JAZZ SAALFELDEN WEEKENDER, the 2020 edition of the festival, made it into the top three of all nominees in the category "MAECENAS OVER1 Audience Award 2021" and received the recognition award at the ceremony on May 6, 2022.
The Austrian Art Sponsorship Award MAECENAS has been awarded annually since 1989 by the independent Economic Committee Initiatives Wirtschaft fer Kunst in cooperation with ORF. Austrian companies are awarded in the categories “Small and Medium Enterprises” and “Large Enterprises” as well as Austrian cultural providers for “Successful engagements in cooperation with business”. For the first time, a special prize was awarded to companies for “best practice in economically and culturally challenging times”. The winners were selected in these categories by a jury of experts. Unique among the awards given out is the ?1 Audience Award, in which the ?1 Audience determines the winner in an online vote. At this year's awards ceremony, which took place for the first time at the Palais Hansen Kempinski in Vienna, both the 2021 MAECENAS winners were crowned and the 2020 awards ceremony was rescheduled.
JAZZ SAALFELDEN WEEKENDER 2020 – offering artists and visitors a perspective
The JAZZ SAALFELDEN WEEKENDER took place from 20 to 23 August 2020 as a replacement for the 41st Jazz Festival Saalfelden, which had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this reduced edition, 40 concerts over 4 days and 11 venues were extremely successful. Thus, the staging of this festival contributed significantly to providing a stage for the beleaguered art and cultural scene as well as allowing the audience to experience live music again.
One region – two award winners
Not only Saalfelden, but also the regional partner Leogang had reason to celebrate. Leoganger Bergbahnen GmbH won the main prize in the category “Small and Medium Enterprises 2020” with the TONspur Islands at Asitz and was thus able to bring one of the coveted MAECENAS sculptures to the holiday region Saalfelden Leogang. These TONspur islands allow guests 365 days a year to listen to past TONspur concerts on wooden deckchairs, enjoying a unique combination of mountain panorama and music.
Photo: Theresa Eder and Andrea Neumayr (both Production Assistant Jazzfestival Saalfelden) with the MAECENAS OVER1 Audience Award 2021// © Jazzfestival Saalfelden
