2025

At the festive awards ceremony of the German Jazz Prize 2025 on the evening of 13 June at the E-Werk in Cologne, 22 outstanding personalities and projects from the jazz scene were honored.

The award ceremony was accompanied by a top-class musical program that impressively reflected the stylistic diversity and creative energy of contemporary jazz. Live performances included Nduduzo Makhathini with Omagugu Makhathini, Philo Tsoungui with Ludwig Wandinger, as well as Sonic Interventions, who framed the evening musically and thrilled the audience.

You can watch a full recording of the award ceremony in the ARD Mediathek and on our YouTube channel.

Nduduzo & Omagugu Makhathini | Deutscher Jazzpreis 2025 | © Robert Winter

The fifth edition of the German Jazz Prize concluded with a special finale as part of the NUEJAZZ Festival. In cooperation with the festival—which itself was honored with the German Jazz Prize as Festival of the Year in 2024—the German Jazz Prize presented concerts on 25 October 2025 in Nuremberg featuring nominees and award winners from various editions, including the Peter Gall Quintet, the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, Enji, Jelena Kuljić & Fundamental Interactions feat. Olga Reznichenko, Sera Kalo, as well as Kit Downes and Camila Nebbia together with Andrew Lisle.

Since 2021, the German Jazz Prize has honored outstanding artistic achievements in the national and international jazz scene. It is realized by Initiative Musik with project funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The fifth edition took place in cooperation with the City of Cologne and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.