07:00 pm
Niels Klein Artistic Director
Das Bundesjazzorchester (Bujazzo) dedicates its programme “Irgendwo auf der Welt…” to music by artists persecuted by the Nazi regime. Legendary melodies such as “Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt” (Friedrich Holländer), “While My Lady Sleeps” (Bronislav Kaper) or “Irgendwo auf der Welt” (Werner R. Heymann), which have lost none of their power to touch our hearts, are transported into our times in this way: as modern jazz, avant-garde or reinterpreted hits – but always in the toe-tapping sound of the Bundesjazzorchester.
The Bundesjazzorchester (Bujazzo) is Germany’s leading youth jazz orchestra. For 37 years, the German Music Council has dedicated itself to fostering young German jazz musicians through this ensemble. The Bujazzo is a valuable bridge between education and the profession, and serves as a talent pool for tomorrow’s successful jazz musicians. Prominent jazz musicians such as Till Brönner, Julia Hülsmann, Tom Gaebel, Johanna Summer, Nils Wogram, Alma Naidu and Michael Wollny started their careers here. Prof. Niels Klein and Theresia Philipp serve as the Bujazzo’s artistic directors. With Klein and Philipp and various guest leaders, talents aged 17 to 24 – almost all of them students at German and international music academies – regularly rehearse new programmes, presenting them in concerts in Germany and abroad. Basic financing for the Bujazzo is provided by the Federal Ministry of Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), the Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten (GVL), the Mercedes Benz Group AG and the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).
Niels Klein (b. 1978 in Hamburg) studied saxophone and composition/arranging at the Cologne Academy of Music and Dance from 1998 to 2002. Since then, he has been performing with musicians such as Vince Mendoza, Peter Erskine, Jim Black, Gary Husband, Jeff Hamilton, Albert Mangelsdorff, Bob Brookmeyer, Nils Wogram, Frank Wingold, Florian Ross, Pablo Held, Robert Landfermann, Jonas Burgwinkel and many others, appearing at numerous national and international festivals. He can be heard as a saxophonist and clarinettist on more than 50 recordings, releasing numerous albums under his own name or as a co-leader. As a composer, arranger and conductor, he has worked with many ensembles, including the NDR Bigband, the WDR Big Band, the European Jazz Orchestra, EOS Chamber Orchestra Cologne, the Metropole Orkest, the Münster Opera, the Jazzdock Orchestra Prague, the Swiss Jazz Orchestra, the Berlin Art Orchestra, Spielvereinigung Süd, Fette Hupe Hanover and many others. In 2016, he was appointed professor of jazz saxophone at the Cologne Academy of Music and Dance. Previously, he was a professor of jazz composition and theory in Osnabrück. In 2011, he joined the artistic directorship of the Bundesjazzorchester (Bujazzo, or German Jazz Youth Orchestra).