ORCHESTRAS AND CHOIRS

National Youth Jazz Collective

National Youth Jazz Collective

The National Youth Jazz Collective (NYJC) is a new initiative, currently parented by Birmingham Conservatoire, that is designed to support the creative and educational needs of young Jazz musicians through regional outreach projects and an annual national summer school.

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Case Study: Laura Jurd, 17 (NYJC)

Laura Jurd, 17, from Winchester, took part in the National Youth Jazz Collective’s first summer school last year.

NYJC’s Artistic Director, Issie Barratt recalls the final gig was fantastic, “It was magical to see all the professional Jazz musicians standing shoulder to shoulder with the young people. There was a genuine and profound sense of camaraderie, a shared love of the music and an amazing force of genuine creativity and spontaneity from the whole collective, and boy was it groovy! It just proved that collectively we do things we could never do on our own. We all feel that magic when we’re playing together and are bound to wonder. It is as much an inspiration to me as it is to all of them and it’s a great thing to share.”

Laura told us, “I’ve been playing the trumpet since I was ten. With the trumpet it takes quite a while before you make a good noise but I’ve always loved music so I had that willingness to learn. Now I have the technical skills I really love the instrument for the instrument.

“My teacher noticed that I had a feel for Jazz almost straight away and got me playing Jazz style pieces. It was just instinctive: I really liked the music, even though I didn’t know much about it. Aged 12 I started buying albums and getting to know particular players.

“I thought the summer school was absolutely brilliant. Locally, you are limited to the people who live nearby. You can’t get a band together that easily. Maybe it would be different in a place like London, but I don’t come across that may people who are into Jazz. And I hadn’t had the chance to play it with young people before.

“Just being surrounded by people the same age as you and of the same ability, and being able to play music of such a high standard was amazing. Also the tutors – it was really great working with them, hearing them play and hearing what they had to say about things. It confirmed to me that that’s the kind of thing I want to be doing all the time.

“Since the summer school I’ve done so many cool things with people from there – had a recording session, played in the National Gallery. It’s definitely improved my playing. You get up in the morning and you play Jazz and talk about it and learn about it until last thing in the evening.

“I do hope to carry on playing. It is unusual to see a female Jazz trumpeter but that could be quite helpful because people remember you. If anything, that could be a good thing.”

Visit the official website for
www.nyjc.co.uk