JazzDanmark – The Jazz Fund (Jazzpuljen)

Money for a jazz idea, from a fund JazzDanmark runs on a four-year grant from the William Demant Foundation. It backs projects that raise the profile of jazz and its neighbouring genres in Denmark. The brief is deliberately open, so what matters is having a clear project rather than fitting a narrow category.

You can apply for between DKK 5,000 and DKK 35,000. The exclusions are the useful part: education, course participation, transport and renovation are all off the table. Transport in particular has its own JazzDanmark schemes, so don't waste an application here. You must apply before the project starts, and the project has to run after the deadline has passed.

Applying is light by grant standards — an online form plus JazzDanmark's budget template, which is mandatory. There are two deadlines a year.

A three-person committee reads the applications; for 2026 it is Morten Lund, Nana Pi Aabo-Kim and Simon Toldam. They weigh proposals against two sets of priorities: JazzDanmark's own, which are Danish jazz on the international stage, a more inclusive scene on and off stage, and sustainable development in the music industry; and the William Demant Foundation's broader purpose of improving quality of life through cultural and social activity, with a particular interest in hearing and music. Naming which of those your project speaks to is worth doing explicitly.