Munich. At the final concert of the BMW Welt Jazz
Award 2020 held on Friday evening, the Peter Gall Quintet won over the
award’s renowned jury. Together with saxophonist Wanja Slavin, Dutch
guitarist Reinier Baas, pianist Reiner Böhm and up-and-coming bassist
Felix Henkelhausen, drummer Peter Gall prevailed against the dam
Bałdych Quartet. Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of
BMW AG, presented the prize together with Anton Biebl, Head of the
Department of Cultural Affairs of the state capital Munich.
Following the theme “The Melody at Night”, the concerts of the BMW
Welt Jazz Award 2020 were presented at BMW Welt’s double coned
structure and for the first time on Tuesday evenings. Having been
postponed for over a year due to the global pandemic, the final
concert of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2020 now took place at the
philharmonic hall at Gasteig, thanks to the city of Munich.
The expert jury said: “Both finalists convincingly brought the motto
‘The Melody at Night’ of this BMW Welt Jazz Award edition to life with
a personal twist of their own. Adam Bałdych has once again proven to
be a technically and stylistically unique violinist. And the drummer
Peter Gall, who has already shown his brilliance in so many ways while
participating in the projects of others, has proven to be an
outstanding composer and great band leader with his very first work of
his own. Together with his dream team, the all-star quintet starring
Rainer Böhm, Reinier Baas, Wanja Slavin and Felix Henkelhausen, Gall
generates a veritable intoxication of sound. As complex and
interconnected the song structures are, they are simultaneously
powerful, exciting and simply created to take in and enjoy. Many
elements flow into this endeavor – and everything fits together
fantastically as well as harmoniously. A real somnambulistic
‘Dreambox’ as the album is titled. A magic box so thrilling and
inspiring that the jury would like to congratulate Peter Gall and his
quintet for winning the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2020.”
Peter Gall Quintet received a prize money of 10,000 Euro as well as
the trophy designed by BMW Design. The runner up Adam Bałdych Quartet
was awarded 5,000 Euro.
In addition to the award and supported by the jazz award’s partner
Bayerischer Hof, the public’s favorite was also selected. Based on
audience votes at each performance, Adam Bałdych Quartet excited the
guests and will therefore receive an exclusive performance at the
Night Club of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich.
Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG,
Director of Hu-man Resources and Labour Relations, praised the skills
of the finalists: “I am delighted that we were now able to hold the
final concert of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2020 this year and celebrate
its winner. My fullest congratulations to the Peter Gall Quintet. I
would also like to thank our long-standing partners, especially the
state capital Munich. Together with them, the BMW Group stands for
reliability and takes its social and cultural responsibilities
seriously for already 50 years now.Therefore, it gives me great
pleasure that the BMW Welt Jazz Award will also be continued next
year. Following the theme ‘Key Position’, the BMW Welt Jazz Award will
focus on one of the characterizing instruments of jazz music: the
piano. It has been playing an important role and has been inspiring
audiences from the very beginning with ragtime and boogie woogie over
great bigband pianists and legends of modern jazz until now.”
“I cannot think of our city’s cultural life without the BMW Welt Jazz
Award anymore. The series of concerts at BMW Welt with high-ranking
jazz ensembles gives free access to thousands of music fans for many
years now. I am very grateful to our partner BMW for their great and
continuous cultural engagement over all those years. It fills me with
joy that by providing the philharmonic hall for this year’s final
concert, a large audience could be a part of it following the
necessary COVID regulations,” said Anton Biebl, Head of the Department
of Cultural Affairs of the state capital Munich.
Different from the previous years, there were only five instead of
six performances given by renowned ensembles from around the world in
the double coned structure of BMW Welt in January and February 2020.
Besides the two finalists, the musicians playing in the double cone
structure of BMW Welt were: Cecilie Grundt Quintet (Norway), the
Andrea Hermenau Quintet (Germany) and Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen
(Luxembourg). The sixth concert with the Giovanni Guidi Quintet
(Italy) had to be cancelled due to related measures taken to control
the corona virus. The Italian jazz pianist and his quintet will now
perform at BMW Welt Jazz Award 2022 following the theme “Key Position”.
The winner of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2020 was selected by a
top-class jury of reputable jazz experts and connoisseurs. Chaired by
Oliver Hochkeppel (music and culture correspondent with Süddeutsche
Zeitung), the panel members were: Roland Spiegel (music editor and
jazz specialist with the Bavarian broadcaster BR-KLASSIK), Andreas
Kolb (editor-in-chief of JazzZeitung.de and nmz – neue musikzeitung),
Heike Lies (musicologist with the Music and Musical Theatre Division
of the City of Munich’s Department of Culture), and Christiane
Böhnke-Geisse (artistic director of the international jazz festival
Bingen swingt).
This year the BMW Welt Jazz Awards benefited from the kind support of
nmz – neue musikzeitung, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the
state capital Munich, the renowned Munich luxury hotel Bayerischer Hof
and the Munich radio station egoFM.
For further questions please contact:
Daria
Nikitina
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
HR,
Work Environment, Real Estate, Corporate Citizenship
Cultural
Engagement
Telephone: +49 89 382 60340
Email: Daria.Nikitina@bmw.de
Prof. Dr Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental
Affairs
HR, Work Environment, Real Estate, Corporate
Citizenship
Head of Cultural Engagement
Telephone: +49 89
382 24753
Email: Thomas.Girst@bmwgroup.com
www.press.bmwgroup.com
Email:
presse@bmw.de