Much excitement in the Tomorrow’s Warriors office with news today that PRS for Music Foundation has selected our Nu Civilisation Orchestra project with Peter Edwards – A Journey With The Giants Of Jazz that we are co-producing with our partners, Turner Sims – as one of twenty commissions for the New Music Biennial 2017!
The New Music Biennial 2017 is a PRS for Music Foundation initiative which is presented in partnership with Hull UK City of Culture 2017, London’s Southbank Centre and BBC Radio 3. The winning commissions present a snapshot of contemporary music in the UK including ten brand new works (of which the Turner Sims commission is one) and ten pre-existing works that have been composed within the last 15 years. The New Music Biennial includes new music from across all genres: from classical and chamber opera to jazz, folk, electronic and music for brass band and organ.
Kevin Appleby, Concert Hall Manager at Turner Sims had a big smile on his face this morning as he announced:
I’m delighted that Turner Sims Southampton will be part of the New Music Biennial 2017. The initiative is an opportunity not only for us to present a new work from a composer with whom we have built up strong links over many years but also to collaborate with our Associate Artists Tomorrow’s Warriors. The performances by the Nu Civilisation Orchestra as part of our established and diverse jazz programme promise to be very special indeed.
All of us at Tomorrow’s Warriors are absolutely thrilled to be working again with Peter Edwards and Kevin and his team, and echo his belief that this project will be very special indeed!
About Peter Edwards
Many of you will be aware of Peter Edwards but, for those less familiar, he is an award-winning pianist, composer and bandleader whose ‘soulful music…[is] full of emphatic chording, Latin grooves and romantic, cinematic themes’ (Guardian). In 2015 he was the Parliamentary Jazz Awards ‘Newcomer Of The Year’ and was among the nominees for the 2015 Jazz FM ‘Breakthrough Artist’ award. His debut album, Safe And Sound was in MOJO’s top 10 jazz albums of 2014.
Peter has had a long association with Tomorrow’s Warriors, starting out as the organisation’s first intern in 2003, and joining the Tomorrow’s Warriors Young Artist Development Programme in 2005 which gave him the opportunity to sharpen his performance and compositional skills under the guidance of our artistic director, Gary Crosby OBE. Today Peter is a stalwart of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Music Leader Faculty and musical director of the Nu Civilisation Orchestra, an orchestra created for Peter by Gary in 2009 to re-create Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite in support of his Masters in Jazz at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance.
You’ll have a chance to hear more of Peter’s music quite soon as he recently finished recording his second trio album, A Matter of Instinct which is scheduled for release in 2016 -keep your eyes and ears peeled!
Peter’s piece for the NCO, A Journey With The Giants Of Jazz looks at the year 1917, a defining year for jazz that saw the birth of some of the most influential jazz artists including composer ‘Tadd’ Dameron, singer Ella Fitzgerald, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Thelonious Monk, drummer Buddy Rich and percussionist Mongo Santamaria. Taking inspiration from motifs found in these artists’ classic works, Peter’s piece for the NCO will deconstruct their themes to offer the audience a re-imagined and alternative musical experience.
The new work will receive its world premiere at Turner Sims ahead of performances elsewhere including two celebration weekends in Hull on 1 & 2 July as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and 7-9 July at London’s Southbank Centre.
www.newmusicbiennial.com | @NMBiennial | @PRSFoundation | #NMB17