(Press release)
Following the success of
2019’s Jazz Camp for Girls, Jazz North has
made the camp bigger for 2020 and is taking it to more places across the north
of England including Sage Gateshead and The
Northern Jazz Centre in
Doncaster.
Overall, six weekend workshops will take place in February
and March in Gateshead, Greater
Manchester, Huddersfield, Cumbria, Lancaster and Doncaster aiming to
offer an unforgettable
first experience for girls aged between 9
and 15 years. They will have the
opportunity to flourish under the mentorship of female role models,
discover improvisation and playing in a band, and to develop their confidence.
Now, instead of just one day,
the camp will run for a weekend, and instead of just one weekend, the camp will
take place on three weekends across the north, giving more girls the
opportunity to take part.
Addressing the gender imbalance
in jazz, Jazz North’s initiative was inspired by the success of a similar
project created by JazzDanmark and Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Jazz
Camp for Girls Project Manager Helena
Summerfield says the need is still there. “Our pilot Jazz Camp for Girls in 2019 was a great success and
confirmed the need for such provision in the region,” says Helena. “We aim to build on this foundation now and reach
even more young musicians. The project aims to give girls a really
positive experience of playing in a band; the emphasis will be on finding their
own voice when improvising and creating new music together. Jazz Camp for Girls
will also develop supportive working relationships between the partner
organisations and celebrate female role models from the world of jazz.
We have a
fantastic group of inspiring tutors from across the north lined up to work with
our girls. I am delighted that we have been able to extend the course from one
day to a weekend, through generous funding from The Ronnie Scott’s Charitable
Foundation, Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation and Golsoncott Foundation, as this
will allow everyone to work in more depth and have twice the fun.”
Previous
participant Alice aged 14 said last year’s jazz camp “was good because it
was well organised and your parents got to come at the end to see what you’d
been doing. It made you feel more confident about improvising because some
girls hadn’t really improvised before. I thought it would be good to meet other
girls that play the saxophone and other jazz instruments.”
The camps will be led by
professional female musicians including Alice Grace,
Helen Pillinger, Lara Jones, Megan Roe, Jilly Jarman, Kathy Dyson, Helena Summerfield, Cat Miles, Sonia Mellor and
Hannah Brady.
Partners working together on the
project are Sage Gateshead, Musica Kirklees, Doncaster
Youth Jazz Association, Sheffield
Music Hub, Rotherham Music Service, BlueJam Arts,
Trafford Music Service, Lancashire Music Service, University of Huddersfield and Marsden Jazz Festival.
Those
interested in Jazz Camp for Girls can book via the Jazz North website: https://www.jazznorth.org/jazz-camp-for-girls-2020/
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