The Jazz May is an annual international jazz festival held in Penza, Russia. From its inception the main organizer of the festival has been The Penza State Philharmonic.
History
The Jazz May festival was conceived by Alexey Lvov-Belov, the head of The Penza State Philharmonic (2010–2013) and The Jazz-Cruise Band (2007–2014). First time it was held in 2011, lasted four days. The event was deemed a success, and this helped to make it annual.
In 2014 Oleg Rubtsov who took part in preparation for previous festivals became a major organizer. All the festival's performances were held in a new building of The Penza State Philharmonic, Penza Music Hall and at the square between them. In order to make the square more comfortable for visitors a fundraising was successfully done.
Festival format and events
Valery Dmitriev's Big Band (Zaretsny, Russia). Photo by Donatas Dapkus
The idea of the festival is to gather on a stage famous jazz musicians and those who just start their careers.
Festival events
performances at the music hall and open-air;
exhibitions of jazz photographers;
masterclasses, lectures and round-table discussions with festival participants.
Participants
2011
The Bird's Milk (Penza, Russia)
Petr Andronov's ensemble (Penza, Russia)
The Jazz-Cruise (Penza, Russia)
Valery Dmitriev's Big Band (Zaretsny, Russia)
Petr Vostokov's ensemble (Moscow, Russia)
Zoryana Farhutdinova with The Tanslu (Moscow, Russia)
Alexey Kolosov with The Aura (Moscow, Russia)
Sergey Chipenko with The Trans-Atlantic Band (Moscow, Russia)
The festival was nominated for 2012 Russian Event Awards and became The Best Cultural Project of the year.
Intellectual property issue
In the early 2013 during the preparation for the regular festival an intellectual property rights conflict took place. Among other things it referred to the Jazz May brand.[1] In the media there was a statement on possibility of making two independent festivals.[2] As a result, there was the only Jazz May but the main organizer (The Penza State Philharmonic) had to change its logo.
References
^Все права на «Jazz May» принадлежат пензенской филармонии — Алексей Львов-Белов. PenzaNews (15 февраля 2013).
^Попытка филармонии использовать бренд «Jazz May» выглядит воровством — Святослав Мурунов. PenzaNews (15 февраля 2013).
