Recently, NYJO travelled to Lancashire to work with Lancashire Music Service’s Schools Jazz Orchestra as part of our Widening Access programme. Over the course of 6 sessions, NYJO Educator Fergus Quill and Assistant Educators Sophie Speed and Isabella Zufolo helped the young musicians build their confidence in improvising, as well as preparing for a final concert, where they played alongside NYJO Emerging Professionals.
Throughout the sessions, the orchestra not only played from charts, but also composed their own piece, with help from Fergus. They made sure that everyone’s voices were heard in this process, as we believe composition is one of the best ways to gain confidence musically. When talking to Fergus about his aims for the programme, he said he wanted “to inspire the students to express themselves”.
The main aim of this project was to help students gain confidence improvising, as this can be an amazing creative outlet for many young people. According to Fergus, music is “fundamentally about self-expression”. During NYJO’s time in Lancashire, the improvement was very clear. One member of the orchestra said that their improvisation skills had massively improved, telling us that they “didn’t know how to just go for it before”.
Overall, the project was a massive success, with the students finding the experience both enjoyable and very valuable, and reporting that their improvisational ability and confidence had “massively improved”. We’re looking forward to working with Lancashire Music Service again in the future through our Widening Access programme!
Written by Digby whilst on work experience.