NYJO

You heard it here first… ‘The Fire Next Time! A Tribute To James Baldwin’ is back. Following our Bold Tendencies debut this summer, we’re taking the Southbank Purcell Room on Sunday 2nd February 2025. We are proud to be joining the line up for the Southbank Centre x Montreux Jazz Festival Residency, in honour of Nina Simone. From marches to Marseille, Baldwin and Nina Simone were good friends, and worked together to shape the sound and spirit of the American civil rights movement, which in turn reverberated around the world. 'The Fire Next Time' celebrates Baldwin's legacy, highlighting the social issues that brought the two together. With Peter Edwards as MD, curated by Lucy-Anne Daniels and with her leading on vocals alongside Akin Soul with a brilliant NYJO ensemble, this powerful programme weaves Baldwin’s words with jazz, tracing his impact on race, identity, and resilience. Don’t miss this soulful tribute to a literary icon whose voice inspires us today. Tickets go on sale this week here: https://lnkd.in/eYWK2GaU Southbank Members: Wednesday 6th November 2024 General Sale: Thursday 7th November 2024

📣 Introducing our brand new Resident MDs… 📣   Meet Winston Clifford, Ahnansé, Olivia Murphy, and Vij Prakash – each a powerhouse in the UK Jazz scene who are going to be leading on all things musical direction and shaping our artistic programmes nationwide, helping us to inspire more young people, reach new audiences, and spread the joy of Big Band far and wide.    Winston Clifford   Winston is a firm favourite with our U18s who he’s worked with for the past few years, and brings educational expertise to the table. Alongside creating safe spaces for less advanced musicians to try out new ideas, one of his most exciting aims is to 'to encourage the young musicians at NYJO (and all musicians!) to embrace the importance of using the whole body to internalise music, especially at the learning stage’. We can’t wait to see where this takes us.    Ahnansé    Ahnanse has worked with both our U18s and EPs through collaborations with Steam Down to form ‘The Steam Down Big Band’. Within his role as Resident MD, he aims to ‘empower aspiring young musicians to become professionals by providing them with the tools and experiences they need to thrive and to revitalise and broaden the big band format's appeal,’     Olivia Murphy    ‘In my role as Resident MD, I aim to encourage and develop a diverse, open-minded and innovative jazz network of incredibly talented young musicians.’ We’ve already witnessed this in action while Olivia has worked with our 18s for the past few years and is taking the lead in our upcoming EP Blue Note project. Watch this space!    Vij Prakash    Vij has worked with NYJO for a number of years, delivering educator training sessions to our EPs and creating a festival offering which we debuted at Cross The Tracks 2024. In his new role as Resident MD, Vij aims to ‘contribute to the development of a jazz ‘curriculum’ to build tools and skills for young musicians to bridge the gap between basic knowledge and what is required to approach the level for a jazz/pop degree.’    We’re very excited to have these trailblazers on board, and we look forward to telling you more about them soon!

RIP to the legendary Quincy Jones, the trailblazer who brought big band from the swing era into a new age. From his groundbreaking arrangements to his genre-blending work with Count Basie and Ray Charles, Quincy introduced jazz to a new generation. As a bandleader, composer, and visionary, he infused big band with soul, R&B and bebop and proved that jazz could be bold, innovative, and timeless. We will always be inspired by what he did. Thank you, Quincy! #QuincyJones #RIPQuincyJones

For Black History in the Making (see what we did there), we’re spotlighting Sunshine The Afrooist, a trailblazing artist, educator, and radiant force in the London jazz scene who we’ve been privileged enough to work with this summer. As the lead vocalist for ‘Sun Ra Reimagined’ with Cleveland Watkiss, her vocal talent and passion for uplifting voices continue to push the boundaries of Afrofuturism, not just as an art form, but as a way of life. Beyond her captivating performances as a core member of the Orii Community, one of London’s most exciting improvising musician collectives, and with NYJO on the Lush Life stage at We Out Here 2024, Sunshine has done incredible work with us, empowering the next generation through vocal workshops and costume design workshops from the We Out Here ‘Family Area’ to Woolwich Works, where she shared her insights with our emerging professionals and created an inclusive space for everyone to explore and express themselves. We are thrilled to announce that Sunshine will be joining us again, as a special guest artist at Milton Court on Saturday 23rd November 2024 for our ‘Sun Ra Reimagined’ performance for the Guildhall x EFG London Jazz Festival, with the only and only, Cleveland Watkiss at the helm and it’s FREE! Save the date and join us on the 23rd from 8PM for an unforgettable celebration of Sun Ra and his legacy of Afrofuturism and the freedom of self-expression! #BHM #BHM2024 #EFGLondonJazzFestival #LondonJazz #UKJazz #SunRa #SunRaReimagined #Afrofuturism #LiveJazz #LiveMusic Guildhall School of Music & Drama | EFG London Jazz Festival

