Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Kurt Maas Award Builds Bridge with Berklee

15/11/2023

Kurt Maas Award Builds Bridge with Berklee Now in its 10th year, the biennial competition honors the legacy of Maas 65. The top prize is a scholarship to Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive.

By

Kimberly Ashton

November 14, 2023

Ivan Lins (left) and Marco Pignataro (right) at the Kurt Maas Jazz Award concert.

Image by George Giakis

Marco Pignataro recalls being in the audience this summer when German jazz guitarist Elias Prinz and his trio took the stage at Munich's Isarphilharmonie concert hall. Prinz, a 23-year-old student at the Jazz Institute at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, had just won first place in the institute's renowned Kurt Maas Jazz Award competition, and his set followed high-octane jazz displays by the competition's second- and third-place winners. But as Prinz settled in and began strumming his opening chords, the tone of the evening shifted.

When he started playing, I was like, What? What is this?' says Pignataro, the artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute (BGJI). And then I was like, Oh, wait a second. This is really special. In contrast to the performances earlier in the evening, Prinz's music was intimate and unusual, influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt.

I felt he was bringing something not just that he loves but that he identifies [with] in a way that was extremely convincing, Pignataro says. So it wasn't like hearing something nostalgic from the past. To me, he made that music really in-the-moment. He made it very relevant. After the set, he says, the audience went crazy. [Prinz] was playing in a way that everybody could really connect with the emotions it was how musical he was, how brilliantly expressive he was with his own music.

As first-place winner, Prinz earned a full scholarship to Berklee's Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive this past summer. Now in its 10th year, the biennial competition honors the legacy of Kurt Maas 65, a jazz pioneer who for years was the exclusive distributor of Berklee publications in Germany and who founded and developed the Jazz Institute in Munich.

He was the guy who started academic jazz education in Munich, says Camilo Dornier 81, who confounded the award with institute chair Claus Reichstaller and funds the prizes.

The Elias Prinz Trio plays at the Kurt Maas Award competition ceremony.

Image by Gregory Giakis

In the late '70s, Dornier had been a student of classical music when he took a noncredit class for jazz enthusiasts that Maas taught. On Maas's recommendation, Dornier came to Berklee to further explore jazz.

When Maas died in 2011, Dornier wanted to find a way to honor him. The following year, he and Reichstaller came to Boston, where Abraham Laboriel Sr., B.M. 72. 05H connected them with then-President Roger Brown, who liked their idea for the Kurt Maas Jazz Award.

Now, as Dornier and Reichstaller eye the future, they are working to expand the award program. Two years ago, they began developing partnerships with two Brazilian schools, including Berklee academic partner Faculdade e Conservat rio Souza Lima, and now offer scholarships that send two Brazilian students to Munich for four weeks. This year, part of the award ceremony concert was dedicated to Ivan Lins, a superstar of Brazilian music who, along with Pignataro, performed as a special guest artist.

In addition to building out the Brazilian program, Dornier and Reichstaller are looking to deepen the institute's involvement with Berklee. Their goal is to offer first-place winners a semester at Berklee, and possibly to develop a student and faculty exchange. Pignataro says such a program would be valuable not only for the Munich institute but also for the BGJI.

The possibilty of benefitting from such an exchange was one of the reasons Prinz took part in the competition, which is open only to Jazz Institute students. He had been playing guitar since he was 5 and studying Reinhardt since the age of 12, and wanted to come to Berklee to deepen his knowledge of other jazz genres.

He arrived in Boston freshly graduated from the Jazz Institute in Munich, but he still found a level at Five-Week that was well-suited to him. I can improve [upon] everything I learned the last four years. And because it's so intensive, I feel like I learned very, very quickly, he says. After the program, Prinz returned to Germany to work on his first album. In the meantime, he'll continue to play in Munich and share his influences from Berklee.

It's this type of sharing and enrichment that will keep jazz alive, Dornier says. I think we have to be aware that jazz on the global scale is a very small, tiny percentage of music. To be strong, to keep this whole thing running, we have to think internationally, we have to cooperate, we have to exchange, and we have to work together.

Related Categories

Berklee Today

News

Most Popular

Elena Pinderhughes

Image courtesy of the artist

Berklee Announces 2023 Fall Signature Series Lineup This years series will feature Elena Pinderhughes, Braxton Cook, Pavel N ez, and the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir, as well as a career-spanning tribute to Madonna.

Latest

Taylor Swifts Eras Tour film was a blockbuster at the box office in October, setting the stage for a larger trend in the music and movie industries.

