The Baltic States and the Pacific Region – jazzahead!’s key international focus areas for 2027

For up-and-coming jazz acts, jazzahead!’s showcase programme is among the most effective launch pads anywhere in the world. Applications for the 2027 showcases – short concerts of 30 to 45 minutes – will be open from 25 August to 30 September, with entries to be made via jazzahead.de/showcases. Starting on 22 April 2027, the 38 international showcases and the approximately 120 Clubnight concerts will once again bring thousands of visitors, as well as international music industry professionals, including record labels, management and booking agencies, to Bremen.

jazzahead! is currently in the process of putting together the five juries to choose the showcase acts through a rigorous multiphase selection process. The showcase acts come from all over the world.

The Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are taking centre stage as an exciting growth market. It is a region that is all too often overlooked and certainly deserves to be better known. The jazzahead! team and the partner region will be working together to identify some of the amazing talents in the region. Each of the three countries will be represented by three showcase acts.

Award-winning Estonian pianist Kirke Karja, who has attended every jazzahead! since 2017 in a professional capacity, is a member of the team producing the programme. Karja says:
„In the Baltic countries, music culture is not as closely connected with historical names such as Bach, Debussy or Coltrane. Our legs are not bound by tradition! We are part of Europe, but we are also connected to other cultural spheres. This has definitely influenced our music. For example, Estonian saxophonist Maria Faust has said that she doesn’t swing… she marches. This is precisely the kind of different perspective which makes music from our region so fresh and interesting.“

First preview of the jazzahead! 2027 programme

Instead of a Grand Opening concert on the Wednesday night of the Festival, jazzahead! 2027 will begin on 21 April with an Exhibitors’ Preview, an evening exclusively for industry participants. The trade fair and festival will be launched at the Auftakt! Welcoming Ceremony at midday on 22 April. The jazzahead! Anklang! on Friday evening, featuring top-class concerts and including several surprises will take place around Bremen’s historic Marktplatz, and will be one of the festival’s highlights.

From 2027 to 2029, the focus region will be Asia Pacific.
The objective of this initiative is to forge connections between the nations in the region and across continents, and for this to happen both on an artistic and professional level. Alongside at least three showcases from the Pacific region, there will also be panels and discussions with specialists. The focus will be not only on nations with a profile in the jazz world such as Japan and Australia, but also on the scenes in less well-known countries such as South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand.

“Asia Pacific” follows on from the focus theme “Jazz from Africa” – jazzahead! remains firmly committed to continue to develop ongoing close collaborations with its African partners.

The showcase application period for jazzahead! 2027 begins on 25 August and ends on 30 September.

At the same time, registration opens for all industry participants – who can start networking online straight away by signing up via the participant portal.

jazzahead! Director Sybille Kornitschky and Artistic Advisor Götz Bühler are available for interviews.

Press accreditation is now open online at: https://jazzahead.de/press/#accreditation

All photos can be found in our digital press kit. It also includes the latest press information, additional photos, logos and a social media kit:

ja!27_Press_kit
Password: ja!27_Press_kit

You can download images from the following links:
Photo 1: Atmosphere at the jazzahead! Showcase at Kulturzentrum Schlachthof © M3B GmbH/Joerg Sarbach
Photo 2: Kirke Karja © Greete Raudsepp
Photo 3: The Bremen St. Peter’s Cathedral at the jazzahead! Clubnight 2026 featuring Andrii Pokaz & Magnus Öström © M3B GmbH/Jens Schlenker

Copyright press photos:
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