Artistic Leadership

Focus: Generations
Led by: Prof. Kristín Guttenberg together with colleagues and guests

In recent years, Jazzfest Berlin has regularly collaborated with universities and art academies through specially designed seminars addressing specific artistic and cultural questions. In 2026, the festival will present Artistic Leadership for the third time, a practice-based seminar developed in cooperation with the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and the Jazz Institute Berlin. Focusing on the theme of generations, students from HFM and JIB will exchange ideas with musicians participating in Jazzfest Berlin 2026. Through a series of musical projects, they will explore diverse artistic practices, working methods, and creative approaches. At the center are Anthony Braxton and Alexander von Schlippenbach, two pioneering figures who have shaped the global scene for decades and repeatedly enriched Jazzfest Berlin.

The seminar will focus on individual and collective practices within artistic processes. Particular attention will be paid to the extensive range of methods and approaches used, as well as to experiences of team and project work: how do artists communicate? What does leadership look like? Through concert visits and talks, the participating students will reflect on their own ways of working while engaging with the often very different working practices of the artists, ensembles and projects at this year’s festival.