I am a professional jazz flutist, composer, arranger and bandleader living in Cologne, Germany. I have my own jazz trio, called the "Jorik Bergman Trio". And I'm currently working on various large ensemble projects, such as a small 2024 tour with my own big band, playing concerts with my octet, honoring the classical minimal "organic" music of Julius Eastman called the "Julius Eastman Project" and my "Mingus Project", where we're playing Charles Mingus' 40 minute jazz suite called "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady". As a musician I of course try to challenge myself artistically as a composer and as a flute player, but also as a bandleader. With every project I try to aim higher, looking for ways to make my music and ensembles more diverse, interactive, interdisciplinary, creative and out of the box, all the while trying to still keep the musicians, myself and the audience happy.
I have been making music from a young age, and quickly learned that I really like It. Starting out on the piccolo in a local marching band I learned to play the flute quickly after. At the age of 19, I applied at the conservatory of Maastricht for composing and arranging. After studying there for a while I decided in my third year to go on an Erasmus exchange to Cologne, where I fell in love with the German jazz scene. In the summer of 2020 I graduated in Maastricht sum cum laude with a distinction "for rich and mature harmonic and motivic treatment". After that I quickly moved back to Cologne to follow a masters degree in composition and arranging with Florian Ross at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, which I finished in 2023 with a 1.0.
Photo by Anna Ibelshäuser
Photo by Marcel Geitmann
In the course of the last few years I have written arrangements for the Subway Jazz Orchestra, the Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the JugendJazzOrchester (JJO) NRW, the Klara Schumann Bigband, UniBigBand Freiburg, the BundesJazzOrchester, l’Orchestre des Jeunes de l’Orchestre National de Jazz and multiple big band constellations that I have organized myself.
I have won 1st prize at the 2022 Composition Competition, Das Zerbliche Paradies, from the JJO NRW, and I've won the 2021 Composition Competition, European Composers, from the Subway Jazz Orchestra, the 2022 Composition Competition, Future Music, from the BundesJazzOrchester and the ACADÉMIE DE COMPOSITION JAZZ 2023 by the ONJ (Orchestre National de Jazz) in Paris. As a flute player I have played with internationally known artists such as Joyce Moreno, Pablo Held, Natalie Greffel and Gianni Brezzo. And I've played at well-known festivals such as the Weekend Festival, the Summerklaeng, the Nijmegen International Music Meeting Festival and the renowned North Sea Jazz festival.
Photo by Anna Ibelhäuser
New release! We just dropped a new single with my big band "Jorik Bergman and her large, contemporary big band constellation"! It's called "Until the real thing comes along" and we recorded it live last May at our concert at Stadtgarten in Cologne. Check it out on Bandcamp!
Save the date! On the 3rd of November I'll be playing a concert together with the legendary Joyce Moreno at the Weekend Festival in Cologne. We'll be playing her music together with string quartet, arranged by me, and I'll be playing the flute as well. This one's going to be special!
I've got the honor of being a special guest at the 20 year Jubileum of the Jazzorama concert series at the Artheater in Cologne. On the 17th of October the Jazzorama big band will be playing a concert, featuring me on flute. Come by!
Photo by Gerard Richter
On the 29th of September we'll be playing at the Jazzinstitut in Darmstadt with the Julius Eastman Project. Very excited for this concert!
We'll be playing another concert in Cologne with the Jorik Bergman Trio! On the 9th of November at King Georg. It's gonna be hip :)
Copyright © Jorik Bergman
Homepage photo by Sara Bahadori
