Royal Academy Jazz Orchestra
Royal Academy Jazz Orchestra
Sun 23 November 2025
Stage time / 1:00pm
Doors / 12:00pm
Celebrating the Jazz Clubs
A unique Sunday lunchtime concert in the 2025 EFG London Jazz Festival, with the Royal Academy Jazz Orchestra, featuring Nikki Iles, Nick Smart & Pete Churchill.
As well as being the first woman in this post, Nikki Iles continues a long line of collaboration between the NDR and some of the UK’s most celebrated jazz composers. This legacy includes genre defining and internationally revered writers such as Steve Gray, Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler, Colin Towns, and more recent artists, all visiting Jazz professors at RAM - Julian Siegel, Mark Lockheart and Trish Clowes.
Pete Churchill has been working as a composer, pianist, singer and teacher for almost 30 years. After twenty years teaching at the Guildhall, Pete is now Professor of Jazz Composition at the Royal Academy of Music and Head of Jazz Voice at the Brussels Royal Conservatoire.
Whilst teaching regularly in Europe, Australia and the Far East (Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore), Pete is recognised here as being at the forefront of Jazz education – receiving the Parliamentary Award for Jazz Education in 2007 and nominated again in 2012 and 2017.
This concert celebrates the music that is a result of this long and fruitful relationship as well as some of Nikki’s more recent writing for the NDR Big Band.
As well as being the first woman in this post, Nikki Iles continues a long line of collaboration between the NDR and some of the UK’s most celebrated jazz composers. This legacy includes genre defining and internationally revered writers such as Steve Gray, Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler, Colin Towns, and more recent artists, all visiting Jazz professors at RAM - Julian Siegel, Mark Lockheart and Trish Clowes.
Pete Churchill has been working as a composer, pianist, singer and teacher for almost 30 years. After twenty years teaching at the Guildhall, Pete is now Professor of Jazz Composition at the Royal Academy of Music and Head of Jazz Voice at the Brussels Royal Conservatoire.
Whilst teaching regularly in Europe, Australia and the Far East (Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore), Pete is recognised here as being at the forefront of Jazz education – receiving the Parliamentary Award for Jazz Education in 2007 and nominated again in 2012 and 2017.
This concert celebrates the music that is a result of this long and fruitful relationship as well as some of Nikki’s more recent writing for the NDR Big Band.
“Packed with jazz stars of the future, the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Orchestra is always thrilling to hear, but even more so here as they’ll be playing new arrangements and compositions from pianist Nikki Iles, who has recently become Chief Conductor of the prestigious NDR Big Band in Hamburg. Her creative output has been prolific and hugely enjoyable, full of colour and life, and this is a rare chance to see this new music being performed.“
Helen Mayhew, Jazz Fm Recommended 2025
