applications for its 16th Young Jazz concert series. Young Jazz provides a platform for amateur or semi-professional young musicians and bands in Turkey and gives them an opportunity to be a part of the festival’s program. Young Jazz aims to encourage and prepare young musicians under the age of 30 for the professional world of music. The musicians and bands that which to apply for Young Jazz can do so through the form located on iksv.org/genccaz. The application form and the accompanying link with the required files should be sent no later than 4th of May 2018 Friday at 17:00.
Young musicians can apply with their demos of classical or contemporary jazz sub-genres as well as demos of fusion jazz, rock jazz, funk jazz, latin jazz, pop jazz, acid jazz, blues, soul, R&B, elektronic jazz and similar. The repertoire could consist of original compositions of the applicants or jazz standards or interpretations of other pieces. Applicants must be below the age of 30 and should not have released any professional albums.
The bands chosen by the selection commitee of Young Jazz will be invited to the evaluation concert that will take place on the 27th of May, Sunday. The selection committee will watch 15 minutes-long live performances of these bands and decide on six bands to participate in the 25th Istanbul Jazz Festival. The selected applicants will be able to perform in the Young Jazz concers as a part of the Jazz in the Parks event, which will be free of charge. The applicants will also be featured on the festival brochure and the official website as festival artists.
The selection commitee of Young Jazz consists of: Musician Aycan Teztel, musician Cem Tuncer, musician Cenk Erdoğan, music writer Feridun Ertaşkan, musician Ferit Odman, musician Hediye Güven, music writer and producer Hülya Tunçağ, music writer Sevin Okyay, journalist Yekta Kopan and the assistant director of Istanbul Jazz Festival Harun İzer.
Young Jazz concerts gave more than 60 young musicians or bands the opportunity to perform alongside world-famous jazz musicians in the past 15 years. The musicians participated in other festivals following Istanbul Jazz Festival and performed at various jazz clubs in Turkey and many other countries. The applicants of the previous years include: Gevende, Mikado, Ece Göksu, Ozan Musluoğlu, Batuhan Şallıel and Anıl Şallıel, Volkan Topakoğlu, Yaşam Hancılar, Cihan Mürtezaoğlu, Deniz Taşar, Çağrı Sertel, Ekin Cengizkan, Başak Yavuz, Tolga Erzurumlu, Eylül Biçer, Can Tutuğ, Sanat Deliorman and İpek Dinç.
