Jazz orchestra to partner conservatoires

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO)is to be more integrated into the national jazz education scene with the announcement of a formalised relationship with Conservatoires UK (CUK). Eight of the UK’s conservatoires, with the exception of the Royal Academy of Music, have signed a collaboration agreement with the NYJO which recognises membership of NYJO as being “the best of the best”.

The agreement will allow students from the conservatoires to gain professional experience at national level through the NYJO, performing alongside some of the UK’s leading young jazz musicians at both educational and commercial gigs: NYJO was the setting of the first ever professional performance by Amy Winehouse in 2000. Each individual conservatoire will be exploring how a student’s involvement in NYJO rehearsals, gigs, workshops and compositions could form part of their coursework and contribute to their degree studies, and NYJO will be establishing regional residencies and summer schools with them.
As part of the new framework, from January 2012 NYJO will be changing its selection processes to improve transparency. It will become a 30-strong pool of musicians, from which senior staff will select 22 players to perform at each gig. Members will be recruited to the pool by a selection committee including the representatives from both CUK and NYJO. CUK Chairman, Professor John Wallace, said: “It is partnerships like this that enable us to train a new generation of artists for the UK and beyond. It is important to instil a real sense of collaboration between the UK’s conservatoires and our great orchestras and companies, and this issue is an excellent starting point… I can think of no better environment for aspiring players in our profession to really learn the tools of their trade.”