This November, in celebration of NYJO turning 60 we hosted an all-day celebration at our home venue in Woolwich Works. The anniversary also coincided with annual EFG London Jazz Festival, giving many of our young musicians an exciting platform to be a part of.
In the afternoon, participants from NYJO’s under 18s musicians showcased their skills under the mentorship of Winston Clifford, Olivia Murphy, and some of the NYJO Emerging Professional musicians who have been leading the entry level group.
It was an incredible opportunity to showcase the talent and technical development nurtured at our NYJO Under 18s is Saturday music programme for 11-18 years olds based at Woolwich Works. During the afternoon’s line up, we heard fantastic musical moments from our First Collective, NYJO U18 Band Performance, finishing off with NYJO Ensemble Performance.
Many of the Saturday programme’s young members move on to become part of NYJO’s professional ensembles, but NYJO supports their learning and progress no matter what their musical goals are, or what level of experience they have when they join.
In the evening of our celebration day, one such NYJO large ensemble took the stage to perform a special programme, conceived and musically directed by NYJO EP, Trumpeter and composer Olivia Cuttill, performed a stunning tribute to Nina Simone’s 1982 album Fodder On My Wings. Olivia’s arrangement of tunes from the album were both honouring and innovative, giving the band opportunity to express themselves authentically.
NYJO would like to give a big shout out to Olivia for her dedication in both arranging the music and inspiring the band with such a strong vision. We caught up with her afterwards to find out some of her highlights from leading on this project:
“Hearing the music come together with our incredible guests, Thanda Gumede, Tony Kofi, Cleveland Watkiss, Winston Clifford and Fergus Quill was amazing…
‘Colour Is A Beautiful Thing’ was one of my favourite moments of the gig. It was so great to see everyone in the bar having a good time and everyone in the audience singing and clapping along. It was the only tune where I played trumpet, playing alongside Tony Kofi was incredible!
‘Heaven Belongs To You’ was one of my favourite pieces of the gig. There’s an epic rubato section in the middle. Having never led a large ensemble before, the feeling of conducting this massive moment of the set was so empowering.”
The delivery of this full day event was facilitated by the Bill Ashton Memorial Fund, created from a legacy gift by NYJO’s inspirational founder, Bill Ashton.
As is evident by the resounding success of this showcase of our Jazz ensembles, Bill Ashton’s legacy continues to support and inspire the next generation of NYJO.