ARTISTIC
DIRECTION
COMPOSITIONAL COLLABORATION,
SONG TEXTS
Benjamin Weidekamp (*1977) has lived in Berlin since 1999, where he studied saxophone/clarinet and composition.
For almost 25 years he has dedicated himself to contemporary jazz with numerous ensembles of his own, ranging from trio to extended big band. In doing so, he passionately embraces eclecticism and playfully incorporates influences that may at first seem contradictory – jazz, serial music, microtonal music, hip-hop, indie pop, indigenous music, improvised music. His work is documented on over 20 recordings. Since 2015, Benjamin Weidekamp has been intensively engaged in his compositional work with the current issues and challenges of our time, not leaving out socio-political positions. The projects “Filter Bubble”, “Die Ernte”, “Brigade Futur III” as well as the “Bottom Orchestra” bear witness to this. The collective development and implementation of artistic ideas is central to all of the projects mentioned.
www.benjaminweidekamp.de
Michael Haves (*1978) lives as a composer, musician and producer in Berlin.
As a jazz double bassist he played the republic for years before he founded the alternative band SUPER700 in 2003 and toured the world. He writes music for theater, film and radio plays and is a producer for jazz and alternative pop acts. In 2017, he founded the big band BRIGADE FUTUR 3 with friends.
www.michaelhaves.de
COACHING
In addition to the work with the musical leadership team, the musicians of the JJO are regularly coached during rehearsals by internationally active coaches such as Jérôme Bugnon, Hayden Chisholm, Yumi Ito and Almut Kühne. In this way, the JJO always receives new and inspiring impulses from outside.
ORGANISATION
Ulla Westvik
Management
Ruben Kilchling
Project assistant and social media
Since February 2021, the JUGENDJAZZORCHESTER.CH is officially organized as an association. The association has a lean structure in order to adapt an efficient operational management adapted to the project: A three-member board (Christian Weber, Kaspar von Grünigen and Ohad Talmor) heads the office – which is divided into the management (Ulla Westvik) and project assistance (Ruben Kilchling).
