NUEJAZZ: From Insider Tip to Jazz Festival of the Year
Since 2013, Frank Wuppinger and Marco Kühnl bring exciting new acts and established artists of the international jazz scene on the stage at the NUEJAZZ Festival. Although Nuremberg has a long jazz tradition, there was nothing like this before. In contrast to other jazz festivals, NUEJAZZ concentrates on modern and innovative jazz and also allows electronic sounds, hip-hop beats or other sound experiments and creative concepts flow into the program.
Frank, what does jazz mean to you and how is that interwoven into the NUEJAZZ Festival?
“Jazz is for me not a fixed style category, jazz is music, which flows over cultural and social borders. Jazz is wide-ranging and the basis of so many other music styles. For me, it is also important that we educate with the NUEJAZZ Festival and show that no one has to fear jazz. Therefore the music requires not only musicians who have mastered their skills, but also have a deeper story to tell.”
Your festival isn’t a place where classic jazz is played?
“We of course play the jazz genre, but we also want to break out of stiff categories and offer a cross-genre concert program with our innovative and experimental concept. NUEJAZZ is more than a festival where artists come, play and then go. It should stimulate, inspire and encourage participation. In addition to diverse open jam sessions, the “Groove Gatherings”, we also place a great deal of value on the inclusion of young talent. This includes not only our NUEJAZZ for Kids concerts, but also the winners of the NUECOMER Jazz Awards in cooperation with the Hochschule für Music.”
You don’t play in the classic concert locations such as the Meistersingerhalle or the Serenadenhof, is there a reason for that?
“For NUEJAZZ, we wanted to include new places and create our own spaces. The Kulturwerkstatt auf AEG, the Z-Bau, which I like to call the 'modern opera', or the E-Werk are filled with industrial charm, innovation and break the rules and cry out for creative staging. There are so many parameters which influence how that which happens on the stage is also received. And the concept works – when otherwise do you see such a wide range of listeners? From business to casual, young to old, everyone gathered in the Z-Bau to enjoy our music.”
What drives you year for year to organize such a large festival primarily as a volunteer?
“The success! When the lineup that we have put together is so good that even the artists become part of the audience, then you know you have done everything right. The highlight for me every year is encounters with all of the fascinating people! In addition, the NUEJAZZ Festival gives an added value to the Nuremberg music scene – the potential of the festival has already been recognized by a jury of professionals: We are winners of the city culture prize and have been awarded the German Jazz Prize.”
All About: Frank Wuppinger
Frank Wuppinger, born in 1973, grew up in Gauting near Munich. Early-on he was part of the lively Munich rock and jazz scene and played at the most important Munich festivals and stages. After his education at the new Jazz School Munich, he moved to Nuremberg to study jazz and classic guitar at the HfM Nuremberg. Here, in 2001, he and others founded today’s Brückenfestival. As bandleader of the group “Frank Wuppinger Arkestrax” he received a culture stipendium and toured with his band throughout Europe. In 2013, together with Marco Kühnl, he took over the direction of the Nuremberg Jazzmusiker e.V. and founded the NUEJAZZ Festival. In addition to his work as a culture manager and director of the NUEJAZZ Festival, Frank Wuppinger plays in various formations such as the “Coskun Wuppinger Duo”, the “Eazz.Band” and more. He also teaches music and music appreciation at the Fachoberschule in Fürth. In January 2018, Frank Wuppinger was named artist of the month of the Metropolitan Region Nuremberg and received, together with the NUEJAZZ Festival, the Cultural Prize of the city of Nuremberg in 2023. A year later the NUEJAZZ Festival received the German Jazz Prize as Festival of the Year.
