York Music Forum (YMF) has competed in the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival in the past but this time showed up match fit with arrangements to match resulting in the Youth Jazz Ensemble winning four awards for best band, best programme, best soloist for Jonah Rowlinson on trumpet, and receiving the adjudicator’s award for pianists William Ward-Jackson and Dominik Trory.
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York Music Forum (YMF) has competed in the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival (Image: Supplied) Musical director Ian Chalk said: “The long-term goals for forum members are aimed at fostering a lifelong love of making music through confidence, knowledge, groove, togetherness and achievement. There is something unique in being part of a musical ensemble. The mix of creativity and discipline mixed with the excitement of playing live develop both the musician and the person.
“We believe these skills will prove invaluable in later life for each member of the group no matter what the instrument or what their futures hold.”
The festival also serves as a valuable platform for emerging musicians to gain exposure and experience.
Over the years YMF have developed so many young talents to go onto university with them smashing through every ceiling of expectation as their hard work and dedication has seen them go from strength to strength.
Their Youth Jazz Ensemble had the honour of performing at the prestigious Music For Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Additionally, York Music Forum was shortlisted for the important jazz education award at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2024. Also last year the Youth Jazz Ensemble recorded some tracks with the world-famous jazz vocalist Claire Martin OBE.
The brass and saxophone section have been part of the house band for York’s biggest community fund-raiser A Night To Remember at York Barbican selling it out three times and raising tens of thousands of pounds for local charities.
York Music Forum is a dynamic community dedicated to nurturing and developing jazz musicians of all ages and skill levels offering a variety of activities to help musicians build confidence, expand their musical knowledge, and experience the joy of making music together.
They provide both youth and adult ensemble sessions.
Additionally, they host public concerts and offer an array of online resources and workshops to support their members.
If you are a wanting to develop your musical skills or wish to dust off your saxophone from the attic and re-ignite a love of playing a musical instrument left in childhood contact Ian Chalk via yorkmusicforum.com
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