The Europe Jazz Network (EJN) is happy to announce that the 8th EJN Award for Music & Community goes to Victory Beats, an inspiring Ukrainian initiative using music to support and empower people affected by war trauma.

Jury Statement

The jury was deeply impressed by the originality, urgency and social impact of this initiative. At a time when Ukraine continues to face the devastating consequences of a full-scale war, Victory Beats offers an innovative response by using music therapy and DJing to support people experiencing war trauma. Working from locations like Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa, they reach out to veterans and civilians, war victims, prisoners of war survivors, and families of veterans.

The jury wishes to highlight the value of Victory Beats' methodology from a trauma-informed perspective. Musical creation and joint music-making offer participants a sense of agency and choice at a time when so much has been taken from them, a principle that resonates deeply with trauma-sensitive practice. While each participant follows an individually tailored programme, the project also creates meaningful space for shared experience: through joint playing, family retreats, and the community that has grown around Victory Beats, including the veteran band born from the project. In a context where war remains a daily reality, this combination of individual care and collective belonging offers a form of resilience that reaches beyond any single participant.

Volodymyr Nedogoda, Head of Victory Beats, highlights the motto of the organisation: "In the dark times of the most terrible war of our time, music performs a true miracle - music saves lives."

More info about Victory Beats are available at this link.

The jury also wished to acknowledge three outstanding projects that received Highly Commended recognition:

• Jazz House Community Orchestra (JCO) from Cologne, Germany, was recognised for its long-term commitment to inclusion and participation in the context of a music school. The project creates an inspiring space where musicians of different ages, backgrounds and abilities come together as equals, demonstrating how collective music-making can foster belonging, dialogue and lasting community relationships.

• The Community Week of Jazzfest Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele (Germany) was praised for placing local communities at the heart of a major festival through an ambitious programme of participatory activities and partnerships. The jury recognised the initiative as an excellent example of meaningful community engagement within a festival context.

• Ensemble des Musiciennes, formerly “Les Initiées” (France) received a Highly Commended mention for its valuable contribution to strengthening representation, collaboration and professional opportunities for women in music. The jury recognised the project's artistic outcomes and commitment to creating supportive networks and empowering participants through collective practice.

The jury commends all applicants for the exceptional quality of this year's submissions, which once again demonstrate the richness, diversity and transformative power of community music initiatives across Europe and beyond.

Jury members: Alex Carr - chair (Cheltenham Festivals, UK), Lucas Dols (Sounds of Change, NL, previous award winner), Rosa Galbany (Jazz I AM/Taller de Músics, ES), Mark van Schaick (inJazz/Buma Cultuur, NL).

About the Award

The EJN Award for Music & Community is bestowed each year by the Europe Jazz Network to an organisation or project for its groundbreaking work on social inclusion, celebrating initiatives that use jazz and creative music as tools to engage, connect and empower communities.

For the third time in 2026, a public nomination phase was launched through an online form, opening the process to both EJN members and non-members. This allowed the wider community to suggest interesting and relevant projects, and submit detailed information about them. From these submissions, a shortlist of 10 projects was created and carefully evaluated by a jury composed of EJN Board members, previous award winners, and experts in the field.

Previous Recipients

Over the years, the Award has celebrated a range of pioneering initiatives across Europe: Sounds of Change (Netherlands) in 2025; Taller Obert by Taller de Músics (Spain) and Bunkern Bokar (Sweden) in 2024; B:Music for Generation Ladywood (UK, 2023); Katowice JazzArt Festival / Miasto Ogrodów (Poland, 2022); JazzDanmark for JazzCamp for Girls (Denmark, 2020); Pasquale Innarella Rustica X Band (Italy, 2019); and Banlieues Bleues for their actions musicales (France, 2018).