The Peter Whittingham Award is open to UK-based solo artists and bands in the first two years of their professional career or who are studying on a higher education jazz course. The panel will be looking for outstanding talent, innovation and creativity and the winner will receive a grant of £5,000 to develop their career through funding a creative project.
Panellist from last year’s auditions, Julian Joseph said, “I certainly left the auditions feeling optimistic about the future of British music and am proud that this level of creativity is pouring out of our jazz scene with our winners demonstrating just how relevant and vibrant British Jazz is.”
In 2015, awards were made to two outstanding bands, London based Patchwork Jazz Orchestra and Glasgow quartet Square One. The charity also made two Help Musicians UK Development Awards to jazz drummer JJ Wheeler, and Big Bad Wolf.
Claire Gevaux, Creative Director at Help Musicians UK said, “The continued support of the Whittingham Family through this unique award allows us to invest in the next generation of jazz musicians, helping the most talented artists through these formative and crucial stages of their career. We can’t wait to see the incredible standard of applications and know that our esteemed panel of experts will have an enjoyable challenge in finding the winner.”
The deadline for applications is Friday 11 November at 5.00pm. Auditions will take place at The Premises Studios, Hackney, on Friday 9 December 2016, with a panel of eminent jazz musicians and experts.
To find out more about making an application please visit the dedicated Peter Whittingham Jazz Award page helpmusicians.org.uk/peterwhittinghamjazz
