The juries of the German Jazz Prize determine the nominees and award winners in a transparent and independent process. The selection of the winners takes place in a two-stage process. First, from all applications and suggestions of the jury members, four deserving artists or projects are nominated for each award category. This is done by the expert jury, if not separately determined for the prize category. In a second step, the main jury for each prize category selects the award winner of the award category from the four nominees. The juries are appointed by Initiative Musik in coordination with the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), based on a proposal from the advisory board. As a rule, jury members of both the expert jury and the main jury are appointed for two years. More information on the composition of the main and expert juries, as well as the current jury members, can be found below. All former jury members can be found here.
MAIN JURY
The main jury is made up of a total of 10 representatives of the 5 expert juries as well as 7 other members who are outstanding and recognized personalities of cultural public life with an affinity for jazz. The main jury determines the winners of the German Jazz Prize from the four nominated artists and performances in an award category. The members of the main jury for the sixth edition will be announced once the selection process for nominees and award winners is completed.
EXPERT JURY
The expert jury of the German Jazz Prize is composed of a total of 25 personalities from the field of jazz and improvised music. In order to reflect all perspectives of this lively and multifaceted music scene, the jury is formed as a representative cross-section of five people from each of the following areas: Artists, labels/publishers, clubs/festivals, management/agencies and journalists/media representatives. The expert jury determines the nominees of an edition, independently, expertly and in a dynamic dialog. These are the expert jury members for the sixth edition:
Berlin-based Musician and Author
Musician/ Professor
Label Owner (Bretford Records), Music Manager, Concert Promoter & Booker
Journalist, Author (ZEIT, Tagesspiegel, Taz, Jazzthing), Lecturer (Columbia University, HCA), Curator, Publicist
Musician and Producer, Co-Founder of Squama Recordings
President of August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Founder/Director of Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival
Writer / Journalist
Musician and Curator for XJAZZ! Festival
Cultural Manager and Curator
Journalist
Association Friends of Irène Schweizer, until 2026: Intakt Records, Director of Taktlos Festival
Creative Director, Producer & Cultural Curator
Music Journalist, Author, University Lecturer
Artist Manager, President and Founder, 24 Seven Artist Development
Composer, Professor of Music at Columbia University, Artistic Director at International Contemporary Ensemble
Music Curator, DJ and Producer
Musician, Musicologist, and Manager
Cultural and Tour Manager, Dramaturg; Production Manager and Co-Curator of the mu/niq jazz Festival (niq kollektiv)
Marimba & Vibraphone Artist, Composer
Owner Der Promotor
Label Owner/ Artist Manager
Drummer, Curator (Bezau Beatz), Label (Boomslang Records)
Co-Artistic Director of the Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige and Artistic Director of the Jazz Program at Dekadenz Brixen
Guitarist, Composer, Curator, Teacher
Dramaturgy and Project Development at Monheimer Kulturwerke GmbH
SPECIAL JURY
A five-member special jury will select the four nominees as well as the prize winner in the category Composition/Arrangement. The members of the special jury for the sixth edition will be announced once the selection process for nominees and award winners is completed in early 2026.
Pianist, Eb Horn Player, Composer, Educator and Professor of Jazz at Bern University of the Arts
Musician & Composer
Drummer, Composer, Arranger
Composer, Clarinetist, Bandleader
Musician (Woodwind Instruments) and Composer
The jury statutes of the German Jazz Prize can be found here.