JAZZ AS a VERB International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen Project
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JAZZ AS A VERB organized improvisation - improvised organization International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen Project description Content 1. Project title 2. Project resume Activities 3. Motivation 4. Audience and purpose of project Quantitative goals 5. Location 6. Time period 7. Program: Activities and content 8. Collaborators 9. Information and PR strategy 10. Evaluation 11. Initiators background 12. Budget 1 JAZZ AS A VERB organized improvisation - improvised organization International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen 1. Project titel Jazz as a verb organized improvisation – improvised organization International Jazz Day – 2013 – Copenhagen 2. Project resume Jazz as a verb is the first Danish initiative to mark UNESCO's International Jazz Day, which was founded in 2012. The initiative kicks off on 30 April 2013 and consists of a day seminar at Zentropa in Filmbyen (the area of outer Copenhagen know as the Film City) followed by an evening concert at the venue Bremen in Copenhagen. During the day seminar various presenters and speakers will explore how processes in playing jazz can inspire and convert to other social contexts: learning, innovation and organization. The seminar is primarily for business people, human resource departments, academics and students and others with interest in organizational development, while the evening concert has a broader appeal as a celebration of International Jazz Day. International Jazz Day is done in cooperation with Zentropa, Bremen, We Love People and Danish Radio P8. Activities Jazz as a verb is a two-part event of both a day seminar and an evening concert. The day seminar aims to investigate and provide information about processes that exist in jazz and contextualise these to Danish art, culture and business. The evening concert is a meeting between Danish and international musicians, with music speaking for itself. Day seminar from 9:30am – 4:00pm incl. lunch Evening concert from 8.00pm – around midnight 3. Motivation This project is the first initiative to celebrate this global jazz day in the Danish context, and it makes good sense to do so. Denmark has a significant jazz history, also globally, since Copenhagen has been one of the leading jazz capitals in Europe since the 1960's. This has affected - and today still characterizes - Danish culture and mindset. Copenhagen Jazz Festival has come to be the example of a recurring and growing event which steadily brings Danish jazz musicians forward and attracts legions of local and foreign audiences and critics. There are several good reasons why we should celebrate International Jazz Day in Denmark: 2 JAZZ AS A VERB organized improvisation - improvised organization International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen Because: 1. Danish jazz history gained momentum in the late 1950s when particularly American jazz musicians visited the country, with some even settling in Copenhagen. Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster, Ed Thigpen are some of the legends that turned Copenhagen into one of the leading jazz capitals in the '60s and '70s, leaving both a musical heritage and an inquisitive mind among the Danes. Because: 2. Denmark has a tradition of great thinkers, designers and artists, eg. philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, classical composer Carl Nielsen, designer Arne Jacobsen and bassist/'jazzist' Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP). Today, also the Danish film and television industry contributes to this branding of Denmark. Because: 3. In recent years, Denmark has proven itself to be an innovative country with companies such as Novo Nordisk, LEGO and Carlsberg, which are global players. Also at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), the relationship between art and business has been in focus since 2003, and this academic reflection is further strengthening our position as a country with creative and innovative resources. Because: ... the way jazz is organized and organizes, is parallel in many ways to what is happening in other social contexts, and as such jazz becomes valuable to look at, with regard to other (social) contexts, and in addition to only concerts. International Jazz Day is a day marked and founded in 2012 by UNESCO, a day which UNESCO itself describes in the following words: ”The Day is intended to raise awareness in the international community of the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people”. In line with UNESCO's vision, we want to learn from jazz these important virtues in relation to ourselves and our communities - and act on it. 4. Audience and purpose of project The purpose of Jazz as a verb is to bring jazz out of the clubs and concert halls, and look at its musical qualities in a different perspective and in alternative environments. The target audience is those with an interest in jazz music and especially business people, human resource departments, academics and students