Aarhus Jazz Orchestra is one of the leading big bands in Europe. With a sublime sense of music as well as a highly professional approach to practising big band music, Aarhus Jazz Orchestra continues to attract, impress and overwhelm audiences as well as music critics with great musical experiences. Aarhus Jazz Orchestra was founded in 1977 by Jens Klüver (then: Klüvers Big Band) and has since played a monumental role in the distribution and the development of Danish jazz. Aarhus Jazz Orchestra is funded by the Danish Arts Foundation and The Municipality of Aarhus.

With a special focus on jazz and contemporary rhythmic music, Aarhus Jazz Orchestra plays more than 80 concerts every year, and with everything from school concerts to high-profile artistic development projects, the orchestra caters to a diverse audience of all ages. Aarhus Jazz Orchestra consists of some of the best musicians from the Danish jazz scene, and over the years the orchestra has worked with some of the greatest jazz icons of our time, including Kurt Elling, John Scofield, Peter Erskine, Jamie Cullum, Jon Balke, David Sanborn, Melody Gardot, Geir Lysne, David Liebman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and many others. The orchestra reaps great reviews for its concerts and releases and has been nominated several times at the Danish Music Awards Jazz. In 2016, the orchestra won in the categories ‘Danish Jazz Release of the Year’ and ‘Danish Jazz Composer of the Year’ for Jakob Buchanan’s work Buchanan Requiem.