Toots Thielemans Jazz Award 2024 for Yarno Hoedemaekers
KCB presents prestigious distinction at Flagey during the Brussels Jazz Festival
Brussels, 21 January 2026 – Pianist and composer Yarno Hoedemaekers has been awarded the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award 2024, one of the most significant distinctions of the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels (KCB), part of the Erasmushogeschool Brussels (EhB). The award was presented during the 17th edition of the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award & Concert, which this year took place for the second time within the Brussels Jazz Festival at Flagey.
Yarno Hoedemaekers, who graduated from the jazz department of the KCB in 2024, says he never expected to win the award himself: “I wasn’t thinking about it at all. Four months after my master’s thesis, I suddenly received an email saying: ‘You’ve won.’ I even thought for a moment: Oh right, that award still exists.”
According to the KCB, Yarno Hoedemaekers stands out for a distinct compositional signature, with rhythm, layering, and sound experimentation at its core. Drawing on a background in percussion and electronic music, he has developed an open and hybrid musical language in which jazz, electronics, and club influences converge. His artistic development was shaped in part by KCB lecturers Diederik Wissels, Jeroen Van Herzeele, and Kurt Budé. “Jazz is freedom to me. Few boundaries. A world that keeps reinventing itself,” says Yarno Hoedemaekers.
An award within the Brussels jazz scene
The Toots Thielemans Jazz Award is one of the most prestigious prizes of the KCB. Each year, it honors the most deserving master’s student(s) from the jazz department who combine artistic maturity with a strong and distinctive personal profile. Laureates receive a cash prize and are given the opportunity to perform at the Brussels Jazz Festival in Flagey. With this award, the conservatoire aims to encourage young jazz talent to give the best of themselves and thus lay the foundations for a future career. The late Toots Thielemans personally associated his name with this award.
The laureate of the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award 2025 is Adinda Hertmans; she will take the stage at Flagey during the Brussels Jazz Festival in 2027.
The award ceremony is made possible in part by the non-profit association Vriendenkring KCB.
Maud Hallot