Focus on female jazz guitarists

Three female jazz guitarists from Germany, Estonia, and Sweden are visiting Denmark in January, February, and March as guests at the GuitarRama concerts this spring – a concert series curated by jazz guitarist and lecturer at RAMA, Jens Christian Kwella. The series has been held with great success since 2017, featuring six annual concerts primarily at the Center for Danish Jazz History in Aalborg. Here, Kwella invites guitarists from various genres to perform with him and with young upcoming musicians from the Academy.

To raise awareness of female instrumentalists, GuitarRama has invited three female jazz guitarists – Mareille Merck (DE) (January), Anna Regina Kalk (EE) (February), and Merje Kägu (SE) (March) – to perform a series of concerts and hold workshops in Denmark in spring 2025.

All three are experienced and talented guitarists. Mareille Merck has performed with guitarist John McLaughlin, among others, and has played at numerous European jazz festivals. Her trio LARUS has released two albums in co-production with Swiss radio SRF 2 Kultur and was nominated for the “ZKB Jazzpreis” in 2021. Anna Regina Kalk has received numerous awards for her compositions, releases, and guitar playing. Merje Kägu has played with musicians from many genres, and her music bridges composed and improvised music, seamlessly transitioning from one to the other.

There are a total of nine concerts with the three guests, either as duo performances with Kwella and the guest, or as trio or quartet concerts featuring students from the Academy’s Aalborg department. The three guests will also conduct workshops for guitar students at RAMA in both Aalborg and Aarhus.

Concert schedule