Once a year the IG JAZZ Rhein-Neckar e.V. awards the New German Jazz Prize (Neuer Deutscher Jazzpreis) in cooperation with the Alte Feuerwache Mannheim gGmbH. With 10.000, - Euro it is the highest endowed band award for professional jazz bands and the only public prize of the German jazz scene. A jury selects from the more than 200 applicant bands in an anonymous listening session ten bands. The annually changing curator - always an internationally recognized jazz musician - determines from this pre-selection three bands that will perform in Mannheim. The audience decides who is the winner right after the concerts with ballot papers. Also at the new Composition Prize, a jury will make a shortlist and the curator will then select the three composers who will receive the composition commission.