For over three decades, the Outreach Music Festival & Academy has been a place of musical freedom, transcending boundaries, and open encounters. Founded in 1993 by New York-based trumpeter Franz Hackl, the festival in Schwaz (Tyrol) has developed into an internationally acclaimed meeting place for jazz, rock, electronic music, and improvised sound art—driven by the vision of understanding music not as a genre, but as an attitude. Hackl’s festival format is one that consciously positions itself outside of traditional festival mechanics, instead offering a platform where international greats and young talents alike can realize their potential, exchange ideas, and reinvent themselves.
In its 33rd edition – from July 31 to August 16, 2025 – Outreach remains true to its claim to push the boundaries of musical expectation. Across four stages, workshops, gardens, parks, and event venues are transformed into vibrant resonance chambers. The concerts range from intimate solos to powerful open-air concerts – and from virtuoso jazz formations to experimental crossover acts. Among those taking part are the cross-genre trio David Helbock‘s Random/Control feat. Fola Dada, the Alexandra Ridout Trio, bass visionary Matt Garrison, TSOMBANIS4, PULS, Shinkarenko Jazz 3, and the venerable Outreach Orchestra, which reforms every year under Hackl’s direction and gives the festival its collective heartbeat.
In addition to the main stage, the Schaufenster Stage (4–9 August) and the Mathoi Stage (14–16 August) provide programmatic breadth: with acts such as Vitriol, Amira B, Pryzma, Project M, the Bernd Haas Trio, Yellow Fleet, Daham, In-Touch and many more.
Inextricably linked to the festival is the Outreach Academy, which runs concurrently and is one of the most comprehensive and personalized musicians’ workshops in Europe. Here, established artists meet up-and-coming talents – not in a didactic manner, but through shared exploration and experience. No standardized templates, but personality development through music.
Outreach is more than a festival. More than an academy. It’s a space for artistic thought, sonic discovery, and musical self-determination. Those with open ears will find what they’re looking for here.
Information about the program and tickets at: www.outreachmusic.org
Translated from the German original by Arianna Alfreds.