In September 2026, we had the opportunity to take our ‘First Time Jazz’ Tour on the road again, bringing the magic of live jazz to secondary schools across the Leicestershire region. These tours are a key part of our NYJO Learning offer, introducing young people to the world of jazz in both a fun and accessible way.
Our band of Emerging Professional musicians visited secondary schools across the local area, introducing them to live jazz and the music of Charles Mingus for the first time. Our ‘First Time Jazz’ tours are a celebration of music, diversity, and opportunity, showing young people that jazz is for everyone, no matter their background. Following the performance, selected instrumentalists from each school that we visited had the chance to participate in follow-on workshops where they learnt to play a tune themselves that they had just heard the band perform!
This year, the band featured 5 NYJO Emerging Professional musicians across the four performance days; Olivia Cuttill (trumpet & bandleader), Alex Wardill (sax), Cal Herron (piano), Jamie Walker (double bass) and Miles Pillinger (drums).
They performed at 8 schools across Leicestershire, reaching over 1,100 young people. 89% of the young people surveyed after the tour had never seen live jazz music performed before we visited them!
“I enjoyed listening to the music! I don’t usually listen to jazz so it widened my horizons on the music side of things.”
Abi, Audience Member
One of the band members reflected afterwards on how rewarding it was to see the young people actively engaging with jazz and thinking about what future pathways music might be able to open up for them.
“My highlight was that one student approached us after a workshop to ask how they could get into jazz, orchestras, conservatoire/ university options and opportunities. I think it’s great the level of outreach that the tour achieved amongst all the hundreds of students, and if even one person can find a path into music from an interaction like this on the tour then it is definitely all worth it!”
Cal Herron, NYJO Emerging Professional Musician
It’s so clear that our band’s love for jazz transferred out from them to the audience, letting the young people see the positivity and joy that this form of music has brought into our Emerging Professionals lives:
“I enjoyed my chance to experience jazz music life, especially that of Charles Mingus. As well as the fact that I was able to be surrounded by jazz musicians and learn from people who are experienced in the style!”
Daniel, Audience Member
“I really enjoyed the exposure to different types of music!”
Amelia, Audience Member
It’s a privilege to see our musicians step into these role-model positions with both confidence and respect for what it means to be an ambassador for change in young people’s lives. The connections made and the music shared will hopefully stay with everyone involved for a long time.
It was a true testament to the power of jazz to unite, inspire, and bring joy in unexpected ways.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our National Learning Programme offer, get in touch today at [email protected].