In the spirit of Sun Ra, we spent time in the community in Margate this summer creating a piece of music with a very talented group of young people. Some of them were making music for the first time, and it was a joy for the team and our leaders in training to be part of. We used poetry as a jump-off point to composing and recording a piece of music. It was great to work with People Dem Collective and Arts Education Exchange to make this happen, and we look forward to seeing what we can do together next! #FirstAccess #MusicEducation

Last chance to apply! Applications close tomorrow, on Wednesday 16th October 2024. If you’re a Fundraising and Comms expert and you want to make a difference in music education, this one could be for you! Find out more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/eWbddr6h QuarterFive Fundraising Recruitment | Projjol Banerjea

Continuing the legacy… From Chicago, to New York to Philadelphia, in the height of the civil rights movement through the 60s, Sun Ra and his Arkestra took music to the people, on the streets, in their communities. Sun Ra was a legendary jazz musician and composer, known for pushing boundaries with his futuristic sounds and visionary concepts. His Arkestra mixed jazz with space-age themes, creating a whole new genre called ‘Afrofuturism’, which celebrated Black identity, creativity, and freedom. Sun Ra’s influence can still be felt today, as his music and message continue to inspire artists from all walks of life. After seeing the Sun Ra Arkestra’s mind-blowing performance at We Out Here 2023, we were inspired to team up with the amazing Cleveland Watkiss to present ‘Sun Ra Reimagined’ which we debuted at We Out Here this summer, keeping the spirit of Black self-expression and jazz alive for a whole new generation. We are thrilled to announce that we will be bringing this show to Milton Court on Saturday 23rd November 2024 for the EFG London Jazz Festival. It’s FREE, so put the date in your diaries and we will see you in the crowd! Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/e9a9ZZRK

Apply soon! 🎶🎷Help NYJO achieve their mission of making creative music making accessible, fun, informative and a viable career choice! NYJO, also known as National Youth Jazz Orchestra, exists to empower young jazz musicians and inspire audiences across the UK through engaging participation projects and impactful live performances. As Head of Development, you will inherit a strategically developed portfolio of relationships and income streams, with particular strengths in trusts and foundations, and a strong network of individual donors and scope to build corporates. There is also a small but growing legacy circle, created in response to a recent bequest of £1M+. You will line manage a small team of two. Up to £45,000 ⚬ Permanent ⚬ Full-time, open to 4dpw ⚬ Hybrid (Woolwich, London), with some travel required ⚬ Flexible working ⚬ Apply by Wednesday 16th October via Joe 🔗 Link to further details in comments section. #nonprofitjobs #charityjobs #fundraising #fundraisingjobs #jazzmusic

📣 We’re hiring a ‘Head of Development’ - Applications close on the 16th October 2024. Apply now! As Head of Development, you will be a key member of a small team. Reporting to the incoming Chief Executive, you will develop and implement the preexisting fundraising strategy and guide the organisation’s communications and PR strategy. 📈 You will inherit a strategically developed portfolio of relationships and income streams, with particular strengths in trusts and foundations, and a strong network of individual donors and scope to build corporates. There is also a small but growing legacy circle, created in response to a recent bequest of £1M+. You will line manage a small team of two: the Development & Communications Coordinator, and the Marketing & Communications Coordinator. With ambitions to expand upon NYJO’s existing work, your ability to set and achieve more ambitious targets will be essential. 📝 Find out more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/eK4kMG8J

🎶 🎷 Head of Development, NYJO, also known as National Youth Jazz Orchestra🎷 🎶 Up to £45,000 ⚬ Permanent ⚬ Full-time, open to 4dpw ⚬ Hybrid (Woolwich, London), with some travel required ⚬ Flexible working ⚬ Apply by Wednesday 16th October via Joe Reporting to the incoming CEO, you will raise vital funds to help the organisation achieve their mission of ensuring that creative music making is accessible, fun, informative and a viable career choice. You will inherit a strategically developed portfolio of relationships and income streams, with particular strengths in trusts and foundations, and a strong network of individual donors and scope to build corporates. There is also a small but growing legacy circle, created in response to a recent bequest of £1M+. You will line manage a small team of two. If you have experience of securing 5- and 6-figure grants from a range of trust, statutory and/or individual sources, and enthusiasm for working with young artists and broadening access to participatory arts for all, please get in touch! 🔗 Link to further details in comments section. #nonprofitjobs #charityjobs #fundraising #fundraisingjobs #jazzmusic