Jazzing Up Manchester

Manchester Jazz Festival

Since 2019 I have been Talent Development Producer for Manchester Jazz Festival.

In 2021-22 I ran two schemes:

hothouse, for jazz musicians based in the North of England. hothouse is a safe place to develop a new music idea with professional support. It is also a transformative learning experience unmatched by any other talent development opportunity. It is targeted at those currently under-represented in the jazz sector, and aspires to diversify the artist base creating new jazz work. hothouse artists have included: Lara Jones, Faye MacCalman, Sarah Heneghan, Thandanani Gumede, Liam DeTar (2019-21); Gary Washington, Oli Hudson, Verity Watts, Ni Maxine, Kirsty Almeida, Raheel Khan (2022); Dirty Freud, Robin Forkin, Caoilfhionn Rose, James Mainwaring, Hoda Jahanpour, Francesca Knowles (2023); Lou Barnell, Ben Cottrell, Olivia Cuttill, Will Davidson, Ella Ronan, Ben Gaunt (2024).

soundcheck, for young artists based in Greater Manchester aged 18-25. Soundcheck is for artists who are interested in bringing improvisation into their music-making, to extend their networks and to help define what jazz means to them.

www.manchesterjazz.com/get-involved

From 2021 – 2022 I was also the General Manager for mjf, largely heading up finance, HR and the NPO funding beast bid amongst other…general management.

Silent Uproar & Board Bits

I chaired Silent Uproar’s board for around three years and stepped down in 2022. Congratulations to everything the team achieved and it was a delight to work with the trustees and leadership team. It did make me Super Happy to do it and Super Sad to leave…

At the same time I was a Governor at my daughter’s primary school, which eventually led me to becoming Co-Chair, learning lots and it’s incredibly fulfilling.