Guildhall Jazz Festival: NYJO & Nikki Yeoh
- 2pm
About this event:
- Category:
- Guildhall Jazz Festival | Jazz
- Event type:
- Free | In-person
- Admission:
- Free
- Location:
- Milton Court Concert Hall
Event information
Nikki Yeoh & NYJO Present: Speechmik X-Ploration
Presented in association with EFG London Jazz Festival
The Guildhall Jazz Festival in association with the EFG London Jazz Festival features current and past students, Guildhall Jazz teachers, and special guests in a celebration of the wealth of creativity and originality within the Guildhall Jazz community.
Nikki Yeoh’s seminal multimedia work ‘Speechmik X-Ploration’ promotes a message of unity and plurality, which remains poignant today. Over a quarter of a century after it was first commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and Bath Festival in 1997, a new reorchestration of the piece will see Yeoh joined on stage by an 18-piece ensemble from the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO).
Complementing this re-interpretation of ‘Speechmik’ is a brand-new companion piece, ‘Nucleus’, especially commissioned by NYJO and dedicated to legendary UK trumpet player and educator, Ian Carr, who was a major influence in Yeoh's musical upbringing, as well as a driving force in progressive UK jazz, fronting the jazz-rock band of the same name.
The expanded line-up for this performance, including strings and woodwind, shows Yeoh and NYJO re-examining the textural and stylistic boundaries of large ensemble jazz in contemporary UK society.
Free, no tickets required
Image: NYJO musicians (c) Monika Jakubowska
About the performers
Nikki Yeoh
Nikki Yeoh is a creative free spirit who, although deeply rooted in the language of improvisation, is open to a range of music that leans as much to populism as it does high art. Since her emergence on the British jazz scene in the mid-90s, Nikki has proved to be an improviser, composer and all-round adventurer who has continually sought to broaden her musical horizons.
Those who have seen Yeoh will testify to her virtuosity on the keyboard. Drawing on pioneers from the worlds of jazz, classical music and soul, above all the likes of Herbie Hancock, Alexander Scriabin and Stevie Wonder, Yeoh has developed a style that can move from explosive rhythmic energy to understated lyricism at a moment’s notice. Her ability to conjure up the most vividly evocative of moods by way of subtle, probing harmony has been proven time and again.
NYJO
Also known as the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, NYJO is a registered charity dedicated to making jazz and creative music-making more accessible to early-career musicians, young people, and audiences across the UK. Throughout its activity, NYJO seeks to create a meeting-ground between the established and the experimental – the past, present, and future – to build bespoke artistic programmes, catering to lifelong and new jazz fans.
Venue information
Milton Court, based across the road from our Silk Street building, provides the School with world-class performance and training spaces, including a state of the art concert hall, a lyric theatre, a studio theatre and several major rehearsal rooms.
- Milton Court, 1 Milton Street, London, EC2Y 9BH
