KLANGFORMATOR JAZZFESTIVAL FREIBURG 2026

feat. Marja Burchard (Embryo)

Multi-instrumentalist Marja B urchhard brings music from her rich collection: Vibraphone, piano, voice, santoor, perhaps trombone - the audience can look forward to seeing which instruments the artist will choose on the evening.

Burchhard describes her music as rhythmic, intricate, dreamy, concrete, entwined and energetic. Her compositions draw on her experiences in many different countries and the musical encounters she has had. There are influences from jazz, rock and music from different cultures. Her playing is experimental, explosive, humorous, courageous and curious.

The KLANGFORMATOR feature concerts have been taking place since 2018 and 2026 will be unique, energetic and surprising as always. This time, Marja will be joined on stage by Nico Hutter (saxophone), Winfried Holzenkamp (bass) and Konrad Wiemann (drums).

With

Marja Burchard was born in Munich in 1985 and grew up in the musical cosmos of her father Christian Burchard, founder and bandleader of the music group Embryo, which was founded in 1969. In 2016, she took over her father's leadership of the music group Embryo, with which she continues to perform at international festivals.

Marja Burchard has also been composing for church organ since 2022 and has been working with ambient music ever since. She plays in various duos such as with Simon Popp, Polygonia or with the Tunisian oud player Salma M'rabet. She was and is part of band collectives such as Jisr, Seféria, Karl Hektor and the Malcouns, Karaba, Express Brass Band, Web Web Max Herre, World Wide Wig and others.

Her repertoire also includes compositions for various cinema and television films. In 2023, Burchard was awarded the Music Prize of the City of Munich. In 2024, she received the Special Jury Prize at the Hessian Film Awards for her music for the film "Shahid" by Narges Kalhor, as well as the German Film Critics' Award in 2025. In 2026 she was nominated for the "best film music" of the German documentary film for the film "When Pigs Fly" by Denise Riedmayr.

Admission from 20:00

The jazz festival is a cooperation between E-WERK Freiburg and jazzhaus Freiburg. The Freiburg Jazz Festival is funded by the city of Freiburg and the state of Baden-Württemberg and sponsored by Sparkasse Freiburg - Nördlicher Breisgau and the Ganter brewery. The piano competition is kindly supported in 2026 by Haufe-Lexware, Sparkasse Freiburg and the Volker Homann Foundation.