Last year, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO) celebrated its fifteenth birthday with a series of concerts featuring the French accordion virtuoso Richard Galliano and by recording a new CD entitled Ten Years Ago. At the Gent Jazz Festival, the band will perform, and with the festival, coordinate the fifth edition of the BJO International Composition Contest.

This competition is aimed at composers (under age 40) who compose for big bands. After the preliminaries, a maximum of four selected groups will compete against each other on the final day. Conducted by the finalists, the compositions will then be interpreted by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra at the Gent Jazz Festival on Thursday July 9. An international jury will then select the winner of the "BJO International Composition Contest". The grand champion of the "Brussels Jazz Orchestra Composition Award" receives a prize worth 2,500 euros, and the audio/video recording of their composition. Moreover, starting this year, a Public Prize will be awarded by the audience.

Since its inception in 1993, the BJO has built an enviable reputation. The founders, Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume and Marc Godfroid originally had decided to set up a new, professional big band. But BJO is a jazz orchestra and not a big band, even though it has the full strength of a big band. It is often praised for its meticulous ensemble, swinging sections, solid, rich sound and the zest shown when making music. Because the group consists of musicians from Flanders, Brussels, the Walloon provinces, and the Netherlands and France, it also has a European dimension. Half of the original 1993 band members are still in the current band of sixteen players.

The BJO mainly plays its own productions. They range from concertante projects to collaborations with great soloists or multimedia projects. Having already cooperated with Philip Catherine, Bert Joris, Toots Thielemans, Chris Joris and the Filharmonie, the BJO also works in close conjunction with Bert Joris and Frank Vaganée, the ensemble's composers. Nevertheless, it also calls on other Belgian arrangers and composers. Furthermore, the BJO has previously made music with many renowned foreign musicians such as Maria Schneider, Dave Liebman, Bob Mintzer and Kenny Werner. It was once rated as the 8th best big band worldwide in the prestigious American jazz magazine Downbeat.

The four selected candidates are Masuda Sakiko (Japan), Jan Torkewitz (Germany), Veli-Matti Halkosalmin (Finland) and Nicolas Schriefer (Germany.

Frank Vaganée (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute), Dieter Limbourg (alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute), Kurt Van Herck (tenor and soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute), Bart Defoort (tenor and soprano saxophone, clarinet), Bo Van der Werf (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet), Marc Godfroid (trombone) Ben Fleer Akkers / Frederik Heirman (trombone), Lode Mertens (trombone), Laurent Hendrick (bass trombone), Serge Plume (trumpet, flugelhorn), Nico Schepers (trumpet, flugelhorn); Pierre Drevet (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jeroen Van Malderen (trumpet, flugelhorn), Nathalie Loriers (piano), Jos Machtel (double bass), Klaas Balijon (drums)