The new line-up of the Bundesjazzorchester for the 2025/2026 season has been finalised. 36 applicants passed the auditions, which took place from 3 to 5 January at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. All big band positions and the Bujazzo vocal ensemble have been filled. The first assignment for the new line-up is from 8 to 15 March 2025 for the winter work phase at the Bundesakademie Trossingen with the programme "Somewhere in this world". "We are looking forward to the new cast! There are many young personalities with enormous ability and potential who will be playing in the Bundesjazzorchester over the next two years," says project manager Henning Vetter.
A total of 243 young musicians from all over Germany applied to join the German Music Council's top young jazz orchestra. Following the selection process by the preliminary jury, 103 applicants were invited to audition. The two youngest musicians are 17 years old. Most of the future bujazzos are studying at music academies and have played in a state youth jazz orchestra (LJJO) in the past: LJJO Bavaria (8), Baden-Württemberg (3), Berlin (3), Brandenburg (4), Hamburg (1), Hesse (3), Lower Saxony (3), North Rhine-Westphalia (5), Rhineland-Palatinate (2), Saarland (1), Saxony (2), Saxony-Anhalt (3), Schleswig-Holstein (2) and Thuringia (2).
The jury, consisting of the Artistic Director of the Bundesjazzorchester Niels Klein, Heidi Bayer (tp), Carla Köllner (trb), Theresia Philipp (sax), Sebastian Gille (sax), Steffen Schorn (sax), Julia Hülsmann (p), Eva Klesse (dr), Caris Hermes (b), Martin Schulte (g) and project manager Henning Vetter, selected the most qualified candidates from a strong field of applicants. Vocal professors Esther Kaiser, Juan M. V. Garcia and Tamara Lukasheva selected the new singers for the Bujazzo vocal ensemble.
The line-up of the Federal Jazz Orchestra 2025-26 (in alphabetical order):
Alto saxophone:
Jean-Loup Eberhardt (Hochschule für Musik Würzburg / LJJO Bayern)
Mark Maksimovich (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln / LJJO Bayern)
Leonora Tomanoski (Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover / LJJO Niedersachsen)
Tenor saxophone:
Thies van Ballegooy (Preparatory Programme / LJJO Berlin)
Estelle Dupont (Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg / LJJO Baden-Württemberg)
Julius Jahn (Jazz Institut Berlin / Lajjazzo Brandenburg, JJJO NRW)
Baritone saxophone:
Lorenz Knauft (Folkwang University of the Arts Essen / JJJO NRW, LJJO Saxony-Anhalt, LJJO Thuringia)
Linda Scharnagl (Jazzcampus Basel / LJJO Bavaria)
Trumpet:
Tobias Bech Lauesen (Jazz Institut Berlin)
Felix Bork (Guildhall School of Music and Drama London / LJJO Bayern, LJJO Hessen, LJJO Rheinland-Pfalz, LJJO Sachsen-Anhalt)
Philippe Feuerhake (Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg / LJJO Schleswig-Holstein)
Raphael Greil (Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna / LJJO Bavaria)
Noah Hinze (Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts / LJJO Baden-Württemberg)
Ben Mammel (Carl Maria von Weber University of Music Dresden / Lajjazzo Brandenburg, LJJO Saxony)
Tenor trombone:
Florian Groß (Conservatorium van Amsterdam / LJJO Hamburg, LJJO Niedersachsen)
Josef Gütter (Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden / LJJO Sachsen, LJJO Thüringen)
Fabius Mey (Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg / LJJO Bayern)
Clara Wedel (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln / Lajjazzo Brandenburg)
Bass trombone:
Isabella Schamberger (Leopold Mozart College of Music - University of Augsburg / LJJO Bayern)
Wigurd Wildgrube (Musikgymnasium Carl Phillip Emanuel Berlin / Lajjazzo Brandenburg)
Piano:
Dominik Gershkovich (Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig)
Benedikt Göb (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln / JJJO NRW)
Guitar:
Xaver Bodenstein (Cologne University of Music and Dance)
Alfred Müller (Mannheim State University of Music and Performing Arts / LJJO Baden-Württemberg, LJJO Rhineland-Palatinate)
Bass:
Sebastian Claas (Hochschule für Musik Würzburg / LJJO Bayern)
Lena Lorberg (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln / JJJO NRW, LJJO Niedersachsen)
Percussion:
Conrad Räuchle (Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover / LJJO Hessen, LJJO Sachsen-Anhalt)
Niklas Wittig (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln / LJJO Schleswig-Holstein)
Singing:
S1: Irma Neumüller Broth (Jazz Institut Berlin)
S1: Lilith Walkenhorst (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln / JJJO NRW)
S2: Josefine Laub (Hochschule für Musik Saar / LJJO Hessen, LJJO Saarland)
S2: Kateryna Shabelko (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln)
A: Lilli Kornhuber (Jazzinstitut der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz)
A: Cansu Arat (Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg)
T: Varad Amol Bhagwat (Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock)
T: Leon Glauning (Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden / LJJO Berlin)
B: Kjalar Martinsson Kollmar (Jazz Institut Berlin)
B: Fabian Eichler (Musikschule Paul Hindemith Berlin / LJJO Berlin)
All university and LJJO experience details are based on the information provided by the musicians at the time of application.