Jazz Orchestra
Overview
NYOS Jazz Orchestra is Scotland's foremost youth jazz ensemble that performs throughout the UK at high profile jazz venues and festivals.
Under the direction of Andrew Bain and our exceptional jazz tutors, NYOS Jazz is for talented young musicians. It provides education, performance experience and the opportunity to learn from and play with world class soloists. To date, the Jazz Orchestra has undertaken new commissions, made studio recordings, performed at International Festivals (including the BBC Proms and the London Jazz Festival) and has worked with international guest artists Jason Singh, Yazz Ahmed, Liane Carroll, Iain Ballamy, Mike Walker, Iain Dixon, Chris Batchelor, Mark Lockheart, Jacqui Dankworth and Duncan Lamont.
Applications
Jazz Applications are now closed and will open again in August 2021.
If you are an instrumentalist or vocalist aged between 14 and 25 and have links to Scotland i.e.
- born in Scotland
- living in Scotland
- studying in Scotland or;
- with Scottish family
Standard: Open to instrumentalists and vocalists (ABRSM Grade 6 or equivalent) MUST be a competent/experienced improviser (Qualification as a guide only)
“Spines were tingling and the audience was in raptures as ensemble pieces, sublime solos and frankly very groovy jazz of unbelievable quality was laid in front of us”
Shetland Times
Performances
There are no forthcoming performances.
White Christmasby Irving Berlin arr. Moss Taylor
Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Programme
We were delighted to still be able to share a little bit of festive joy with everyone in the form of this Christmas classic lovingly arranged by NYOS Jazz pianist Moss Taylor. To watch the film click here

NYOS Jazz OrchestraSummer Tour | 23-25 July 2020
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye
The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Birnam Arts Centre, Dunkeld
Conductor
Andrew Bain (Director)
Soloist
Paul Booth
Programme
This summer NYOS Jazz Orchestra continue its recent explorations of world-music with award-winning saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Paul Booth.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra – Summer Tour 2019NYOS 40th Anniversary
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye (Skye Festival)
Birnam Arts Centre
New Auditorium, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
The MAC, Belfast
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo Jazz Festival
Conductor
Andrew Bain & Malcolm Edmonstone
Soloist
Yazz Ahmed
Programme
Yazz is composer who seeks to blur the lines between jazz and electronic sound design, bringing together the sounds of her mixed heritage. Her music has been described as ‘psychedelic Arabic jazz, intoxicating and compelling’.
To complement Yazz’s music, Malcolm has also arranged a set inspired by other incredible female artists including Nikki Iles among others.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra with Guest Artist Jason SinghStirling
Tolbooth, Stirling
BBC Quay, Glasgow
Conductor
Andrew Bain & Malcolm Edmonstone
Soloist
Jason Singh
Programme
NYOS Jazz Orchestra presents a profusion of cool jazz in two parts.