Photo by Getty Images

Beyonc , Taylor Swift, and the Soaring Popularity of Concert Films Ralph Jaccodine of Berklee's Music Business/Management Department delves into the recent concert film phenomenon and its future trajectory.

From left: Andreea Gleeson, Tonya Butler, Hayley Roets

Image by Sam French

Berklee Honors TuneCore CEO at Annual Music Business Lecture Andreea Gleeson was the featured guest at the 30th Annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture Series.

Elen
LINK: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/kurt-maas-award-builds-bridge...
See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

13/08/2026

LaLiga Renews Broadcast Agreements with ESPN and DSports in South America Through 2031/32

LaLiga has renewed broadcast agreements with ESPN and DSports covering Spanish-l...

13/08/2026

Rockstar Energy Open Builds Third Portland Show Around AI-Powered Vertical Feed, Remote Operators

Three days of skateboarding competitions, live music, and other programming will...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: Matrox Video to Showcase IP and Software-Defined Technologies

Matrox Video will showcase its portfolio of IP and software-defined technologies at IBC2026 (Booth 7.B15, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14). The portfolio includ...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: SMPTE to Present Sessions, Workshops, and Networking Events

SMPTE will present expert-led sessions, professional workshops, and networking events at IBC2026. The organization will be located in the IBC2026 Owner Pavilion...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: Clear-Com to Showcase Communications Solutions

Clear-Com will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 10.D29, September 11-14, Amsterdam), showcasing FreeSpeak Cell, Avalon IP Station, updates to Arcadia Central Station, ...

13/08/2026

Advanced Systems Group Appoints Eran Binyamin Zeitoun as Senior Technical Program Manager

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has appointed Eran Binyamin Zeitoun as Senior Techn...

13/08/2026

2026 SVG Venues & Teams Summit Heats Up Kaseya Center in Miami

Miami HEAT, Florida Panthers, Orlando Magic, University of Miami join leading vendors for a day of gameday-production talk in South Florida The 2026 SVG Venues...

13/08/2026

MLB at Field of Dreams Returns as Netflix Joins the Effort, Leans Into Cinematic Look at Newly Permanent Ballpark

NBC Sports is producing the Twins-Phillies game alongside the streamer, which is...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: Oracle to Showcase Cloud Media Workflows

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 5, Booth 5.A21, September 11-14, Amsterdam), demonstrating cloud-based workflows across low-late...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: Dalet to Participate Accelerator Programme with AI Live Sports Workflow Demo

Dalet will participate in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, co...

13/08/2026

Cox Media Group Announces Local Broadcast Deals with Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets

Cox Media Group (CMG) has announced multi-year local broadcast rights agreements...

13/08/2026

Jnger Audio to Demonstrate Cloud-Based DTV+ Workflow at SET Expo 2026

J nger Audio will join Fraunhofer IIS and industry partners to showcase a cloud-based, DTV+-compliant workflow at SET Expo 2026 in S o Paulo, August 17-20. DTV+...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: Olympic Broadcasting Services to Receive International Honour for Excellence

IBC has announced that Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) will receive the Inte...

13/08/2026

NESN Expands Red Sox Broadcast Distribution for Jimmy Fund Telethon

NESN has partnered with WSBK-TV38 to broadcast Boston Red Sox games on August 17 and 18 over the air, extending the reach of the 24th annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fun...

13/08/2026

LiveU and Panasonic LUMIX Launch Live Anywhere Mobile Production Workflow

LiveU and Panasonic LUMIX have announced the Live Anywhere workflow, demonstrated at NAB 2026 and InfoComm 2026 in collaboration with Social180Group. The work...

13/08/2026

IBC 2026: Chyron to Showcase Sports Workflow Solutions

Chyron will demonstrate its sports analysis, graphics, remote production, virtual production, and venue control solutions at IBC2026 (Booth 7.A23). This year...

13/08/2026

Ratings Roundup: Pro Football Hall of Fame Game Draws 7 Million During Quiet August for Sports

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...

13/08/2026

ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock, Prime Video Set National Slates for Year 2 of NBA Rights Deal

Season tips off Oct. 20 and runs through April 11; Christmas Day, NBA Cup, All-S...

13/08/2026

VAEMI announce the Synterra

Company preview bio-interactive' synthesizer VAEMI have announced the upcoming launch of a new standalone bio-interactive' generative synthesizer....

13/08/2026

Ravine DSP update Inter::State

Plug-in host gains new Slot Scenes feature Ravine DSP have recently updated their innovative plug-in host, kitting it out with a new feature that brings yet...

