NYJO Learning is partnering with Durham Music Service on an exciting creative composition project. Led by NYJO alumna Olivia Murphy, the arranger and guest Music Director of our Amy Winehouse: A Celebration of Her Life & Music programme in 2021-2022, with support from Fergus Quill, a composer and bass player with the NYJO Jazz Exchange – the project will be delivered through workshops taking place in Durham from November to March 2023.
Under Olivia’s guidance, the sessions will have a focus on creative music making, and the group will create a brand-new piece, which will have its debut performance at the Sage Gatehouse on the 30th of March.
As a service, we hope that the Creative Composition project attracts a wide range of young musicians from across County Durham. We want to develop a creative space for young musicians from brass, orchestral and pop backgrounds to play together. We hope that the project gives young musicians an opportunity to express themselves through composition and open their eyes to the different ways a piece can be created. We want to inspire young musicians in County Durham to develop their creating playing and spark a passion for jazz.
Amy Leggett, Durham Music Service
Olivia is a multi-award-winning composer, conductor and multi-instrumentalist based in Southeast London. After studying jazz saxophone at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Olivia has found composition her main focus writing, arranging and conducting for ensembles such as NYJO and her own 21-piece band, the Olivia Murphy Jazz Orchestra.
I am so excited to be working with Durham Music Service for this composition project. Working in this environment is really refreshing and fulfilling as we explore different ways we can compose music together. I am particularly excited to see the young musicians be really open to improvising freely and taking solos within the ensemble as well as contributing their own ideas and opinions about the music we are creating together.
Olivia Murphy
If you work for a Hub or Music Service and are interesting in getting involved with our Widening Access programme, please get in touch today!