Youth Jazz Orchestra of Saxony to Perform in Austria

The Youth Jazz Orchestra of Saxony (JJO) is set to embark on a guest performance tour in Carinthia, Austria, this August. The ensemble will present musical pieces by the Austrian composer Reinhold P.-Schmölzer during their performances.

On August 16, the young jazz musicians from Saxony will participate in a double concert alongside the Carinthian Youth Jazz Orchestra. The event will take place in Gmünd, in front of the Alte Post guesthouse. If weather conditions are unfavorable, the concert will move indoors to the Lodronsche Reitschule. Two days later, another double concert is scheduled at the Waldarena Krumpendorf.

Reinhold "Reini" P.-Schmölzer, aged 42, is a notable drummer, composer, and arranger recognized as a significant voice in the European jazz orchestra scene. Project leader Ulrike Kirchberg described his work as a fusion of Big Band tradition with contemporary composition techniques, resulting in a distinctive sound that is both structurally precise and expressive. Schmölzer has been teaching jazz arrangement and composition at the Gustav Mahler Private University in Klagenfurt since 2019.

The Youth Jazz Orchestra of Saxony is a big band comprising up to 20 young musicians aged between 18 and 26. The ensemble performs in various configurations and has previously toured internationally, with past engagements in Canada, Greece, India, Hungary, and Israel. Before their Austrian concerts, JJO will hold two performances in their home region of Saxony: on August 13 at the Colditz Jazz Night in the Schlosshof, and the following day at the Kulturfabrik in Leipzig.