Cumnock Tryst Festival ClubNYOS Jazz Ambassadors
Dumfries Arms Hotel, 54 Glaisnock Street, KA18 1BY
Programme
The Cumnock Tryst Festival host a special Festival Club each evening from 21.30 on Thursday 4th, Friday 5th and Saturday 6th of October 2018. The event is free and open to all. All they ask is to ‘pay what you like’ as a donation on the night. The NYOS Jazz Ambassadors perform on Saturday 6th October and will be joined by performers from Drake Music Scotland’s Digital Orchestra at the Festival Club.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra Summer Tour with Jason SinghEdinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival
Teviot Row Debating Hall, Edinburgh
Conductor
Andrew Bain & Malcolm Edmonstone
Soloist
Jason Singh
Programme
This summer NYOS Jazz Orchestra presents a profusion of cool jazz over four concerts, in two parts.
NYOS Jazz Orchestra Summer Tour with Jason SinghAberdeen
Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Conductor
Andrew Bain & Malcolm Edmonstone
Soloist
Jason Singh
Programme
This summer NYOS Jazz Orchestra presents a profusion of cool jazz over four concerts, in two parts.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra Summer TourThe Power of Nature
Sabhal Mór Ostaig, Isle of Skye
Ironworks, Inverness
Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Teviot Row Debating Hall, Edinburgh
Conductor
Andrew Bain
Soloist
Jason Singh
Programme
This summer NYOS Jazz Orchestra presents a profusion of cool jazz over four concerts, in two parts.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra – Spring ConcertMiles Ahead
Milton Court Concert Hall, The Barbican Centre
Programme
Some of the finest young bands in the world come together in a showcase of what could well be the future of Jazz. Hear Miles Davis and Gil Evans’s Miles Ahead and more played by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, NYOS Jazz Orchestra and the Guildhall Jazz Orchestra.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra – Summer Tour 2017Road Trip Across the Americas
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye
Byre Theatre, St Andrews
Tolbooth, Stirling
Rose Theatre, Edinburgh
Soloist
Malcolm MacFarlane
Programme
NYOS Jazz Orchestra present a programme that takes them on a 'Road Trip Across America'. The orchestra is led, as always by Music director Malcolm Edmonstone and Principal Conductor Andrew Bain and the featured guest artist this summer is the amazing Scottish guitarist Malcolm MacFarlane.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra 2016 Summer TourSecond Leg
Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-upon-Avon
The Royal Albert Hall, London
Conductor
Malcolm Edmonstone & Andrew Bain
Soloist
Iain Ballamy & Liane Carroll
Programme
This summer we are excited to welcome back previous collaborators – saxophonist Iain Ballamy performing some of his compositions such as All Men Amen and Floater along with pianist/vocalist Liane Carroll – to perform a series of arrangements by Malcolm Edmonstone, including songs made popular by Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Carole King and others.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra 2016 Summer TourFirst Leg with NYOS Jazz Access
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye
RSNO Auditorium, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Conductor
Malcolm Edmonstone & Andrew Bain
Soloist
Iain Ballamy & Liane Carroll
Programme
This summer we are excited to welcome back previous collaborators – saxophonist Iain Ballamy performing some of his compositions such as All Men Amen and Floater along with pianist/vocalist Liane Carroll – to perform a series of arrangements by Malcolm Edmonstone, including songs made popular by Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Carole King and others.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra Spring Concertwith Ian Dixon and Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra
Hallé St. Peter’s, Manchester
Conductor
Ian Dixon
Programme
This spring, NYOS Jazz Orchestra joins Iain Dixon, in collaboration with equally talented young musicians from the vibrant Greater Manchester jazz scene. Iain boasts an illustrious career, which began with the BBC Radio Orchestra and the BBC Big Band, and we eagerly anticipate this unique project arranged for double big band.

NYOS Jazz OrchestraSummer Tour
Sabhal Mór Ostaig, Isle of Skye
Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow
The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Conductor
Malcolm Edmonstone & Andrew Bain
Soloist
Iain Ballamy
Programme
Due to circumstances out with our control the Glasgow performance venue has now changed. The concert will now take place at Cottiers Theatre in Hyndland instead of Websters Theatre on Great Western Road. The concert will still take place at 8pm on Thursday 16th July.
Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. Tickets are still available through via Cottiers - Websters Box Office
The Directors' CutNYOS Jazz workshop and audition Tour
Ramshorn Theatre, Glasgow
The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh
Ben Nevis Hotel, Fort William
Blue Lamp, Aberdeen
Programme
NYOS Jazz Artistic Directors Malcolm Edmonstone and Andrew Bain perform live as a trio with special guest Malcolm MacFarlane on guitar in selected venues across Scotland. Music will feature a mixture of funk, soul and traditional jazz guaranteed to put everyone in a festive mood.

NYOS Jazz Orchestra at London Jazz Festival 2014
Freestage, Clore Ballroom London Southbank
Conductor
Andrew Bain
Soloist
Gordon McNeil
Programme
NYOS Jazz Orchestra of Scotland is one of Scotland’s foremost youth jazz ensembles. Under the direction of Malcolm Edmonstone and Andrew Bain, and featuring soloist Gordon McNeil on saxophone, will recreate the magic of Brecker, from moving ballads to upbeat fusion.

