MO Museum (Pylimo st. 17, Vilnius)

On October 17 at 16.00, in a lecture Hey French jazz! Do you have an accent? Philippe Ochem, long-time director of the Jazzdor festival in Strasbourg, will introduce the audience to French contemporary jazz and the Jazzdor festival.

Philippe Ochem stands out above all as a creator of sustainable cultural projects and initiator of innovative structures, building bridges between artists, regions, and institutions. His commitment as a musician, programmer, producer, and president of associations has had a profound impact on the contemporary jazz scene.

Vilnius Jazz’s guest has been the director of the Jazzdor festival in Strasbourg since 1989, having previously managed his own jazz club, Lazy Bird, in Strasbourg. In 2013, he ended his career as a professional pianist and began managing the jazz and improvised music organization SMAC (Scène de Musiques Actuelles), which is responsible for the Jazzdor festivals in Strasbourg (in November), Budapest (in March), and Berlin (in June), organises concert and cultural event seasons, and provides artistic and professional promotion of young musicians.

Ochem is also a member of the State Commission of Musical Works and the Music Experts Commission of the DRAC (Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs) of the Grand Est region of France, as well as a guest lecturer at the University of Strasbourg. Since 2000, he has been a member of the board of Afijma, the European network for jazz and improvised music, and from 2015 to 2024, he was president of AJC, the network for the promotion of jazz in France and Europe. This year, he was elected president of the French National Jazz Orchestra.

In 2006, Ochem’s work was recognized with a special prize from the Alsace Foundation jury, and in 2007, he was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters (L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Minister of Culture.