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Summer School 2024

welcoming Jazz players of all styles and traditions who want to extend their skills

Be inspired. Be empowered. Be creative!

NYJC’s Summer School is for England’s most gifted and talented young jazz musicians aged 14-18. We welcome players of all styles, traditions and instruments who are ready to extend their interactive improvisation and compositional skills – developing your level of ability and confidence through an exciting and eclectic programme of improvised music, supported by inspirational world class guidance.

How it works

Summer School

We offer 45 places on the 7-day Summer School to students aged 14 –18.

Summer school students will be selected to play in one of five nine-piece combos guided by 11 of the nation’s leading jazz educators (all internationally renowned performers!).

After learning a bespoke programme of repertoire by ear (sent to you in a briefing email a month before the start of the course) you’ll enjoy an inspirationally creative week comprising 18 combo sessions, daily musicianship classes, various masterclasses and seminars, an hour’s instrumental lesson, 15-minute tutorial with our artistic director and daily tutor-led evening jam sessions (each with a specific focus and theme). All are designed to develop your ear and broaden your improvisation, composition & spontaneous arranging & interactive skills. 

At the end of the week all five combos perform in a stunning public concert which is professionally video-ed and added to NYJC’s YouTube Channel (This takes a couple of months to edit and mix and is released by early November). 

 Cost: Summer School registration fee is £510*. 

Summer Short Course

We offer 36 places on the 4-day Summer Short Course to students aged 14 –18.

The Short Course offers a similar experience to the Summer School and is designed to support those that demonstrated great talent but didn’t quite pass the audition and so would benefit greatly from an extra boost of jazz support before reauditioning for next year’s NYJC Summer School. 

 Cost: The Short Course registration fee is £380*. 

Find out more

* Financial help:

We don’t want anyone to miss out because they cannot afford the fees. So NYJC offers means-tested bursaries for those needing financial help which can include covering the full costs of the course enrolment fee and transport costs to our free auditions and summer school or short course.

All summer school/summer short course students are chosen via our audition process which is free to everyone.

Apply here

Dates

Auditions:
NYJC’s 15-day national audition tour will take place 23 March – 14 April 2024

2024’s Summer School will be held at Benenden School in Kent.

11-17 August 2024 
Summer School

15-18 August 2024
Summer Short Course

2024 Tutors

NYJC’s multi-award-winning Artistic Director Issie Barratt will be leading a stellar team of world-class teaching artists which is to be announced soon!

Apply here

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The Location

Benenden School in Kent

Benenden School is an independent boarding school for girls in Kent, England. It is located in Hemsted Park at Benenden in the Kent countryside, between Cranbrook and Tenterden.

Benenden opened a brand new School Hall and state-of-the-art Music School in 2022. Designed by the multi award-winning Guy Hollaway Architects, the new School Hall will offer state-of-the-art acoustics and will give audiences a truly amazing performance experience.

The Music School also features a smaller Recital Hall, with capacity for an audience of around 150 people, offering a performance space in a more intimate environment, perfect for rehearsals and smaller performances such as the nightly jam sessions and tutors concert. The Music School has more than 20 practice rooms and classrooms, as well as a smaller performance room, IT suite and recording and performance booths.

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NYJC really got me into jazz. I probably wouldn’t be anywhere near what I’m doing today without what I’ve got from here. It’s the best tuition you can get”

Alex Ridout

Alex Ridout

BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2016

The tutors are great musicians — no one judges your playing — so if you want to find others like you to play with, go for it.. .”

Timur Pak

Timur Pak

Summer School 2016

Even though jazz can be a bit competitive it didn’t turn out that way – I met a lot of lovely new people and got great insights into the jazz scene”

Rosie Frater-Taylor

Rosie Frater-Taylor

Summer School 2016

I’d done a lot of classical before, but here we all learned to blend and fit in with the jazz.”

Mishaal Mehmood

Mishaal Mehmood

Summer School 2016

Fantastic atmosphere— the jamming in the evenings is so much fun, so inclusive, everyone just gets into it.”

William Pearce

William Pearce

Summer School 2016

NYJC has established itself as the primary means through which young, like-minded jazz players can meet to play and learn together. Their summer school and feeder regional programmes are an invaluable opportunity to experience the highest level of jazz education while forging significant and sometimes life-long musical peer partnerships.”

Nick Smart NYJC

Nick Smart

Head of Jazz at RAM

Amazing. I’ve just loved playing with so many really enthusiastic people who have a love of jazz”

Sam Nichols

Summer School 2016

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