Saint-Omer Jaaz Festival

Organized by Barcarolle, in partnership with the town of Saint-Omer and the Urban Community of the Pays de Saint-Omer, the Saint-Omer Jaaz Festival offers to introduce a wide audience to jazz culture in a true logic of synergy territorial.

Heir to the long musical tradition of the Audomarois region, the Saint-Omer Jaaz Festival innovates by proposing an ambitious challenge: the choice of a cutting-edge program and the broadest possible association of local actors.

Result: the promise of a demanding but accessible artistic line. With around thirty concerts presented in different and unusual places, the Saint-Omer Jaaz Festival (SOJF for short) boasts strong regional roots. With 50% of the programming entrusted to musicians from the Hauts-de-France region, the SOJF has established itself as an essential support for the jazz culture of its region: “In a difficult economic context, we wanted to support the artists of the local scene, by widely opening the programming to them,” summarizes the municipal team. Seeking the expertise of a recognized jazzman, she approached Laurent Cugny who agreed to take over as artistic director of the festival.

A laboratory stage: since the first edition in 2015, a festival stage has been dedicated to promising young artists. Maximum exposure, Saturday and Sunday afternoon for 6 to 8 groups who bring the avant-garde of the French jazz scene to the forefront.

Initiation and democratization

Famous for his activities as an arranger and conductor, notably at the head of his big band Lumière or the National Jazz Orchestra (1994-1997), Laurent Cugny is particularly active in promoting the diffusion of jazz in all its forms. shapes.

The founder of the Maison du Jazz imagined the Saint-Omer Jaaz Festival according to a guideline: the democratization of jazz and the offering of a rich artistic experience, particularly for young people.

Because the SOJF does not stop at its musical programming alone. Training sessions will in fact punctuate the five days of the festival for students of jazz classes from the conservatories of Saint-Omer, Calais, Dunkirk, Lille or Tourcoing as well as those who practice jazz as amateurs.

The festival also commissioned the young pianist Armel Dupas, in 2017, for a creation presented with the Orchester de Picardie.

In 2019, the “Re-focus” project by Sylvain Rifflet was created with students and teachers of stringed instruments from the CRD of St Omer.

In 2020, Christian Laisné was called upon to lead an educational project which will include around ten amateur tubists.

In 2021, the artists of “Azawan”, which offers a subtle blend of jazz and Chaâbi music, conducted master classes and a conference on Chaâbi culture. The exchanges were so strong between the audiences of the festival and Azawan that an ambitious project of cultural actions will be continued in 2022/2023 in the territory of Saint-Omer.