and others working with organizationational processes that are curious and can relate to the processes involved in jazz. At a time where complexity and communication dominate our society, we would like to bring jazz - and the art of jazz – to the front as a tool with which to navigate our complex world. In line with International Jazz Day's mission to celebrate jazz globally, in Denmark we wish to especially show what Danish jazz includes of music and social tools, and particularly reflect on "jazz as an educational tool" as we relate this to something particularly Danish. Put more simply: with Jazz as a verb, we want to show that jazz as a music form is self-organization around a task in which each individual contributes - and time their contribution – towards a common solution. These are valuable assets that can be converted to other social contexts. 3 JAZZ AS A VERB organized improvisation - improvised organization International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen In collaboration with Zentropa we will use their auditorium in Filmbyen as location for the day seminar. Zentropa is an exciting setting because although it has nothing to do with jazz, it has everything to do with the way we approach jazz. Zentropa, one of Denmark's largest and fastest growing companies in the realm of film, is an example of how a certain Danish mindset brings creativity and business together and forward. Zentropa's auditorium can accommodate 130 people, and we have good expectations that it will sell out and we calculate with minimum 80% occupancy. For the evening concert, we cooperate with Bremen. Bremen is Simon Spies' old property (Simon Spies is considered a visionary and innovator who revolutionised the concept of family vacations and charter travels for decades) and carries both the spirit of Danish innovation and a vibe of rock'n'roll, a vibe not far from jazz revolutionary roots deriving from the tension between black and white America, especially during the civil rights period. In Bremen the audience capacity is for 644 guests and we expect a 70% occupancy. The event as underlined before is of two segments, and we are aware of the fact that the target groups might overlap between the day seminar and the evening concert. This is also why we have two venues of different sizes and with separate ticket prices. However, it is important for us to underline that the two activities are totally coherent and will be communicated as an overall event and Denmark's contribution to International Jazz Day 2013. Quantitative goals The expected participation for the whole day is 547 guests (based on respectively 80% and 70% occupancy at Zentropa and Bremen). Information-wise, we aim to reach wider through national and especially international media. An important point with celebrating International Jazz Day in Copenhagen is to place Denmark on the global landscape of those countries who speak for jazz. With this project, we believe we offer a special Danish innovative voice. Among the criteria for this endeavour to succeed is sound and effective publicity, equally distributed between pre- and post coverage of the event, and as particularly mentioned by UNESCO's own news media, via the Danish jazz media and the international jazz media. 5. Location Day seminar: Zentropa, Filmbyen Evening concert: Bremen, København 6. Time periode International Jazz Day April 30th, 2013 4 JAZZ AS A VERB organized improvisation - improvised organization International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen 7. Programme: Activities and content Day seminar from 9.30am - 4.00pm incl. lunch Evening concert from 8.00pm - around midnight Day seminar 09:30am Registration 10:00am Introduction Introductory words on International Jazz Day, on what jazz can, and what Denmark can learn from jazz. 10:15am Improvisation session A Danish jazz trio improvises over a new and unknown piece. The goal is to gain insight intohow the group works and organize themselves as they go along. The aim is to show the audience how innovation is a state of being and how organizing takes place in the moment. Thus the impro-session leads on to the program's next presentation ofJazz as a verb. 11:00am Jazz as a verb A philosophical reflection on improvisation, innovation and organization/organising 12:00 Lunch break Good food, music, and networking 1:00pm Case study 1: How to practise openness towards new ideas in the organization 2:00pm Case study 2: How to organize your business while you go along 3:00pm Coffee break 3:30pm Undefining jazz Q/A with the evening concert's main artists 3:50pm Summary/recap of the day 4:00pm See you later! Closing jam session Evening concert 8:00pm International artists and best of DK jazz scene 8. Collaborators We are collaborating with Zentropa (a film company), Bremen (venue for conferences, etc.) and We Love People (an advertising agency). Recently we have initiated contact 5 JAZZ AS A VERB organized improvisation - improvised organization International Jazz Day 2013 Copenhagen with Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and the Danish Radio P8 (public broadcasting channel's Jazz program).