Hundreds of girls will improvise and play in bands

From 29 June to 2 July, rehearsal rooms from Aalborg to Vordingborg will be filled with improvisation and jazz as JazzCamp for Piger brings together hundreds of young girls in bands, where they will learn to improvise and compose music. In 2026, JazzCamp for Piger will take place at 11 music schools across Denmark.

The participants experience a fun and dedicated community, and improvisation has proven to be an effective tool in music education for children as well as an important counterbalance to the culture of perfectionism that is widespread among children and young people.

PlanBørnefonden Pigepris

PlanBørnefonden Pigepris celebrates those who make a special effort to advance gender equality both in Denmark and globally. At JazzDanmark, we are incredibly proud to be nominated for the award alongside such a strong field of nominees.

The nominees for PlanBørnefonden Pigepris 2026 are:

• JazzCamp for Piger for creating a safe community that inspires girls to pick up musical instruments.
• Nermeen Louizi Ghoniem for the initiative Hello Ada, which empowers girls to become creators of tomorrow’s technology rather than passive users of it.
• Tamara Amer Nouri for fighting for women’s right to live freely in Iraq through the platform Iraqi Women Rights.

Previous winners of the award include Nordic Women in STEM and the queer-feminist literary platform Det Lilla Rum. Read more about the award, the nominees, and previous winners here.

Music schools across the country host camps

This year, JazzCamp for Piger will take place at 11 music schools, meaning that girls from all over Denmark can look forward to participating in camps in Aalborg, Aarhus, Esbjerg, Frederiksberg, Holbæk, Kolding, Copenhagen, Odense, Ringsted, Silkeborg, and Vordingborg.

Practical information

JazzCamp for Piger takes place during the first week of the school summer holidays: Monday 29 June to Thursday 2 July 2026.

Teaching takes place daily from 10:00 to 15:00, with a presentation on Thursday afternoon.

JazzCamp for Girls is an internationally recognised success

The nomination for PlanBørnefonden Pigepris is only the latest in a long line of recognitions for JazzCamp for Piger. The project was founded in 2014 by Copenhagen Jazz Festival and Jazz Danmark and has since expanded far beyond Denmark’s borders.

JazzDanmark has continued to develop the project in collaboration with Danish music schools and a range of international partners, giving girls in more than ten countries the opportunity to improvise and compose music in creative communities under the JazzCamp for Girls banner. In 2026, camps will take place in the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Ireland, India, Türkiye, Poland, Sweden, Finland, and several other countries.

This international growth has been made possible through external funding from organisations including Nordisk Kulturfond, Gangstedfonden, and a range of local foundations and partners.

In 2022, The New York Times highlighted the project’s growing international impact with a full-page feature on JazzCamp for Piger in Copenhagen. Read it here.

During the Danish state visit to Poland in 2024, JazzCamp for Girls was attended by, among others, H.M. King Frederik X of Denmark. Read more about it here.

Read more about the project here.