Board of Trustees
Planning the future with support
Impetus for new creative processes
The board of trustees, founded in 2016, provides an impetus for new creative processes at the festival and supports the future strategic planning of the Enjoy Jazz brand. The foundation of the board of trustees was taken as an opportunity to rethink, openly question and further develop the promising and successful approaches and projects that already exist with a wide range of stakeholders.
From left to right: Jürgen Fritz, Rainer Kern, Dr Werner Dub, Dr h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger, Ulrike Hacker (Retired), Atli Saevarsson, Udo Tschira, Michael Sieber
Members
Dr. h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger
Manfred Lautenschläger is a highly respected Heidelberg entrepreneur, foundation founder and patron of the arts. After stepping down as Chairman of the Executive Board of MLP AG, he founded the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation and has since been committed to promoting science and culture, as well as improving the living conditions of minorities. In 2008 he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Heidelberg.
Matthias Brandt
After his first engagement at the Oldenburg State Theatre in 1985, the German actor belonged to the ensembles of the major German theatres. His big breakthrough came with the film "Im Schatten der Macht" (2002), in which he played the GDR agent Günter Guillaume. He was awarded the Bavarian Television Prize, the Golden Camera, as well as the Grimme Prize twice and the German Audio Book Prize. He is known for playing multi-layered and abysmal characters.
Dr Werner Dub
Dr. Werner Dub started his professional career in the energy industry. Most recently, he was a member of the Executive Board of MVV Energie AG, Mannheim, for 15 years from January 2000. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at Ferngas Nordbayern GmbH, Nuremberg, and held various positions at Ruhrgas AG, Essen. He began his professional career at the International Energy Agency (IEA), Paris.
Dr John Feldmann
John Feldmann, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, was a member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE until 2011. Since then, he has been a member of various supervisory boards (KION Group AG, Chairman, Supervisory Boards of the HORNBACH Group), the Board of Trustees of the Hector Foundation II and several boards of trustees and sponsoring associations of various cultural initiatives, including the Festival of German Film, the Festspielhaus Baden Baden, the Stiftung Kunsthalle Mannheim and the Nationaltheater Mannheim.
Atli Saevarsson
Icelander Atli Saevarsson was most recently Retail Director at Mannheim-based Dorothee Schumacher. Before that, he was Commercial Director at Hermès Benelux/Nordics. In total, he looks back on more than 20 years of experience in the fashion industry, including at Prada and Hugo Boss. With a degree in philosophy, his path into the fashion industry was an unconventional one. As a supplement, Saevarsson therefore completed an MBA at the Mannheim Business School. Currently, Saevarsson is researching the topic of philosophy in connection with fashion and style.
Udo Tschira
Since 2009, Udo Tschira has been managing director and shareholder of session GmbH & Co. KG, a leading and innovative trading and service company in the music, media and culture industry. Since then, Udo Tschira and his team have succeeded in establishing session as one of the five most important music stores in Germany with its regionally strongly anchored branches in Walldorf and Frankfurt, as well as its constantly evolving webshop. Since 2015, Udo Tschira has also been managing partner of the Klaus Tschira Foundation. It is one of the largest non-profit foundations in Europe, whose goal is to promote the natural sciences, mathematics and computer science. Udo Tschira studied jazz and popular music at the FMW Frankfurt and played in various jazz and pop bands for many years.
Horst-Günter Remanny
Horst-Günter Remanny is the managing partner of mobisys Mobile Informationssysteme GmbH in Walldorf. Based on his many years of experience as a sales manager and with his entrepreneurial spirit, he has built mobisys into a leading provider of software products for the integration of mobile solutions into SAP systems. In addition to his love of jazz, his personal passions include a fascination with classic cars and tracking down new wine and winemaking discoveries. In all areas, whether business or private, Horst-Günter Remanny focuses on the sustainability of quality over the years. Under the aspect of "culture as communication", mobisys therefore supports selected cultural events that match the company's philosophy.
Michael Sieber
Michael Sieber, was a long-standing member of the state parliament for the CDU and State Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts from 1998 to 2006. Michael Sieber is currently a member of the following boards of trustees: Schwetzingen Festival (Chairman), ZKM Karlsruhe, Kunststiftung Baden Württemberg and Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar. He is a jury member of the Bremen Literature Prize and patron of Enjoy Jazz.
