30.04.2019

April 30 is the International Jazz Day

International Jazz Day is an International Day declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe".

The celebration is held annually on April 30, starting from 2012. The first annual International Jazz Day was organized in Paris.

In October 2017, UNESCO announced that St. Petersburg, Russia and Sydney, Australia would be designated Host Cities for 2018 and 2019, respectively. The St. Petersburg celebration took place from April 28–30, 2018 and included educational programs and the All-Star Concert at the Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage.

It is a well-known fact that jazz as a phenomenon originated in the South of the US in the 1910’s and quickly spread in all developed countries. This type of musical art has developed under the influence of African rhythms, European harmony, with the involvement of the Afro-American folklore elements.

In the 20th century, the genre was constantly transformed, passing through several characteristic stages of development. Gradually, jazz approached the sphere of high art, while retaining its contradictory identity of both popular and academic music.

To this day, jazz is a symbol of unity and peace; it unites races and nationalities, blurs the boundaries between states and peoples at the level of musical art.

For this event, the Museum Collection prepared  a musical compilation  of vocal and instrumental  jazz standards of the 1920-30’s and popular compositions of the later jazz.