Management Team
Issie Barratt
Exec. Artistic Director
Issie Barratt is a multi-award winning internationally active composer, arranger, conductor, baritone player, record producer and educator. Ranked by BBC Radio 4’s Women in Music Power List 2018 as one of the 40 most influential women in the music industry, Issie has performed at a majority of leading venues and festivals in Northern Europe. South-East India, Central America and the east coast of Canada. Known for her genre-fluid approach to composition, her diverse catalogue of commissions includes works for orchestra, big band, choir and chamber ensembles, often featuring internationally acclaimed soloists.
Issie runs her own three ensembles – A 21-piece jazz orchestra, Meinrad Iten Quartet and her ground-breaking ensemble INTERCHANGE (championing the music of women jazz composers performed by a diverse collective of female improvisers) and is the founding Director of Fuzzy Moon Records with a catalogue of 15 CDs championing a roster of over 100 performing artists.
Helena Summerfield
Interim Programme Manager
Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 1997, saxophonist Helena has worked primarily in music education in a variety of mainstream and inclusive settings. Helena has experience of teaching music across Key Stages 1-4 and was the lead jazz tutor at Trafford Music Service when they received the 2021 ‘Will Michael Jazz Education Award’. In 2022 Helena was awarded ‘Jazz Educator of the Year’ at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards for project managing Jazz North’s ‘Jazz Camp for Girls’ which aims to give young female musicians a positive introduction to playing jazz and improvising.
Helena has continued to be an active performer around her teaching commitments playing saxophone, flute and clarinet in a variety of Manchester based bands including ‘NGUVU’ and Mike Hall’s ‘Boplicity’. She is also a featured artist in the online collaboration ‘Sofa Sessions’ project.
Helena is delighted to have joined the NYJC team and is looking forward to hearing all of the talented young musicians that they work with.
Harry Brain
Summer School Project Manager & Marketing Officer
Harry graduated from Cardiff University in 2021 with a First Class Honours Degree in Music, before moving on to a Master’s Degree at BIMM Institute Bristol & achieving a Merit in 2022. During his time at university, Harry played with multiple jazz and big bands as well as sitting on Cardiff University’s Jazz Society Committee.
Highlights of Harry’s professional career include performing with the Greater Gwent Youth Jazz Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall on multiple occasions. Travelling abroad to the Maldives to play guitar on a private island and playing with his own function band, Rock the Mike, across the UK.
Since graduating, Harry has continued to work as a freelance musician and guitar tutor, performing with his own function band regularly and working with many other function bands across the UK and abroad. Harry is now the Marketing Officer for NYJC and will be the project manager for NYJC’s 2023 Summer School’s.
Chris Wright
Finance Manager
Chris Wright is a financial specialist with over 20 years’ experience of the charity sector, of small non-profit organisations, and of small to medium commercial ventures. He offers a bespoke service to his clients, tailored to their specific needs, and is happy to explore with them a wide range of accounting services.
Chris has a particular, but not exclusive interest in music, both as an accountant and as a professional singer.
Nadja von Massow
Consultant Web Developer
Nadja is a digital communication strategist and creative consultant to the Jazz community, following a 20 year career heading up creative and digital teams in a number of leading eCRM and brand agencies.
Her agency, nadworks ltd. covers the entire ARM (Audience Relationship Management) spectrum for international artists and organisations such as the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Claire Martin OBE, Joe Locke, Terreon Gully, Basho Music, Jazz from Scotland, as well as various record labels including LSO Live, Universal and Motéma.
As an artist management agency, nadworks also represent vibes player Joe Locke and provide tour management for small groups in Europe and in the US.
President and Vice Presidents
Dave Holland
President
Our President is jazz luminary Dave Holland – known for his work with many of the most formative names in jazz. Dave has regularly taken time to visit us from his home in New York, and takes part in our our National Youth Jazz Summer School.
Over the course of a nearly five-decade career, bassist/composer Dave Holland has never stopped evolving, reinventing his concept and approach with each new project while constantly honing his instantly identifiable voice. From the electric whirlwind of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew-era band to the elegant flamenco of his collaboration with Spanish guitar legend Pepe Habichuela; accompanying the great vocalist Betty Carter in her last years to forging a new sound with the pioneering avant-garde quartet Circle alongside Chick Corea, Anthony Braxton, and Barry Altschul; standing alongside legends like Stan Getz, Hank Jones, Roy Haynes, and Sam Rivers to providing early opportunities to now-leading players like Chris Potter, Kevin and Robin Eubanks, or Steve Coleman; Dave Holland has been at the forefront of jazz in many of its forms since his earliest days.
Sir Karl Jenkins
Vice Presidents
Sir Karl Jenkins is one of the most performed living composers in the world. Educated at Gowerton Grammar School, Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music, London, The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace alone has been performed over 2000 times in 20 different countries since the CD was released while his recorded output has resulted in seventeen gold and platinum disc awards.
