BBC Young Jazz Musician 2018 final to be hosted at EFG London Jazz Festival
Following the success of the first two competitions in 2014 and 2016, BBC Young Jazz Musician will return in 2018.
Published: 19 March 2018
For the first time, the final of BBC Young Jazz Musician will be hosted at the EFG London Jazz Festival, as part of a new relationship that will further the competition’s aim of showcasing the most talented young jazz performers to audiences across the UK. The BBC Young Jazz Musician final will be held at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on Saturday 24 November, and broadcast on BBC Four.
Entries for BBC Young Jazz Musician are now open, and full details of how to enter can be found on the BBC Young Musician website.
The winner of the first ever BBC Young Jazz Musician Award in 2014 was saxophonist Alexander Bone. Since winning the award, Alexander has continued to pursue jazz and electronic music, playing, producing and arranging with a range of artists, including Nile Rodgers and Rudimental. Alexander is currently studying jazz at the Royal Academy of Music.
The winner of BBC Young Jazz Musician 2016 was Alexandra Ridout, whose recent highlights have seen her perform at venues across the UK, including with Clark Tracey’s Quintet, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and her own band The Alexandra Ridout Quintet. She studies at the Royal Academy of Music.
BBC Young Jazz Musician was established in 2014 to shine a spotlight on and provide a platform for the UK’s most talented young jazz performers, echoing the way in which BBC Young Musician showcases young classical performers. BBC Young Musician celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2018 and launches on BBC Four on Friday 6 April. For more information about BBC Young Musician 2018 click here.
BBC Young Musician and BBC Young Jazz Musician are run and produced by BBC Studios Music and Entertainment Wales and are broadcast on BBC Four television and BBC Radio 3.
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Alexandra Ridout
Since the 2016 final, Alexandra has performed around the country in Festivals, Concert Halls, Arts Centres, Music Societies and all major Jazz clubs in various bands including The Alexandra Ridout Quintet, her own band of talented young jazz musicians, Clark Tracey’s Hexad, Big Band and most recently his new Quintet and NYJO (National Youth Jazz Orchestra). Alexandra has had her music played on various Radio 3 show’s, Jazz FM and was the featured soloist on a broadcast throughout Europe at the end of 2016. She has twice (2016 and 2017) been the runner up in the British Jazz Awards' Rising Star category and Jazzwise Magazine named her as someone to look out for in 2018: “Trumpeter Alexandra Ridout was an outstanding winner of the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award of 2016 and just keeps on growing as an artist.” She began studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in September 2017.
Alexandra Ridout, Winner, BBC Young Jazz Musician 2016 says: “Taking part in BBC Young Jazz Musician in 2016 was an amazing experience and has opened so many doors for me. The whole process was extremely beneficial to my playing, I've gained more confidence and learnt how to perform and work under the pressure of being filmed for TV which is a unique experience! Playing my choice of music with amazing musicians and spending time with fellow competitors was something I'll never forget. If you're thinking of entering I'd say go for it!”
Alexander Bone
Saxophonist, pianist, composer, arranger and producer, Alexander Bone, was crowned the first ever winner of BBC Young Jazz Musician in 2014 and in 2016 he was voted the winner of the British Jazz Awards Rising Star by members of the public. He has worked with some of the biggest names in jazz and pop, including Nile Rodgers, Rudimental, Kylie Minogue, Gary Barlow, Liane Carroll and Dave Holland. Alexander has performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, The Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and has received commissions to write pieces for his own band from jazz festivals across the UK. He tours regularly with his own quartet and is releasing an album of music with his trio this Spring.
Alexander Bone, Winner, BBC Young Jazz Musician 2014 says: “The BBC Young Jazz Musician competition was such a fantastic process to be involved in. I learnt and enjoyed so much about the experience alone, meeting lots of fantastic musicians and all the lovely competition staff. Being chosen as the winner was an awesome bonus. This opened a lot of doors for me in the jazz scene and beyond, of which I’m so grateful to the competition.”
