Jazz à Sens
Three nights of jazz in the heart of the cathedral city
About Jazz à Sens
Since 2006, the Jazz à Sens festival has transformed the municipal theater into an exceptional jazz stage every end of January. Over three consecutive evenings, the festival brings together the greatest voices and instrumentalists of contemporary jazz – French and international – in the magnificent setting of the Italian-style theater in Sens. Demanding yet accessible, rooted in the cultural season of the Sénonais region, it has become the unmissable winter event of the Yonne.
Travel to this festival
Book your train or bus to reach Jazz à Sens at the best price.
Sponsored link
Jazz à Sens: An Exceptional Festival in the Heart of Burgundy
Born in 2006 on the initiative of the Théâtre municipal de Sens, the Jazz à Sens festival has established itself over two decades as the major jazz event in the Yonne and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Every late January, for three consecutive nights, the Italian-style theater in the capital of the Sénonais region becomes a temple of jazz, hosting renowned artists from the French and international jazz scene.
The festival is based on a clearly stated ambition by its director Didier Weill: “to reach the widest possible audience, satisfying both seasoned amateurs and more popular, less initiated audiences”. This generous editorial line explains the diversity of the programming, which embraces both the most rigorous acoustic jazz and the most contemporary and inventive forms of improvised music.
An Italian-Style Theater as a Setting
The festival takes place entirely at the Théâtre municipal de Sens, an architectural gem built in 1882 in the Italian theater style. With its 350 seats, wrought-iron boxes and balconies, intimate capacity, and warm acoustics, the theater offers artists and the public a concert setting of rare quality. The proximity between the stage and the audience creates that unique atmosphere that marks great jazz evenings: an exchange, almost a conversation, between the musicians and their audience.
Located in the heart of boulevard des Garibaldi, the theater is easily accessible from the Sens SNCF train station – less than a ten-minute walk – and from the main towns of the Yonne and neighboring regions, giving it a reach far beyond the Sénonais area.
A High-Flying Program
Each edition of the festival features three concerts over three evenings, mixing renowned headliners and emerging artists, acoustic ensembles and modern orchestrations. Over the years, the festival has hosted essential figures of contemporary jazz:
- Biréli Lagrène, master of gypsy jazz guitar and fusion jazz, who came to improvise freely with his trio (2024)
- Henri Texier, legendary double bassist, a towering figure of French jazz (2024)
- Matthieu Boré and his Gumbo Kings, fiery and sensitive jazz-funk (2024)
- Vincent Peirani, accordionist crowned with three Victoires du Jazz awards, with his quintet “Living Being IV” (2026)
- Sylvain Rifflet, avant-garde saxophonist-clarinetist, and his sax-synthesizer-drums trio (2026)
- No(w) Beauty, a young Parisian quartet awarded the Coup de Cœur Jazz 2023 by the Académie Charles Cros (2026)
Jazz à Sens in the Sens Cultural Season
The festival is part of the multidisciplinary season of the Théâtre municipal de Sens – called Sens en Scènes – which offers around forty theater, music, and dance performances from September to April. Within this framework, the jazz festival is a winter highlight, mobilizing all the cultural, institutional, and tourist partners of the Sénonais region around a shared event.
A Jazz Pass is offered each season to enjoy the three concerts at a preferential rate, demonstrating the loyalty of an audience that returns year after year for this exceptional winter event. Ticket sales traditionally open in September for season subscribers and members, before opening to the general public.
Sens, a City of Jazz
Jazz à Sens is not the only jazz event in the Sénonais region, but it is the most emblematic. It coexists with other local musical initiatives – the association 606 Reed and Blues and its Nuit du Blues, the Jeudis Jazz evenings at the Epona Hôtel, the Garçon la Note! festival in the summer – which make Sens and its territory a vibrant and appealing musical scene, far beyond what its size might suggest.
Every late January, as the winter cold settles over the Gothic cathedral, the Théâtre municipal de Sens lights up and vibrates to the rhythm of jazz. This is the promise kept for twenty years by the Jazz à Sens festival: to offer the city and its inhabitants the best of contemporary jazz, in an exceptional venue, just a stone's throw from home.
Jazz à Sens — edition 2026
21st edition of the Jazz à Sens festival, from January 29 to 31, 2026, at the Théâtre municipal de Sens. Three exceptional evenings with Vincent Peirani and his quintet “Living Being IV: Time Reflections”, Sylvain Rifflet “We Want Stars”, and the young quartet No(w) Beauty, winner of the Coup de Cœur Jazz 2023 from the Académie Charles Cros.
21st Edition: “Modern Tempos”
For its 21st edition, the Jazz à Sens festival hosts from January 29 to 31, 2026, three formations representative of the best of contemporary French jazz. Under the evocative title Modern Tempos, this edition offers a musical reflection on time, rhythmic complexity, and the metamorphoses of today's jazz – in constant dialogue with its roots.
