On the 11th May 2016 Phil & I went to an awards ceremony held by EDF energy. We were delighted to be presented a plaque and a cheque for £3500 towards new instruments 😀We would like to thank and show our appreciation to EDF energy & the South Yorkshire Community Foundation and of course Phil for doing all the hard work behind the scenes!
Loraine Cawood Musical Director said :
“We are honoured and delighted at being nominated for the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. It is fantastic that we are being recognised for our contribution to Jazz education in the community.”
As reported by the Sheffield Star, Michael has nominated the Barnsley Youth Jazz Orchestra for a prestigious national award in recognition of their work getting young people in Barnsley involved in music.
Michael has put the group forward for the Jazz Education Award in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2016, which recognises organisations that raise the standard of jazz education in the UK.
The Orchestra, which is based at Netherwood Advanced Learning Centre, is a not-for-profit service that provides young people with music tuition at a significantly discounted rate and even loans its students musical instruments and helps them to achieve formally recognised music qualifications.
The awards ceremony will take place in Westminster in May and will celebrate the contribution that jazz singers, musicians and teaching organisations make to British music.
Commenting, Michael said:
“Since their founding in 1978, the Barnsley Youth Jazz Orchestra have an impressive track record in getting local young talent involved in jazz music.
“They deserve recognition for this important work and I am sure that all of Barnsley will join me in wishing them the best of luck in this year’s Parliamentary Jazz Awards.”
What a night to get you into the christmas spirit, we started off the evening with the Jazz Orchestra performing some classic christmas music with a twist, then the Barnsley Youth Swing Band showed us how hard they have worked over this last term by performing a completely new christmas programme, then the Jazz Orchestra finished off the evening in a swing style. Soloists performed so well with traditional christmas tunes which was a great contrast from the bands performances. Danny & I had a wonderful surprise from Paul Dent (a founder member of the organisation) we had received some funding and a cheque was presented to us for £4765 from the Halifax bank which was fantastic. It has provided us with some much needed funds and it is going to help us keep our organisation running & hopefully to launch some new projects which we have been unable to do up to now due to lack of funds, so watch this space!
The new term has only just begun and already we have our 1st gig of this academic year, Ecclesfield gala. It has been a great sunny day with lots of stalls, displays, fairground rides and my favourite hook a duck! All the proceeds from today’s event go towards Macmillan Cancer Support. Well played everyone!
Over the last two years a group of our young musicians and MD Loraine Cawood have worked tirelessly through the AQA GCSE music syllabus, we are now proud to announce collectively they achieved 4 B’s, 3 C’s and 1 D, which is great news
Nearly all of our students have taken their GCSE early, so it now leaves students free to choose a different option at school so students gain an extra GCSE qualification
Well done all, keep up the good work.
There is no feeling quite like waking early on the morning of the annual band holiday to Cornwall, the hours sat in the mini bus pale into insignificance once we arrive at the golden sands and blue seas of the south coast.
No band trip would be complete without workshops, practice groups and the concert for the RNLI Looe raising £275.
This year the good weather prevailed again so beach time was a premium.
Another great holiday was enjoyed by all, and we are looking forward to summer 2016
The swing band and jazz orchestra have worked extremely hard in preparing the challenging programme that we played at holiday inn tonight. We played a number of new arrangements mixed in with some old favourites. The soloists that performed tonight were excellent, representing swing band (age 6-11) were Maddi and Megan they played their first ever solo which was one of their grade 1 clarinet pieces called Synco Rock and Ethan played one of his grade 3 trumpet pieces We Shall Not Be Moved. Representing Jazz Orchestra Lewis played come fly with me on saxophone, Taylor & Jack played Spanish Flea and Emily played Trumpet Tune. All soloists and band members performed brilliantly. This term the Holin Hammerton memorial trophy was awarded to Lewis Watkin. Well done Team!
The Mayor of Barnsley opened the gala and jazz orchestra music could be heard throughout the day, everyone played well and had a great time looking and buying things at various stalls…. Although the weather was kind to us today that still didn’t stop most of the jazz orchestra getting wet at their favourite stall…. I’m just glad it wasn’t me in there!!!!!!
What a day! It bucketed it down with rain most of the time but that didn’t dampen the spirits of everyone at Ardsley Summer Fayre. The band and stalls were all moved indoors but it provided a great atmosphere. A good time was had by all.
This evening provided a great night of entertainment to get you in the christmas mood, audiences heard the Barnsley Youth Swing Band (ages 6-11) and the Barnsley Youth Jazz Orchestra (ages 11-18) perform a range of christmas tunes and the solo performances were of a high standard. All external exam certificates were presented and this year the Holin Hammerton Memorial trophy was awarded to Emma Birch. Well done everyone! Keep practicing!
