AND THE WINNER OF B-JAZZ 2023 IS…

AND THE WINNER OF B-JAZZ 2023 IS…

In cooperation with Jazz in ‘t Park, Muziekmozaïek organized the 43rd edition of the final of B-Jazz International Contest 2023 from September 7 to 9. In Ghent’s Voorhavenpark, the numerous audience present could enjoy six magnificent concerts together with the jury.

The six participating bands were successively Symbiosis 5 (Hungary), Urban Quartet (Italy), Anti-Panopticon (Belgium/the Netherlands), Peter Willems Trio (the Netherlands/Germany/Poland), Elias D’hooge Trio (Belgium) and Sebastian Spanache (Romania).

With seven nationalities on stage, the international character of this competition for young jazz musicians was already guaranteed and the performances were all of high quality. Based on what we heard and saw, the jazz future looks bright.

After the performance of the sixth finalist on Saturday night, the international jury of experts retreated to deliberate, which was not an easy task given the high level of all participants. They finally came to the unanimous decision that the winner of B-Jazz 2023, the winner of the ‘Grand Prix Albert Michiels’ is the group Elias D’hooge Trio.

This trio consists of Elias D’hooge (piano), Zjef Van Steenbergen (double bass) and Tom Peeters (drums).

Zjef Van Steenbergen (doubla bass), Elias D’hooge (piano) en Tom Peeters (drums)
photo © Patrick Clerens

Some quotes from the judges’ report:

Super good quality of performance.  

They breathe the music together!  

Great sound as a trio.  

An honest, simple, committed, straight-forward approach to music.  

Nothing distracted me from truly enjoying it.

members of the jury: Ioan Big (Romania), Cristina Zavalloni (Italy), Aygül Günaltay-Weyler (Belgium/Turkey),
Irja Zeper (the Netherlands), Jan Formannoy (the Netherlands) and Filip Verneert (Belgium). 
photo © Patrick Clerens

By winning the ‘Grote Prijs’, Elias D’hooge Trio can perform in Spain, Italy, Romania, the Netherlands and, of course, Belgium in the coming months. When exactly they will be playing where can be followed via this website and the B-Jazz facebook page (facebook.com/bjazzinternationalcontest).

Thanks to our partners Getxo Jazz (Spain), Saint Louis College of Music (Italy), Brașov Jazz and Blues Festival (Romania), Conservatorium Maastricht (Netherlands), De Jazzontspooring (Belgium), Leuven Jazz (Belgium) and Jazz in ‘t Park (Belgium).

And not to forget our fantastic volunteers. Thank you and until the next edition!

volunteers: Esther Dewitte, Gui Pleysier, Eric Mat, Guido Denayer and Orpha Celis
photo © Patrick Clerens
photo © Patrick Clerens
photo © Patrick Clerens