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National Youth Jazz Wales |
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Thirty young jazz musicians met in Colwyn Bay
for the Easter course of National Youth Jazz Wales. Under the direction of
Jeremy Price and a team of tutors including Hans Koller, Steve Waterman,
Mike Williams, Phil Donkin, Gene Calderazzo and Clifton Prior, the Big Band
and smaller improvisation group explored music by Tadd Dameram, Thad Jones,
Mike Gibbs, Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Waterman, Benny Golson, Mike Davies,
Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols and David Finnan, who had written a new
work, Swanba, especially for the Big Band. The two groups presented a
concert of an extremely high standard to an enthusiastic audience - the
standard of performance all the more remarkable given that the group had
first met less than five days previously. Further concerts are planned for
Swansea in September and for the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in
Cardiff in November.
 Musical Director Jeremy Price studied at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has since followed a career as a freelance trombonist and jazz educator. A member of the London Jazz Orchestra, he has worked for the London Sinfonietta and the British Film Institute. National Youth Jazz Wales is one of a range of new initiatives created under the auspices of National Youth Arts Wales. Administered by the Welsh Amateur Music Federation, NYJW seeks to provide opportunities for young musicians to work with top jazz specialists, learn new skills and bring these skills to concert platforms throughout Wales and beyond. After a successful inaugural course under the direction of John Quirk in Swansea in July 2001, the NYJW was resident in north Wales in 2002. In addition to its Easter performance at the Pavilion Theatre, Rhyl, it shared the platform with the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff in June. In 2003 Courses and concerts were held in Swansea, with guest MD David Finnan. Further concerts are planned in Swansea in September and as part of the opening celebrations for the new Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in November. |