EJN Staff Exchange Programme

Back to list

Previous Participant: Csenge Hamod

"I've managed to stay for a great amount of concerts while I could observe how they are operating on a daily basis. What really amazed me, is the self-written booking/production software from Michael, with which they are all able to work in a highly optimized and efficient environment. I've been given access to the software for the duration of my stay and was able to check various features and experience the logic behind the structure of it"
From: BMC - Budapest Music Centre (Hungary)
To: Unterfahrt Jazz Club (Germany)
Dates: 12 - 22 May 2022


I have had the opprtunity to visit an iconic jazz club in Europe: the Unterfahrt in Munich, Germany. The club has a history of over 40 years! It  was established in 1978, when five people converted an old restaurant for railway workers into a jazz club. The name "Unterfahrt" or subway denotes the passage under the railway where it was originally situated. The new club was focused on free jazz at first. After two years they created a non-profit organisation in order to receive some money from online loans lenders and the city, especially to buy   an upright piano. This is how it started to professionalize. At the beginning of the 1980s it was open five days a week, since 1994 Unterfahrt is pretty much open every day.     

This concert-factory is currently led by Michael Stückl, who has been very welcoming and despite the fact that he's unbelievably busy, he managed to find the time to meet with me and have a discussion about the booking process and their programming in general. We'll be in touch in the future and try to co-operate on certain international acts, which could be interesting for both of our venues. The team of Unterfahrt: Anna, Gigi and Antonia have been all unbelievably kind and helped me a lot with anny issue I had. I've managed to stay for a great amount of concerts (Kari Ikonen Solo, Bigband Night: Zhihan Xu Jazz Orchestra, Vincent Peirani Jokers,Ghost-Note, Bobby Sparks, Sheroes), while I could observe how they are operating on a daily basis, etc.. What really amazed me, is the self-written booking/production software from Michael,with which they are all able to work in a highly optimized and efficient environment. I've been given access to the software for the duration of my stay and was able to check various features and experience the logic behind the structure of it.     

I would like to express my gratitude both to Unterfahrt that they have been able to host me, as well as to EJN, the Staff Exchange Programme and the administrators of the project for their support and cooperation. It has been a wonderful opportunity that's been also a unique and formative experience!