National
NYJO develops open-access programmes with clearly established pathways for progression, in which achievements are celebrated at every level. Our national programme is based around Widening Access partnerships where we develop initiatives that respond to our partners’ work and their communities’ needs. Our Learning projects always culminate in the opportunity to perform to a supportive audience, giving young people the chance to develop skills and confidence on stage.
If you would like to find out more about our National work, please contact us at [email protected].
Widening Access
Our Widening Access partnerships are designed to create sustained impactful participation work nationally. We deliver year-round jazz education programmes in partnership with Music Education Hubs, schools and educators across the country.
Partners provide local knowledge and infrastructure to identify need, facilitate provision and ensure sustained impact.
We run bespoke Widening Access projects in:
- Cardiff & Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Durham & Darlington
- Essex
- Humberside & North Lincolnshire
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Luton & South Bedfordshire
- Manchester
Watch what happened when NYJO partnered with Cumbria Music Hub to deliver a weekend residential combining Jazz & outdoors activity to overcome rural isolation.
Manchester
Find out more about how you can take part in our 2025 Manchester Summer Project, exploring improvisation and collective composition.
Lancashire
Find out more about our 2025 project led by Fergus Quill, working with Lancashire Schools Jazz Orchestra to build confidence in improvisation.
Essex
Turning up the Volume on Wellbeing: NYJO’s Music & Mental Health Pilot in Essex secondary schools.
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Read our Learning Programmes Producer’s thoughts on jazz and political engagement in our new Welsh partnerships.
North Lincolnshire
Find out more about our music education project involving four schools in North Lincolnshire during 2024.
First Time Jazz
The 2024 edition of this project visited seven secondary schools across Lancashire, performing to 1,148 young people, 85% of whom had never seen live jazz music before.
Luton
Read all about our Widening Access pilot project in Luton earlier in 2024, inspiring the next generation of musicians at Challney High School for Boys.
Leicester
NYJO Learning partnered with Leicestershire Music Hub on a Second Line project, bringing young people together for a community performance.
Margate
This summer, we embarked on an extraordinary project in Margate, with the aim of creating a space to help young people unlock their creativity.
NYJO Network
The NYJO Network seeks to support peer learning and development between music educators around the country who want to:
- Forge partnerships with other organisations facing similar challenge
- Share ideas and learnings
- Work together to widen access to their programmes
The Network meets across the year to share the success and challenges of music education in their areas. The hope is that by bringing organisations together, we can work to support each other in meeting challenges, celebrating success, and finding new ways of working collaboratively to strengthen the sector to the benefit of all.
If you’re interested in joining the NYJO Network, please contact NYJO’s Learning Programmes Producer Beth Ismay at [email protected].
Beth Ismay, our Learning Programmes Producer, was a participant on the Clore Leadership 2024 Inclusive Cultures programme. Read her reflections on the nature of ‘ambition’, and how it comes into play in her work at NYJO.
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