Jürgen Fritz
Jürgen Fritz, a psychologist, was responsible for marketing and business development in the management of SAS Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) until the end of 2019. He held management positions for over 30 years and played a key role in the development of SAS in DACH. He continues to deal with questions of corporate management, cultural change in companies, leadership and future-oriented management concepts. He currently works as a management consultant and coach. As initiator and responsible for the promotion of the main sponsor SAS, he has accompanied the Enjoy Jazz Festival for over 15 years.
Dr Roland Geschwill
Dr Roland Geschwill is co-founder and managing director of the "Denkwerkstatt für Manager", which has expertise in both Anglo-American and German management culture. The graduate psychologist has been advising managers since 1986. His standard work "Employer Branding" (together with Florian Schuhmacher) is published by Springer Gabler. In addition, Roland Geschwill is voluntarily involved as the spokesman of the board of the "Friends" association at the Enjoy Jazz Festival.
Karin Heyl
Karin Heyl, who studied philology, worked in the Arts and Science Department of Dresdner Bank AG from 1990 and was simultaneously a member of the board of the Jürgen Ponto Foundation and the Dresden Cultural Foundation from 1999. From 2004 to 2006 she was managing director of the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e.V. and of the Arbeitskreis Kultursponsoring. After six years as managing director of the Crespo Foundation, Karin Heyl moved to BASF SE in 2012. There she is responsible for social commitment.
Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman is considered one of the most distinguished modern saxophonists. Although his initial focus was not on music, he immersed himself in the New York jazz scene during a one-year study break and won the renowned "Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition" just five months later. This was followed by recordings and tours with well-known jazz greats and a contract with Warner Bros. Records. Since then, Joshua Redman has performed with various pioneering formations.
Frank Merkel
Frank Merkel founded WOB Werbeagentur GmbH in 1973. Since 1983 he has worked as a strategy consultant for external and internal communication. From 1990 to 2000, Merkel was a member of the board of the German Association of Advertising Agencies (GWA) in Frankfurt. He was responsible for the department "Management Trainees and Qualification". Since 1998 he has also been a cooperation partner of Professor Dr. Klaus-Peter Wiedmann at the University of Hanover in the Department of Marketing II in the area of innovative scientific projects for market research. Frank Merkel was the initiator and driving force behind the "Renaissance of the Baroque Castle" sponsorship project of the University of Mannheim, which is unique in Germany. He has been an honorary senator of the University of Mannheim since summer 2000 and was the president of the graduate network "AbsolventUM" of the University of Mannheim. In the period from January 2001 to December 2014, Merkel was a member of the executive board of the reorganised wob AG. Since January 2015, he has served as chairman of the supervisory board of wob consult AG. In the years 2008 to 2015, Merkel returned as a member of the board of the GWA and was also spokesperson for the owner-managed agencies and the forum of B-to-B agencies.
Thomas brother
Thomas Bruder holds a degree in engineering and has many years of experience as managing director, chairman of the board and managing partner of various companies. Thomas Bruder is currently managing director of Bruder Beteiligungen GmbH with his own companies, including GA-tec Management Beteiligungs GmbH, Energielenker GmbH and DUO Technik GmbH. Thomas Bruder is a member of the Enjoy Jazz advisory board and has been the second chairman of the Friends of the Heidelberg Spring Festival since 2018.
Former member: Ulrike Hacker (resigned 2019)
As an expert in branding and communication, Ulrike Hacker was involved in setting up the Kulturhaus Alte Feuerwache in Mannheim and managed the press and public relations for Mannheim's city anniversary in 2007 under the leadership of the current Lord Mayor Dr Peter Kurz. She is the founder of the successful Mannheim literature festival "lesen.hören" under the patronage of Roger Willemsen and managed the festival's programme until 2013. Since 2013, Ulrike Hacker has been assistant to the management at the Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof and has also started her own business. Since 2019, she has worked as Personal Assistant to the State Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg. In the same year, she stepped down from her position on the Enjoy Jazz Board of Trustees.