NYJO is set for major change following demands made by its main funder the Arts Council of England for the youth orchestra to transform its way of working. Since the summer a panel of advisers and jazz support group Jazz Services have been working on ways to respond to ACofE which will see NYJO musical director Bill Ashton, becoming life president, with Nigel Tully, a former sales director at IBM and a past master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, chairman of the board of NYJO.

An open meeting at the Cockpit Theatre in London last Friday discussed the way ahead. Proposals discussed included NYJO’s direct responsibilities and transformation plans which include the establishment of two orchestras, one aimed at under-18s, and NYJO itself, with an age limit of 25. Guest musical directors would be invited to work with NYJO and a new “transparent” audition process arranged. A new diversity committee chaired by NYJO trustee Jack Fallow will implement a new equal opportunity and diversity policy.

Nigel Tully says that the guest musical directors will act on a project-by-project basis updating the core NYJO charts, building on the material the orchestra already plays. A meeting with the Arts Council will take place next week to discuss the proposals for change at NYJO. Tully recognises the achievement of Bill Ashton – a “very high class act” – but believes that the orchestra needs to change to meet the needs of a new jazz environment. Youth orchestras have been transformed, Tully says, in the last 20 years and he feels that better links need to be maintained between NYJO and regional orchestras which should be a mutually beneficial “two-way” process.

NYJO traces its roots back to 1963 when it was founded by Bill Ashton and emerged out of the London Schools Jazz Orchestra. Trumpeters Guy Barker and Gerard Presencer and saxophonists Julian Arguelles and Dave O’Higgins are just some of the hundreds of musicians who have passed through the ranks of NYJO to forge successful careers as bandleaders and recording artists.

NYJO’s aim, according to the orchestra’s website “is to provide an opportunity for gifted young musicians from all over Britain to meet together regularly and to play big band jazz to a very high standard and excellence." The orchestra has recorded more than 20 albums and appears regularly at clubs and concert halls around the country.

– Stephen Graham