A Doctor of Music, he holds Fellowships, Honorary Doctorates and Professorships at five universities or conservatoires, including the Royal Academy of Music, where a room has been named in his honour. In November 2009 he was given the Cymru For The World Award and in March 2010 was honoured with the Hopkins Medal given by the St. David’s Society for the State of New York.
In 2015 he was confirmed as the most popular living composer in Classic FM’s ‘Ultimate Hall of Fame’ and holds the Classic FM ‘Red f’ award for ‘outstanding service to classical music’. He was awarded a Knighthood in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours for “services to composing and crossing musical genres” and his autobiography Still with the Music was published by Elliott & Thompson. His music is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes.
Julian Joseph OBE
Vice President
Acclaimed as one of the finest jazz musicians to emerge this side of the Atlantic, Julian Joseph has devoted his long career to championing the music across the British Isles and into the far corners of the globe. He has forged a reputation beyond his formidable skills as a composer and performer, and is universally recognised as a highly knowledgable and engaging broadcaster, musical ambassador and cultural advocate. His charitable work and generous skills as an educator have made a major contribution to Britain’s cultural landscape and heritage.
Through his patronage of a variety of educational programmes, Julian has become a formative presence in the dissemination of jazz music and its heritage to children of all ages. Since the launch of the ABRSM jazz syllabus in 1998, he has been at the forefront of initiatives to introduce jazz into mainstream music education, culminating in the foundation of his own Jazz Academy in 2013. His work has been recognised by many major cultural organisations, including the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, which awarded him a Gold Badge in 2010.
Norma Winstone
Vice President
Since emerging on the London jazz scene in 1966 with an engagement at Ronnie Scott’s Club opposite Roland Kirk, Norma Winstone has worked with many of the major names on the British and European scene. Her voice could be said to define an entire era of British and European Jazz, from reinventions of The Great American Songbook to more abstract excursions into vocal timbre. She recorded five albums for ECM with the group Azimuth, with John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler. Her own album for ECM, “Somewhere Called Home” with John Taylor and saxophonist/clarinettist Tony Coe, has become almost a classic. Her voice has become an important part of Kenny Wheeler’s big band writing and can be heard in this context on the ECM recording “Music for Large and Small Ensembles”
She is a gifted lyricist and has written lyrics for many compositions by Steve Swallow, Kenny Wheeler and Ralph Towner. Her lyrics for the Jimmy Rowles composition “The Peacocks”, which she re-titled “A Timeless Place” has been recorded by many singers including Mark Murphy, Tierney Sutton and The Swingle Singers. She recorded it herself with the composer on an album called “Well Kept Secret” also with George Mraz and Joe LaBarbera. A collaboration with pianist Fred Hersch resulted in an album of his compositions with her lyrics called “Songs and Lullabies”.
Having won the Melody Maker Poll for Best Jazz Vocalist in 1971, she won the same category in the first BBC Jazz Awards in 2001, was nominated again in 2007 and 2008.
She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to music in 2007 and in 2009 won the Jazz Ahead Prize for her contribution to European jazz.
Her newest group is a trio featuring Italian pianist Glauco Venier and German saxophonist/bass clarinettist Klaus Gesing.
Their ECM album “Distances received a Grammy nomination as Jazz Vocal CD of 2008.
Board of Trustees
Jonathan Baggeley
Trustee
Jonathan is Chief Executive of the PSHE Association, the national body for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, leading efforts to ensure that every pupil receives high-quality provision.
Jonathan has played an integral role in preventative education and online safety policy in the UK for many years, including as Head of Education at CEOP and as Chair of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety’s (UKCCIS) Education Group.
Christine Allen
Trustee
Christine runs Basho Music and works on projects with a number of British and international artists. She manages pianist/composer Gwilym Simcock, and the international supergroup “The Impossible Gentlemen”. Basho has produced a number of major tours including Kenny Wheeler’s 75th and Mike Gibbs’ 70th birthday big band tours, and a touring project with children’s Laureate Michael Rosen with the Homemade Orchestra. Basho Records has just released its 60th album.
For seven years Christine Allen was trustee of Jazz Services until April 2014, and Chair of the Jazz Services International Advisory Group.
James Joseph
Trustee
James is an artist manager, record producer, educator and impresario integral in the creation of major label jazz artists from the UK – Jason Rebello, Cleveland Watkiss and his brother, Julian. He continues to play a key role in guiding the careers of many other British jazz greats, as well as global artists including Nina Simone and Cassandra Wilson.
He has consulted for BBC Worldwide and has co-produced television and radio shows for the BBC and ITV. Film and the stage are important facets of his reach as an executive producer for projects in Opera and Ballet including collaborations with critically acclaimed choreographer Sheron Wray whose company, JazzXchange when resident at the Royal Opera House commissioned music from contemporary Jazz heavyweight maestros Byron Wallen, Julian Joseph and Wynton Marsalis.
