When the participants at Jazz Camp for Girls in Copenhagen met that Monday morning, they were greeted by the journalist Lisa Abend and photographer Betina Garcia, who are both from the wide known media The New York Times. Read an excerpt of Lisa Abend's article here.
"Girls Are Outnumbered in Jazz. At This Summer Camp. They Run the Show."
Lisa Abend starts her article with an introduction of the participants at Jazz Camp for Girls at Rytmisk Center - a music school in Copenhagen. This camp hosts 16 out of more than 120 girls across Denmark, who are attending the four day music camp. From the very moment the girls meet their teachers, they are already introduced to the world of jazz, and over the course of the next few days, they will learn more about the rhythms and melodies of the genre, as well as experimenting with improvisation on various kinds of instruments.
"But perhaps the most important lesson for the students at Jazz Camp for Girls is
that there is a place for them in jazz at all."
- Lisa Abend, The New York Times
Points towards a particularly uneven gender balance in jazz
Jazz Camp for Girls was started by JazzDanmark and Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2014. Among others, the purpose was to break with the uneven gender balance of the music industry. A tendency that was particularly highlighted with the release of the so-called '80/20 report' from 2012. That the gender imbalance of the music industry is a global challenge is not a new thing but Lisa Abend points towards specific challenges within the realm of jazz;
"From 2007 to 2018, women musicians led or shared the lead on
less than 20 percent or so of the 50 best albums in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll."
- Lisa Abend, The New York Times
For the girls at Jazz Camp for Girls in Copenhagen, the camp has meant making new friends, while also developing courage, curiosity and desire to play more music in the future.
“That was great!” she gushed, as she exchanged phone numbers with her new friends,
Aya and Lola. “We should form a band!”
- Lisa Abend, The New York Times
With more than 100 million monthly readers on a global scale and a daily print of approximately 400,000 copies solely in the U.S., it is something very special when Jazz Camp for Girls receives attention in a media of this scale. The article in The New York Times should be seen as a testament of how a Danish project can spread to new latitudes, and hopefully inspire more girls to grab an instrument, so we can break with the negative pattern of the gender imbalance.
The New York Times article in full length: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/07/arts/music/jazz-camp-for-girls.html?curator=MediaREDEF
"Girls Are Outnumbered in Jazz. At This Summer Camp. They Run the Show."
Lisa Abend starts her article with an introduction of the participants at Jazz Camp for Girls at Rytmisk Center - a music school in Copenhagen. This camp hosts 16 out of more than 120 girls across Denmark, who are attending the four day music camp. From the very moment the girls meet their teachers, they are already introduced to the world of jazz, and over the course of the next few days, they will learn more about the rhythms and melodies of the genre, as well as experimenting with improvisation on various kinds of instruments.
"But perhaps the most important lesson for the students at Jazz Camp for Girls is
that there is a place for them in jazz at all."
- Lisa Abend, The New York Times
Points towards a particularly uneven gender balance in jazz
Jazz Camp for Girls was started by JazzDanmark and Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2014. Among others, the purpose was to break with the uneven gender balance of the music industry. A tendency that was particularly highlighted with the release of the so-called '80/20 report' from 2012. That the gender imbalance of the music industry is a global challenge is not a new thing but Lisa Abend points towards specific challenges within the realm of jazz;
"From 2007 to 2018, women musicians led or shared the lead on
less than 20 percent or so of the 50 best albums in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll."
- Lisa Abend, The New York Times
For the girls at Jazz Camp for Girls in Copenhagen, the camp has meant making new friends, while also developing courage, curiosity and desire to play more music in the future.
“That was great!” she gushed, as she exchanged phone numbers with her new friends,
Aya and Lola. “We should form a band!”
- Lisa Abend, The New York Times
With more than 100 million monthly readers on a global scale and a daily print of approximately 400,000 copies solely in the U.S., it is something very special when Jazz Camp for Girls receives attention in a media of this scale. The article in The New York Times should be seen as a testament of how a Danish project can spread to new latitudes, and hopefully inspire more girls to grab an instrument, so we can break with the negative pattern of the gender imbalance.
The New York Times article in full length: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/07/arts/music/jazz-camp-for-girls.html?curator=MediaREDEF
