Jazz Camp for Girls activities to be launched in Turku

Following the first Finnish run of the program in Pori last year, Jazz Camp for Girls will now be organised for the first time in Turku, from 24 to 27 July as part of the Turku Sea Jazz event. Jazz Camp for Girls was launched in 2014 by JazzDanmark, our sister organisation in Denmark, in a bid to inspire young girls to get interested in jazz and improvised music and to try their hand at a range of instruments.

The gender balance in music, and especially in jazz music, has traditionally been strongly biased towards men, with women’s role in bands often limited to singing. The leading idea behind the Jazz Camp for Girls concept is to offer all camp participants an inspiring and safe environment to try different instruments and to experience band playing and composing.

Free of charge, Jazz Camp for Girls provides exciting and fun musical experiences for 10-15-year-old girls during the summer holidays, enabling them to explore their creativity, to form their own band and come up with a name for it, and to play together! During the four-day camp, music will be learned through improvisations and through discovering new ways of playing.

Jussi Fredriksson, the Executive Director of Jazz City Turku, shares his enthusiasm about the camp: “Jazz music belongs to everyone. Not too many girls have yet been bitten by the jazz bug, but there will be frequent sightings of these little critters in Turku this summer. Consider yourselves warned!”

Jazz Camp for Girls is designed for all girls and those identifying as female. The camp is geared towards 10-15-year-olds, but the age guide is for reference only. The most important thing is to have a go at band playing and be willing to learn new skills together.

The camp will be led by Kaisa Mäensivu, a New York City based bass player pursuing an international career, and Jussi Karhujoki , lecturer of electric bass and pop & jazz band tutor at the Turku Conservatory. Mentored by these two musicians, camp participants will find a new spark for their playing through a range of different teaching methods, as well as enjoying making music together.

The camp activities will take place at the Turku Conservatory (Linnankatu 60, Turku) from Monday 24 July to Thursday 27 July, between 10am and 3pm each day. The camp will culminate in a closing concert at 3pm on Thursday the 27th , with all participants given the opportunity to showcase their newly acquired skills in front of an audience. The concert venue will be announced at a later date. Camp enrolments are open until 30 June.

To find out more and to enrol, head to the Turku Sea Jazz Festival website here.

The Turku camp will be organised in collaboration with the Turku Sea Jazz, the Turku Conservatory, and the Finnish Jazz Federation. The camp is supported through funding from the Nordic Culture Fund.