It is announced today that the two winners of the Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition 2011 are:
Winner in the Big Band category:
Laura Jurd (Trinity College- above)for ‘La Danza A La Selva’.
Winner in the Small Band category:
Alex Roth (Royal Academy of Music) for 'November’s Song'.
The Dankworth Prize is organised by the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and Jazzorg (founder Art Mead) and is partly funded by the Wavendon Foundation. The judges were Tim Garland, Frank Griffith, and Nikki Iles.
The winning pieces will be played at Ronnie's as part of the Trinity Big Band night on 15th February, Dame Cleo Laine presiding.
Alex Roth is studying jazz guitar as a postgrad at the Royal Academy of Music with Phil Robson and John Parricelli. He co-directs Sefiroth, a group which re-interprets Sephardic music, and in Outrenoir, a flexible trio with (regular) Dave Morecroft of World Service Project, and - so far - 'cellist Ben Davis and trumpeter Alex Bonney.
Laura Jurd studies trumpet at Trinity Laban. She is from Hampshire, is a member of the trumpet section of NYJO, and recently took part in Peter Edwards' "Queens Suite" film project with Tomorrow's Warriors.
Photo credit: film still from The Queen's Suite, directed by Corine Dhondee