"NYOS Jazz Orchestra played with a mixture of brio and discipline that would be the envy of older, more professional big bands. With the guidance and mentorship of spirits like Rick Taylor, Duncan Lamont, Nikki Iles, and current directors Andrew Bain and Malcolm Edmonstone, the NYOS Jazz Orchestra is an incubator for excellence."
Ian Patterson, All About Jazz, 30 July 2019
ViewThis was a night for original music, superbly played by this lively and talented outfit under the leadership of Andrew Bain and Malcolm Edmonstone.
Keith Baker, Marlbank, July 2019
ViewThe four-voice “choir”, as director Malcolm Edmonstone termed it, effectively gave the ensemble an extra section, both on selections of music from the book of Weather Report keyboard player Joe Zawinul, which he had arranged, and for the music originated by special guest, beatboxer and sound artist Jason Singh. Jason sampled the young women’s voices most memorably on a radical exploration of the Skye Boat Song, referencing the residency at Sabhal Mor Ostaig where the partnership began earlier this year.
Kieth Bruce, The Herald Scotland, 1 November 2018
ViewLocal talent shone on stage at the weekend as the NYOS jazz orchestra came to Aberdeen.
The outstanding ability of every musician was more than evident as the youths played to the enchanted audience at the Lemon Tree.
“After two hours, I was sad the evening had come to an end”
By Rebecca Buchan, Aberdeen Press & Journal, Monday 23 July 2018
DownloadOne of my all time favourite albums is Donald Fagen’s post Steely Dan 1981 debut solo album, The Nightfly. Well, Malcolm Edmonstone has taken the album and arranged it for the NYOS Jazz Orchestra performing a ‘big band’ rendition from start to finish (with five brilliant vocalists) conducted by Andrew Bain in Edinburgh’s brand new Rose Theatre on Rose Street.
By Mark Gorman, Gibberish
ViewThe strong jazz connections between Birmingham and Scotland are manifested this week with no fewer than seven “ex-pat Scots Brummies” included in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland (NYJOS) performances at the Wiltshire Music Centre near Bath on Thursday and a late night Prom at the Royal Albert in London on Friday.
Peter Bacon, The Jazz Breakfast,2 August 2016
ViewNow into its third decade, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland was more than due a Proms platform for its all-round excellence. Falling into three parts, this late-night event accordingly played to the musicians’ strengths.
First was a showcase for Iain Ballamy (who last appeared at these concerts as a member of Loose Tubes nearly thirty years ago) – his tenor saxophone incisively to the fore in the moodiness of ‘All Men Amen’, then taking on a rather more whimsical feel in ‘Emmeline’ with its appealing scenario of a dialogue between the suffragette and an ape.
Richard Whitehouse, Classical Source, 5 August 2016
View20 instrumentalists, 7 singers, 2 directors, and 2 soloists. That’s all it took to create an hour of jazz I will never forget.
I urge you to listen to the beginning of Prom 28 to get an idea of the atmosphere that graced the RAH last night. It didn’t take very long to be transfixed on the beyond impressive tone and technical quality of Iain Ballamy, the tenor saxophonist soloist. I have always loved Big Band music, but haven’t really indulged myself in all different types of jazz, which last night opened my eyes to.
Seb Hill, More Musc Blog, 6 August 2016
ViewThis was a single set but with three contrasting parts. As a centrepiece, Andrew Bain (interviewed HERE in the run-up to this concert) directed Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder, thoughtfully, bringing out all the contrasts in mood and feel. The loudest applause went to Helena Kay for her Johnny Hodges alto feature Star-Crossed Lovers. Trombonist Richard Foote was another strong soloist. Either side of them were soloists performing carefully crafted arrangements by Malcolm Edmonstone. The first mini-set featured the infinitely musical and infinitely modest Iain Ballamy , and by complete contrast the closing mini-set brought the megawatt joyous energy-boost of Liane Carroll. A happy occasion!
Sebsatian Scotney, London Jazz, 6 August 2016
ViewThe late-night jazz and world music Proms have been a very mixed bag over the past 20 years or so. Sometimes it has felt as if the programmers have been politely going through the motions. This concert, though, was a triumph. If anyone doubted that jazz is a universal language, the sight of a young saxophonist who looked like an extra from a Harry Potter film channelling the spirit of Johnny Hodges supplied an emphatic response.
Clive Davis, The Times, 9 August 2016
ViewThe late-night Prom which followed saw the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland to make their Proms debut. Conducted by Andrew Bain, led by pianist/composer Malcolm Edmonstone, and beefed up by the maturer talents of Liane Carroll and Iain Ballamy, those gifted young musicians held forth exuberantly for seventy unbroken minutes.
The Scotsman, Monday 8 August 2016
ViewCottiers Theatre became the church of jazz on Thursday as NYOS Jazz Orchestra’s annual summer tour brought the young musicians together with that most beguiling of saxophonists, Iain Ballamy in this former place of worship.
Rob Adams, The Herald Scotland, 17th July 2015
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