Jazz in Germany: A View from the Capital
9:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008
Webster Auditorium
Admission: free

This talk is about the German music scene, especially the jazz scene. It ranges from beginners to professionals. Musical governmental sponsorships are discussed as well as the support and encouragement a city like Berlin is providing to young musicians. Berlin is Germany’s capital of jazz music. An overview of bands and styles and how they are influenced will be included. In order to understand the opportunities musicians have in Berlin, a glance at the classical scene will be helpful: Berlin just had its first international amateur piano competition, an event the USA and France have been familiar with for a long time.

Bodo C. Hacheney works as a writer and jazz musician in Berlin. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the Freie Universität Berlin and spent several years as a basic research scientist, IT specialist, and speaker. He won a writing competition of “Tagesspiegel,” was one of Berlin’s top 10 writers of the “Hörverlag” competition, and has been nominated for the Rotraud Danker literature prize. He has written three novels, several short stories and press articles, and is a chairman of the “Autorenforum Berlin” reading stage. In Berlin, he can be seen on stage as a novelist, pianist, and guitarist - solo or in duo, combo, and big band formations.