Jazz Skills Day
Open to all instruments from woodwind and brass to strings and rhythm section. Musicians 18 years and younger of all abilities
Admission £40 (a limited number of bursaries are available)
Sunday 11th October 10am-4.30pm
About our Jazz Skills Day
Join us for an exciting, fun day of jazz playing, workshops and more in our state of the art performance venue, Cedars Hall.
World class tutors from Wells Cathedral School Woodwind Department will be joined by special guest, acclaimed pianist Rebecca Nash.
The day will include workshops and coached ensembles to develop your playing, improvisation, jazz theory, audition advice and an informal concert at the end of the day. Participants will be placed in workshop groups according to jazz experience and instrumental ability.
“At Wells, we strongly believe in opening the doors to creativity through improvisation and collaboration. Jazz is a social music that encourages all of the key elements of musicality but particularly listening, responding to others, communication in the moment and freedom of expression. Join us to develop your jazz skills!”
Edward Leaker, Head of Jazz & Head of Woodwind, Wells Cathedral School
Bursaries
If the £40 fee is a barrier to being able to attend, we’d like to invite you to apply for one of our bursaries. To apply, please contact Edward Leaker on [email protected] with your name, the name of the course you’d like to attend, your current grade and details of your request.
More Details
Refreshments will be provided, but please bring a packed lunch. We will contact participants nearer the time with further details.
If you have any questions, please contact our Music Department on 01749 834450 / [email protected] and we would be very happy to help.
Our Tutors
Nick Malcolm is an original and heartfelt improviser, known for his rich sound and sense of improvisational and compositional daring. He led the acclaimed Nick Malcolm Quartet, releasing three albums, touring nationally several times and performing at the London Jazz Festival and on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz On 3. Their final album ‘Real Isn’t Real’, added a quartet of four female vocalists. He also led electro-acoustic quartet jade and, in 2021, released ‘Chat’ an album of improvised duets with Corey Mwamba.
Currently, Nick leads the quintet Out Front, with Jason Yarde, Jake McMurchie, Olie Brice and Dave Smith. They play original music inspired by years of playing music by masters Andrew Hill and Booker Little. Their debut album,‘Buried Webs’, was released in October 2025. He also heads Knotted Kernel, a multimedia collaboration blending music, spoken word and taste.
Edward is Head of Woodwind & Jazz at Wells Cathedral School. He graduated from The Royal Academy of Music and has enjoyed an international freelance career in both jazz and classical ensembles. He currently leads the Swing Machine Jazz Orchestra among other performance and education projects.
Rebecca Nash has established herself as one of the UK’s leading jazz pianists and composers, earning an international reputation for her distinctive, expressive sound. Her acclaimed projects, including Aurum, Redefining Element 78, and Peaceful King (Whirlwind Recordings), showcase a unique compositional voice blending jazz, classical influences, free improvisation, and post-tonal music.
Rebecca collaborates regularly with singer-songwriter Sara Colman and trumpeter/producer Nick Walters, with new releases on Stoney Lane Records and Dear Old Thing Records. She has performed at major festivals and venues including the EFG London Jazz Festival, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, We Out Here, Love Supreme, Manchester Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, and the World Economic Forum, as well as appearing on BBC Radio 3.
Alongside her performing career, Rebecca is a respected educator, working with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, B:Music, National Youth Jazz Collective, Earthsong, and Cheltenham Festivals, and has been a visiting tutor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and Trinity Laban Conservatoire.