About So What’s Next

So What’s Next? aims to provide a distinctive and added value to the (inter)national music scene by organizing an annual contemporary jazz festival. Through this festival, we aim to:

• Create space for urgent artistic developments in jazz & beyond
• Bring together leading (inter)national top talent, audiences, and professionals in the field of jazz & beyond
• Make a sustainable contribution to the inflow and development of professional talent.

Jazz emerged from a cross-pollination of various styles. It is a genre that manifests in many forms, nourished by an ever-evolving melting pot of groundbreaking creators. Jazz (and related) music, therefore, provides an exceptional opportunity to connect with (new) audiences within the current socio-cultural context, where the boundaries between lifestyles, taste preferences, and cultural behavior are blurring.

So What’s Next feels a connection to innovative, often young jazz artists and jazz enthusiasts who are rooted in tradition while also exploring the boundaries of hip-hop, soul, electro, singer-songwriter, indie-classical, and world music. We encapsulate this under the term “jazz & beyond.” From this affinity, So What’s Next offers presentation and development opportunities to artists who provide innovative impulses to the music and feel the need to address the evolving needs of the 21st-century audience.

So What’s Next annually presents a two-day adventurous program featuring the most urgent, upcoming talent from the world of jazz & beyond. The artists each operate on the cutting edge of genres, creating vital connections within their music. To ensure cutting-edge programming, So What’s Next collaborates with local scouts abroad who are well-established in the epicenters for the development of jazz & beyond, such as New York and Los Angeles, as well as Kyiv and Paris.

By showcasing the new generation of artists to both the audience and the international professional field at the festival, So What’s Next serves as an important stepping stone in the careers of many (Dutch) talents. Additionally, we act as a catalyst for the development of jazz & beyond in the Netherlands.

The frequently sold-out editions and numerous enthusiastic responses from the audience, partners, and the press affirm our approach and signature style.

So What’s Next is made possible by:

Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven
Provincie Noord-Brabant
Fonds Podiumkunsten
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Stichting Dioraphte