The winners of the 2021 Peter Whittingham Awards have been announced by the charity Help Musicians. The awardees are jazz saxophonist/recorder player/band leader/composer Tom Ridout, composer/saxophonist Olivia Murphy and vocalist/ band leader/composer/ arranger Clara Serra López.
Here is the full text of the Help Musicians’ Press Release
“Help Musicians has announced the 2021 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award recipients, supporting three jazz acts across digital promotion, orchestration, album release & more
Help Musicians is pleased to be supporting another three musicians through its Peter Whittingham Jazz Award, now in its third decade. Each awardee will receive a grant to progress their music as well as tailored 1:1 business advice sessions with industry experts to bolster their business, and access to health resources through our partner, British Association of Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM).
Tom Ridout and his 5-piece Quintet will receive the £5,000 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award while Olivia Murphy and Clara Serra López both will receive £2,500 in development awards.
Tom Ridout plans to use the award to fund a professional promotional package for his Quintet, including video content, photography and a professionally built website. “This will allow me to move forward with my career by being able to present quality material that accurately represents my music,” said Tom.
Development award winner Olivia Murphy will be using the financial support to organise a video recording session for the Olivia Murphy Jazz Orchestra, taking place as a live performance on Birmingham’s Symphony Hall stage on the 27th February 2022.
Reflecting on the news, Olivia said: “This award has allowed me to achieve a life-long dream of mine to create my own jazz orchestra, perform in a beautiful setting, and release compositions that I have been working on over the last 18 months. This is a pivotal point in my career and I would not have been able to achieve this without Help Musicians’ support.”
Development award winner Clara Serra López will be using her support to finalise her debut album, something she’s been working on for over a year.
Clara goes on to say, “This award has given me the confidence to keep going with a project that I’ve been working on for the last year and a half. Living in the multicultural mixing pot that is London, I’ve been able to watch recent and established immigrants bring their own heritage to the London music scene, showing me the power of telling our own stories and striving for our own authenticity. I want to become an innovative figure in the British Jazz scene by being authentic to my heritage and showcasing non-western and Southern European traditions to British audiences.”
Over the past 30 years, the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award has supported many leading jazz musicians, including Help Musicians Ambassador Soweto Kinch, Errollyn Wallen MBE, Dave O’Higgins, Gwilym Simcock and Roller Trio.”
PRESS RELEASE ENDS
Help Musicians is the name adopted by the Musicians Benevolent Fund in 2014
