Club concert with Mina Lichtenberg at DEINHARD's

Mina Lichtenberg Club Concert

Cultural Minister Sven Teuber welcomes the jury's decision: “With Mina Lichtenberg, the Newcomer Jazz Award Rheinland-Pfalz has found an outstanding young laureate. Her musical independence, her diversity, and her great joy in playing exemplify the young jazz scene in Rheinland-Pfalz. It is impressive that she has only been studying jazz double bass at the University of Music Mainz for three years and is already drawing significant attention to herself. Rheinland-Pfalz thrives on people who find their artistic home here and enrich our cultural landscape. I am pleased that with the Newcomer Jazz Award, we can make and promote this development visible.”

In addition to the prize money, the laureate will receive a tour with three club concerts, each supported with a fee subsidy of 1,500 euros per performance. Performances are planned for November 12 at Deinhard's in Bernkastel-Kues, November 15 at Herrenhof in Mussbach, and December 13 at Gleis4 in Frankenthal.

The three-member jury, consisting of Kerstin Habrecht, jazz musician and representative of the state association “Jazz RLP e. V.”, Prof. Sebastian Sternal, head of the jazz department at the University of Music Mainz, and Etienne Emard, music consultant in the Ministry of Culture, reached a unanimous decision after intensive consultations: “The double bassist Mina Lichtenberg is not only a sought-after sidewoman, but also has her own artistic vision, which she continuously develops with her trio ‘Illumina’ and many guests. She sensitively integrates into the events and makes every band she plays with sound better – but also confidently takes the reins where musically necessary. She is already shaping the scene – and we are convinced that she will play an important role for jazz in Rheinland-Pfalz in the future.”

The Newcomer Jazz Award Rheinland-Pfalz was announced for the second time this year. Both individual musicians and ensembles with a proven connection to Rheinland-Pfalz could apply. Applicants had to be younger than 30 years at the time of application; for ensembles, the average age applied. The criteria for selecting potential award recipients were artistic quality and originality.