13/08/2026

Tubi Media Group Partners with Gracenote to Unlock Additional Value in Content Discovery and Programmatic CTV Advertising

New Agreement Aims to Leverage Gracenote Infrastructure to Create More Relevant ...

13/08/2026

CMG Expands Local Sports Offering With Two NBA Deals

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Olympic Broadcasting Services to receive IBC2026 Internat...

IBC today announced that its most prestigious honour, the International Honour for Excellence (IHFE), will be presented to Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), ...

13/08/2026

Dalet Demonstrates the Future of AI-Orchestrated Live Spo...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced its participation in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Pro...

13/08/2026

dzjinius to showcase new dzjinius on-set application at I...

dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its new application, dzjinius on-set , at IBC20...

13/08/2026

BCE Demonstrates Sovereign Cloud Media Workflows powered...

Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a leading European provider of media services, system integration and product development, will demonstrate an end-to-end sove...

13/08/2026

Clear-Com to Showcase Communications Solutions for Broadc...

Clear-Com is returning to IBC 2026, taking place September 11-14 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At Stand 10.D29, Clear-Com will spotlight the award-winning FreeSpe...

13/08/2026

Leader to highlight advanced Test and Measurement solutio...

Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, will showcase its comprehensive portfolio of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement ...

13/08/2026

KRK Brings Advanced Wireless Control to Professional Monitoring With New V Series Five Studio MonitorsKRK Brings Advanced Wireless

KRK Brings Advanced Wireless Control to Professional Monitoring With New V Serie...

13/08/2026

Anthony Noack Captures Artist's Journey in Estonia with Blackmagic Design

Anthony Noack Captures Artist's Journey in Estonia with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton August 12, 2026 0 Comments Solo filmmaker documents concept...

13/08/2026

ARRI Image Science makes its mobile debut in the HONOR Robot Phone

ARRI Image Science makes its mobile debut in the HONOR Robot Phone Brie Clayton August 12, 2026 0 Comments Hero image displays the HONOR Robot Phone, ...

13/08/2026

ASG Adds Eran Binyamin Zeitoun as Senior Technical Program Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Vinten To Feature Manual, Robotic Camera Support Offerings At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

SMPTE Unveils IBC 2026 Plans

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

IP Showcase on the Water Announces Schedule for IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Spectrum, Optimum Ink New Deals for News Carriage and Ads

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

IAB Tech Lab Updates Privacy Standards

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Suitest Highlights New AI-Powered Device Testing and Qual...

Suitest's Test Automation Platform Simplifies Video Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Device Certification Across the OTT Ecosystem At IBC2026, Suitest, a...

13/08/2026

Cinegy showcases powerful, agile, cost-effective media so...

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will have its key software solutions ready to demonstrate at SET Expo 2026 (18 20...

13/08/2026

Scripps Research establishes endowed chair honoring Peter K. Vogt, influential pioneer in cancer research

Scripps Research has established the Peter K. Vogt Endowed Chair, a new faculty ...

13/08/2026

New research offers fresh insights for how to make better vaccines

LA JOLLA, CA-A vaccine's molecular structure plays a key role in determining how the immune system responds and prepares to protect the body from future exp...

13/08/2026

Venera Technologies Showcases AI-Powered Innovations Across its Media QC Platform at IBC 2026

Venera Technologies Showcases AI-Powered Innovations Across its Media QC Platfor...

13/08/2026

Surviving Fred and Rose West: Inside Cromwell Street for U and U&W

New U and U&W Documentary Features Kathleen Richards, One of the Last Surviving Witnesses to Fred and Rose West Kathleen is Reunited with Childhood Friend and ...

13/08/2026

Official trailer released for the return of Tea with Judi Dench Coming to Sky Arts on 31st August

Thursday 13 August 2026 Official trailer released for the return of Tea with Ju...

13/08/2026

Dalet Demonstrates the Future of AI-Orchestrated Live Sports Workflows at IBC2026 Accelerator Programme

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

13/08/2026

Vale MP praises Wenvoe's broadcast role and engineering expertise

Wenvoe serves over 1 million people across South Wales 13 August 2026, Winchester, UK - Vale of Glamorgan MP, Kanishka Narayan, has praised the engineering exp...

13/08/2026

Event Marks New Season with the RT Concert Orchestra

RT 's Miriam O'Callaghan welcomed a range of specially invited guests to the National Concert Hall last week for a unique event to mark a new season wit...