JURY& SPEAKERS

Alin Vaida is an active cultural manager and music curator from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In 2013, he founded the international Jazz in the Park Festival is his hometown, which he still runs and is on track to celebrate its 10th edition and has won “Best Small Festival in Europe” in 2019, at the prestigious European Festival Awards. In the last years, Alin has been actively involved in supporting the local jazz movement, implementing various projects that offer support to up and coming artists. Also, through his festival, he has helped Romanian Jazz acts to perform abroad, implementing cultural exchanges with other festivals and clubs.

Cinzia Venier is a music production leader with over 15 years of experience in the cultural sector. She currently heads the Management and Production Department at Taller de Músics, a leading music school and agency in Barcelona that offers education, creation, and dissemination of music. With a strong background and expertise in cultural studies and event management, she manages and supports a diverse portfolio of artists, festivals, events, and projects. She has successfully coordinated and organized various music festivals and events, such as Ciutat Flamenco and Jazz I Am, that showcase the talent and diversity of the music scene in Barcelona and beyond. She also oversees the sponsorship, label management, project coordination, and development of Taller de Músics. Her mission is to foster and enhance the cultural and artistic value of music in the local and global context.

Behind the mic' of the "Jazz the Two of Us" podcast, Jean Fromageau is not a jazz ayatollah. No, he's just a guy who likes to play a little sax solo on a Saturday afternoon while playing video games. And finally, it's to find out if he's the only one who thinks there's jazz in everything that he launched this weekly podcast. And when he's not talking about jazz, he manage amazing festivals like La Douve Blanche Festival which combines music and cuisine, or Le Culture Fest' with content popularizer and influencer Manon Bril. All this, obviously in a very jaaaazzz way.

Programer of Lotto Brussels Jazz Weekend Founder/Coordinator of LD Music Agency. She has been working in the music industry for several years as a promoter, manager, booker, event organizer and label coordinator. She is also part of the team behind the Brussels Jazz Alert platform, promoting upcoming Belgian talents.

Magnus Lunay is the Artistic director of Molde Jazz Festival, one of the oldest and biggest jazz music festival in Europe. Lunay hails from Stockholm and has experience from the Stockholm Jazz Festival, Fasching Jazz Club and Kulturhuset Stadsteatern. With a wide relevant network, an exciting background, extensive experience, and specialized knowledge in the field of jazz, he contributes to the further development and positioning of Moldejazz.

Pascal Pilorget founded GiantSteps in 2004. Twenty years on, the agency represents some forty artists of international stature, from Tigran Hamasyan to Vulfpeck, with the ambition of representing the new jazz scene. Since 2022 he has been co-artistic director of the Juan les Pins festival.

Anastasiia Pokaz is the creative producer of the XJAZZ! FESTIVAL BERLIN, a key event in Germany's jazz scene. She is responsible for developing and executing the festival’s communication strategy and leading innovative projects that expand its reach and impact. With over eight years of experience in jazz promotion and creative production, she has been instrumental in bringing Ukrainian jazz to international audiences and still continuing to support Ukrainian artists in Europe. She is involved in projects like ‘MEMENTO ODESA’, a collaboration between Sebastian Studnitzky and the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra, with a European tour planned for November 2024. Currently, Anastasiia is focused on launching a digital media platform dedicated to presenting jazz as a lifestyle, spotlighting emerging artists, and fostering a community centered on inclusivity, consciousness and improvisation.

Fahranaz Bozkurt is music based doer persona. She is creative&executive producer and artistic curator. Her muse is being multi-hat on music industry. With a diverse skill set in the music industry, she has directed several jazz festivals and managed artists. Currently, she is pioneering curatorial projects aimed at bridging artists and commercial brands. By fostering these collaborations, brands can support cultural creations, allowing artists to surpass their potential through conventional means. Her goal is to highlight the potential benefits of these partnerships in today's technology-driven, content-focused new music era.

Arrived in the jazz game completely by chance a little over ten years ago, but hey, still here! I've lost hair and drunk too many beers, but still manage to keep up with our 400 events a year. At the Jazz Station, we try to be a serious club, with a big program and international collaborations, but also a small non-profit organization with a kind heart.

Cradled under the big top of the Jazz in Marciac Festival in southwest France, and nursed on the tunes of Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz and Miles Davis, Maurin Auxéméry moved to Quebec in 2006. It was instant love at first sight for Quebec, its culture, its people and above all for the institution he would join in 2013: the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

With over 20 years of extensive experience in the music industry, Patricia Pascal has held several key roles as artist manager, producer, promoter, talent Booker, and curator, primarily in the Jazz and World Music International scenes. Based in London since 2007, she has developed vital work to promote under-represented youth Jazz talent as part of Tomorrow's Warriors and her network Jazznewblood.org.

Founder and director of A to JazZ Festival & Showcase in Sofia, Bulgaria and chairman of A to Z Foundation for Culture (NPO) in the filed of culture, international cultural exchange, supporting and promoting artists in jazz and world music.

Pierre Zeimet is artistic director of Arty Farty, an association based in Lyon, and in particular of the Nuits sonores festival of electronic and independent cultures (of which he is deputy co-director) and of Le Sucre, a venue dedicated to club culture.

Veronika started out in the musical industry by inviting her favorite bands to her hometown and organizing jam sessions when she was 17 years old. From there she went on to study Music Management at the Academy of Performing Arts and Prague where she is currently finishing her Masters degree. She worked in various institutions and finally ended up at her dreamjob - doing the Mladí ladí jazz festival in Prague. There she also works on various projects – for example Jazzfruit (young jazz bands competition), Jazzchange (Czech-Slovenian exchange project) or Jazzbit (young jazz bands club series).