Brisbane Youth Jazz Festival
An impressive new generation of jazz
This festival is a niche space for young, emerging jazz musicians. It’s tailored to the aspirations of the next generation of professional musicians.
Performing in front of a live audience in a professional venue does a lot for building confidence and gaining maturity as musicians. We’ve seen that happen time and again. This festival enables young people to take their skills to the next level in a non-competitive atmosphere, giving them an opportunity to shine.
“…the ‘professionalism’ and the sheer joy…”
It’s hard to know where to start in describing the enthusiasm, the quality of the playing, the ‘professionalism’ and the sheer joy that we all experienced in our first ever Brisbane Youth Jazz Festival.
Alan Western | Vice President of Brisbane Jazz Club
Who is the festival for?
Audiences are typically made up of family and friends of the musicians, but anyone is welcome. We encourage warm feedback and support of the performers.
If you’re anywhere between 9- and 21-years-old and you play in a jazz band, this festival was designed with you in mind. Most participants are school and college bands, but any youth band of three instruments or more can request to participate.
The perks
Besides the opportunity for your band to be in the spotlight at a professional event, you’ll come away with a heap of other things to talk about.
- Meet other bands. It’s not a competition, and with four or five different bands playing each night, you get to hang out with others who love band life just as much as you do.
- Learn from each other. It’s a chance to watch other bands in action, see different styles and learn new techniques from each other. There’s nothing like learning while doing.
- Get used to playing to a public audience. It’s not just mum, dad or your friends in the audience. Anyone can buy a ticket, and the numbers have risen to just under 200 people per night. But don’t worry, the audience at this festival will cheer you on.
- Get professional feedback. The festival host and patrons provide feedback to performing bands to tweak and fine-tune your learning.
The program
The festival is held in May every year and includes:
- Four shows over four nights
- Four to five bands performing at each show