(Media release: 11 June 2018)
Aspiring young jazz musicians will benefit from a £5,000 grant awarded to Sage Gateshead from Ronnie Scott’s Charitable Foundation.
The fund, together with a grant from the Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation, will enable the international music centre to encourage more young people to take part and progress in jazz music.
Sage Gateshead runs two jazz ensembles as part of its Young Musicians Programme (YMP): Jazz Attack for 11 to 16-year-olds and Jambone (for more advanced players) for 13 to 19-year-olds.
Emily McDermott, 16, from Sunderland, is an aspiring jazz singer who joined Jambone last year. She found out about Sage Gateshead’s Young Musicians Programme through her singing teacher and then discovered Jambone through a joint residential with Quay Voices (the YMP Youth Choir she had joined).
She said: “Over this year I have gained a huge amount of confidence, especially in my performance thanks to Jambone. I have grown as a musician and made new friends with the same interests. Jambone has opened up new opportunities for me and it has definitely influenced my career choices.”
Lucien Guest, 16, from Houghton le Spring, has been a trumpeter in the Young Musicians Programme since 2013. He plays in Young Sinfonia (youth orchestra) and Jambone.
“Playing in a band this size is great experience as everybody gets a chance to play a solo and you can hear all the different instruments. Being in Jambone has been a great way to make new friends. Everyone gets on so well and this comes through the music when we play.
“I’ve got to play in a lot of different venues and at big events. The Jazz Festival at Sage Gateshead is brilliant!
“Being in Jambone and has inspired me to want to teach and study music at college or a conservatoire. I would like to study classical music as well as jazz.”
Wendy Smith, Director of Creative Learning at Sage Gateshead, said: “We aim to bring music in all its forms to people of all ages and walks of life, regardless of background or circumstances.
“This funding will allow a greater variety of musicians of all ages and abilities to access jazz through our ensembles and enable them to learn and grow as individuals and musicians, as well as offering them the opportunity to progress to further levels of study.
“Through this work we will enable a more diverse group of young people to come together and meet like-minded young people with a passion for music-making and jazz, collaborate artistically and learn from our inspirational tutors and world-renowned visiting artists.”
To find out more about Sage Gateshead’s jazz ensembles and wider music opportunities for young people please visit http://www.sagegateshead.com/join-in/music-for-young-people/
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Sage Gateshead is an international music centre and renowned conference and event venue located in the North East of England. It is for artists, for audiences, for the North and for the long term.
Its concert programme incorporates all kinds of local, regional and international music and runs all year round. Music-making and learning activity takes place not only in the building but across the region.
As a charity, the support it receives helps to ensure everyone in the community can experience the joys of music.
Ronnie Scott’s Charitable Foundation (registered charity no: 1163990) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the support of jazz education in the United Kingdom, and beyond. Launched in December 2015, it aims to ensure that music education is accessible to every child and young person, especially those who are under-privileged, by raising and distributing funds and gifting musical instruments to organisations that create or develop youth jazz programmes.
Since its creation, it has supported over 20 projects in the UK benefitting over 1000 school children. One of its fundamental aims is to inspire more young people to become the next generation of musicians.
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