James advocates quality music making with a record of supporting and creating music series’ on television (Jazz with Julian Joseph) concert venues (Wigmore Hall, Barbican). A founder of the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy, trustee of National Youth Jazz Collective, supporter of HMDT Music, and a powerful adherent of WHBMA and Sahana’s vision for empowering young people through musical excellence. He also lectures at music academies, universities and conservatoires on the music business and focussed career planning for the music profession. James is a passionate proponent of excellence in the arts believing that music enriches and our society immeasurably and must be valued, encouraged, protected and championed.
He sits on several boards including those of the PRS Foundation and the Mayor’s Music Music Fund.
Dr Ruth Herbert
Trustee
Dr Ruth Herbert is Director of Research and Head of Performance at the Centre of Music and Audio Technology, University of Kent, UK. A music psychologist and professional pianist, her research specialisms encompass music education, music in everyday life, music, health and wellbeing, music and consciousness and performance psychology. Publications include an edited volume on music and consciousness (OUP, 2019) and a book on the psychology of everyday music listening (Routledge, 2016), numerous chapters and journal articles plus mainstream magazine articles on aspects of music teaching and education She has undertaken consultancy work for the Daily Telegraph and the BBC.
A committed educator, Ruth is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an external examiner for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music
Dan Mar-Molinero
Trustee
Dan Mar-Molinero is a musician, composer and educator. He works part-time at the University of Southampton where he is Head of Jazz and Pop Performance. Dan’s work spans jazz and pop. Alongside his own jazz projects, he has performed and written with major artists across genres. His music has appeared on films, TV and includes top twenty hit records.
Dan is an experienced jazz educator, having taught in many different settings including NYJC. He has won national awards and recognition for his education work, much of it with the hugely successful SYJO.
Éireann Attridge
Trustee
Éireann Attridge is a current PhD student in Education at the University of Cambridge where she is leading a project on the relationship between student background and outcomes in higher education. She has worked in the field of access to higher education, equality, inclusion and diversity and student success for over 7 years. Éireann often writes and speaks publicly about such issues and has done so for TEDx and WonkHE. She is also a trustee for Goldsmiths’ Students’ Union.
Charlie Widdicombe
Trustee and Acting Chair
Charlie’s path in music began as a Chorister at York Minster, before studying at the University of Manchester. He is a keen amateur jazz trumpet player, passionate about facilitating music opportunities for young people across the country.
Charlie is a Commercial Manager at Pace Six Four, working with teams, drivers and brands in Formula 1 and global motorsport categories. He previously worked for the Halle Orchestra in Business Development, delivering projects including the Siemens Halle International Conductors Competition, and as Development Manager at Olympias Music Foundation, a grassroots charity championing diversity and access to all forms to music for everyone.
Jonathan Kuhles
Trustee
Jonathan is Associate Director for Major Gifts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and helps to raise money to support Kew’s mission to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the wellbeing of people and the future of all life on Earth.
He has worked in fundraising for over 15 years with a particular specialism in raising philanthropic support from individual donors. Until 2019 he was the Development Director for the Philharmonia Orchestra. During his time in this position he secured a number of landmark sponsorship deals for the Orchestra’s UK and International touring programme.
His love of music and jazz in particular started after learning to play the trumpet as a child. Jonathan is also a trustee of the HarrisonParrott Foundation, a charity that supports and champions diversity and inclusion within the arts.
Yvonne Ile
Trustee
Yvonne is an Artist, Singer and published Songwriter/Wordsmith [performing under the name ‘Jael’ but also known as ‘Jael The Voice’], who poetically fuses experiences from her life in London with her deep, African roots. Amassing 1M+ streams on streaming platforms, she has collaborated with acts such as Blue Lab Beats, Aaron London and Boadi.
With 10+ years of experience working in Education, Yvonne has been a Lecturer and Programme Leader in Further and Higher Education. Graduating with a 1st Class Hons and Distinction in her BMus and MA from the London College of Music, she is well-versed in Performance, Songwriting and Music Business.
Yvonne is currently a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, researching the impact of and connection between Blackface Minstrelsy and cultural appropriation on the Popular Music Industry. She is the First, Black, Doctoral Music Student at Oxford. Academically interested in Black music, Afro-diasporic culture, the impact of migration on communities, minstrelsy, the Black-British experience, and women in music, she has also published work around Blackness in the Media, and spoken as an Expert in Music interviews.
Bob Blizzard
Trustee
It’s with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear Trustee, friend and passionate supporter of jazz & young people, Bob Blizzard. Bob was instrumental in helping NYJC grow, and loved both the music and musicians.
Bob was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2010. He set up and organised the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, the Yamaha Jazz Scholars Awards and the annual performance of a Youth Jazz Band (with a professional) in Parliament. Some say he turned the House of Commons into a kind of jazz club.
He also put on the annual Lowestoft Jazz Weekend in the town where he lived.
