The wind music award was established in 2018 by The network for professional wind music in Sweden. Royal Fredrik Wetterqvist, the permanent secretary of the Academy of Music, is the head of the network:
– We see it as a natural and exciting part of the prize’s development to also include the many skilled brass soloists in jazz who are applying or have previously applied for the academy’s national scholarships. The prize means a unique opportunity to expose the threatened wind music as an art form, which is why we now choose to focus on only wind musicians in the competition.
Three selected wind musicians from among those auditioning for the national scholarships go to the finals of the Jazz Wind Prize (the same applies to the classical prize). The age limit for applications to the new jazz prize is 32 years. This means that people who previously applied for the academy’s national scholarships, but are too old to apply this year, can still apply for the competition. Saxophonist Joakim Milder is the artistic director of the Norrbotten Big Band, which is the organizer of the competition in the jazz category in 2025:
– It feels both gratifying and obvious that the King. The Musical Academy now also welcomes wind players from jazz music to this prestigious award. It will be both a manifestation of the high artistic level among young jazz musicians and an encouragement of the regrowth that is a prerequisite for the well-being and development of the music form.
About the price
The Wind Music Prize is Sweden’s foremost prize for wind instrument soloists and is announced every two years. The wind music prize is aimed at the woodwind and brass players who are authorized to apply for the Royal. The National Scholarships of the Musical Academy. The respective competition has a prize sum of SEK 100,000, with the winner receiving SEK 50,000 and the runners-up receiving SEK 25,000 each. The winners also receive offers to perform with an orchestra. The application opens on April 24 and closes on May 21.
Read more about the Blue Music Award here.
Read more about the national scholarships here.
