MEDIA RELEASE | Sunday 16 November 2014
Jerwood Charitable Foundation, PRS for Music Foundation and Serious are delighted to announce that the latest creative jazz musicians to be selected for the professional development programme Take Five are:
• Sam Andreae (saxophone/electronics, Manchester)
• Heidi Heidelberg (vocals/guitar, London)
• Hyelim Kim (taegum, London)
• Lauren Kinsella (vocals, London)
• Emilia Mårtensson (vocals, London)
• Phil Meadows (saxophone, London)
• Percy Pursglove (trumpet/bass, Warwickshire)
• Alice Zawadzki (vocals/violin, London)
The Take Five scheme, which is supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation and PRS for Music Foundation, designed and delivered by international music producers Serious, and with additional support from Arts Council England and Help Musicians UK, aims to grow the artistic talent and business understanding of some of the UK’s most creative emerging jazz musicians. Now in its tenth edition, Take Five provides each artist with the special chance to discuss, explore and strengthen all aspects of their future careers.
Take Five Edition X will run from autumn 2014 to the summer 2015 and provides participants with one-to-one mentoring sessions to address their particular areas of need, as well a residential period exploring areas such as composition, performance, communications, business infrastructure and strategic direction.
"Huge congratulations to the eight musicians who have been selected for this year’s Take Five. The line-up reflects the quality and breadth of jazz in the UK and it's really encouraging that more talented women have come forward than ever before. I look forward to following their progress over the next year."
(Vanessa Reed, Executive Director, PRS for Music Foundation)
“Take Five’s tenth edition is a landmark in this unrivalled programme which offers targeted professional development support for jazz artists in the UK. It continues to be the gold standard, offering skilled musician/composers an important and rare respite to focus on developing their networks and knowledge of the sector, and this selection demonstrates the artistry and vitality of the emerging jazz scene.”
(Shonagh Manson, Director, Jerwood Charitable Foundation)
“It is hard to believe that we are already announcing the tenth edition of Take Five: UK – those years have gone by swiftly! These artists will join the Take Five Family – a body that consists of over 120 of the most exciting creative jazz musicians across the UK and Europe (France, Holland, Norway, Poland and Switzerland). Serious takes great pride in the way that Take Five has played a part in nurturing the next generation of creative musicians working in jazz and improvised music, and the artists who have been chosen to participate in Edition X will benefit from the bespoke nature of the experience and the ongoing legacy of the scheme as a whole.“
(John Cumming, Director, Serious)
Previous participants in Take Five commented:
“Take Five has provided me with a unique opportunity to spend a prolonged period of time refining my artistic vision and planning its future trajectory, guided by supportive mentors with high-level expertise in a variety of immediately relevant fields….I feel exceptionally privileged to have been on the receiving end… its real value lies in the relationships that are formed – with Serious itself, with other musicians and with members of other organisations that support and facilitate vitally important artistic initiatives. I am confident that over the coming years these relationships will help me to expand the horizons of my work, opening doors to opportunities throughout Europe and providing me with well-rounded artistic and professional advice along the way.”
(Alex Roth, Edition IX)
A panel of industry experts contributed to the selection process, taking into account the following considerations: creativity, future potential, style of music, range of influences, and distinctive contribution to the jazz community. The panel included representatives from Jerwood Charitable Foundation, PRS for Music Foundation, Help Musicians UK and Serious, as well as Graham McKenzie (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival), Steve Mead (Manchester Jazz Festival) and Jason Yarde (composer, saxophonist and producer).