Thursday, January 29 — Vincent Peirani “Living Being IV: Time Reflections”
Vincent Peirani, an accordionist triple-crowned at the Victoires du Jazz awards (2014, 2015, 2019 for Night Walker), opens the festival with his quintet for the creation Living Being IV: Time Reflections. This program fuses contemporary pulsations and echoes of traditional dances, blending baroque music and current jazz in a reflection on the complex rhythm of life. Alongside him: Émile Parisien (soprano saxophone), Tony Paeleman (keyboards), Julien Herné (bass), and Yoann Serra (drums).
Friday, January 30 — Sylvain Rifflet “We Want Stars”
Sylvain Rifflet, a saxophonist and clarinetist graduated from the Paris Conservatory, winner of the Concours de la Défense, presents his new sax-synthesizer-drums trio. Partnering with two figures from independent pop music trained in jazz — Bettina Kee (Ornette) and Vincent Taeger (Tiger Tigre, Le Sacre du Tympan) — Rifflet questions the boundaries between contemporary jazz and current music, between improvisation and composition, in a set with communicative energy.
Saturday, January 31 — No(w) Beauty
No(w) Beauty represents jazz in its most traditional form: a quartet bringing together Enzo Carniel (piano), Hermon Mehari (trumpet, from the United States), Damien Varaillon (double bass), and Stéphane Adsuar (drums). Their influences span jazz standards, blues, French and European classical music, hip-hop, and avant-garde jazz. In 2023, the group received the Coup de Cœur Jazz from the Académie Charles Cros, a consecration that attests to talent as solid as it is inventive.
The 2025-2026 Jazz Pass
The Jazz Pass is offered at €48 for all three concerts, providing a complete festival experience at a preferential rate. Individual tickets will be available starting September 2025 at the Théâtre municipal de Sens.
Programme Jazz à Sens 2026
2026 Program
- Vincent Peirani Quintet — Living Being IV: Time Reflections — Thursday, January 29, 2026, 8:30 PM — Théâtre municipal de Sens
- Sylvain Rifflet — We Want Stars — Friday, January 30, 2026, 8:30 PM — Théâtre municipal de Sens
- No(w) Beauty — Saturday, January 31, 2026, 8:30 PM — Théâtre municipal de Sens
Highlights Jazz à Sens 2026
- Vincent Peirani, triple Victoire du Jazz winner, with the Living Being IV quintet
- Sylvain Rifflet and his sax-synthesizer-drums trio We Want Stars
- No(w) Beauty, Coup de Cœur Jazz 2023 winner from the Académie Charles Cros
- Three nights in the Italian-style theater of Sens (350 seats)
- Jazz Pass €48 for all three concerts
Prices Jazz à Sens 2026
Practical information — Jazz à Sens
Practical Information — Jazz à Sens
Venue
All concerts take place at the Théâtre municipal de Sens, an Italian-style theater with 350 seats built in 1882.
- Address: 21 bis boulevard Garibaldi, 89100 Sens
- Phone: 03 86 83 81 00
- Website: theatre-sens.fr
Access
- By train: Sens SNCF station served from Paris-Gare de Lyon (Transilien R line or Intercités, approx. 1h to 1h15). The theater is a 10-minute walk from the station, going up boulevard du Mail then boulevard des Garibaldi.
- By car: Sens is accessible via the A5 from Paris (Sens exit, approx. 1h15) and the A6 from Lyon and Dijon. Parking available near the theater, notably at square de la Résistance and the Hôtel de Ville parking lot.
- By bus: Sénonais Mobilités network for travel within the agglomeration.
Prices 2026
- Full price: €28 (armchair) / €26 (loge) / €24 (balcony)
- Reduced price: €24 (armchair) / €22 (loge) / €20 (balcony)
- Students (under 25): €10
- Children (under 12): €7
- Jazz Pass (3 concerts): €48
Ticketing
Book online on the Théâtre municipal website or by phone at 03 86 83 81 00. Ticketing opens in September for season subscribers, then to the general public. Tickets are also available at the Sens et Sénonais Tourist Office.
Tips for Spectators
- Book in advance: all three evenings often sell out several weeks before the festival.
- The Jazz Pass (€48) allows attendance at all 3 concerts and represents substantial savings compared to single tickets.
- The theater is located in the city center, a stone's throw from many restaurants and bars in the Sénonais region – an opportunity to extend the jazz evening over a drink.
- Accessible seating for people with reduced mobility is available upon reservation with the ticketing service.
Contact
- Théâtre municipal de Sens: 03 86 83 81 00
- Director: Didier Weill — [email protected]
- Website: theatre-sens.fr
- City Website: ville-sens.fr
Festival-goer photos
No photo yet. Share yours!
Share your photos
5 photos max, 5 MB per photo (JPG, PNG, WebP)
Festival-goer reviews
No rating yet — be the first!
No review yet. Be the first!
Were you there?
Share your experience with the community
Travel to this festival
Book your train or bus to reach Jazz à Sens at the best price.
Sponsored link
Where does it take place — Jazz à Sens
Théâtre municipal de Sens
21 bis boulevard Garibaldi, 89100 Sens