When drummer Femi Koleoso accepted the Mercury Prize on behalf of Ezra Collective in September, he spoke powerful words about the importance of grassroots youth music organisations in the UK. He said: “This moment that we’re celebrating right here is testimony to good, special people putting time and effort into [helping] young people to play…
Read more Help us keep the music playing, with Future Sound 2024
We’re pleased to share the video highlights of our latest Future Sound programme, which ran earlier this summer in Manchester. You can watch it here. The project was led by saxophonist, composer and bandleader Emma Johnson – with musicians Richard Jones, Alex Robinson, Nishla Smith, Nick Williams and Aaron Wood – who collaborated with students…
We have some big news to share from our founder and CEO Jennie Cashman Wilson and Chair of Trustees Collette Philip. Jennie will be stepping down as CEO of the Abram Wilson charity on 31 August. Jennie says: “It’s been the honour and privilege of my life to build something in Abram’s name and continue…
As with many creative industries, getting started in illustrating can be tough. Not all publishers are willing to put time and resources into nurturing and commissioning new talent. When our CEO Jennie Cashman Wilson began to develop her new book Becoming Brave, her vision was to work with an emerging illustrator. Her publisher, Little Tiger,…
Read more Supporting emerging creatives : a publisher’s perspective
To illustrate her children’s book, Becoming Brave, it was super important for Jennie to work with a publisher who shared her passion for mentoring emerging talent. As such she was extremely thankful that Little Tiger invested the time and resources that are so necessary to develop emerging talent, and that she had the opportunity to…
Read more Exploring fear and bravery: Tomekah George’s experience as an emerging illustrator
There’s a wealth of evidence showing how music can be transformative for young people’s wellbeing. We release our latest Future Sound video ahead of our next match fundraising campaign which launches on 6 June.
We’re super excited to announce that Becoming Brave, a new children’s picture book about love, grief and believing in yourself, will be published in August 2023. Written by our founder and CEO Jennie and illustrated by Tomekah George, it follows Jennie and her relationship with her late husband, critically acclaimed jazz musician Abram Wilson.
Our latest Future Sound video has just dropped, so have a watch right now! It features saxophonist, composer and bandleader Emma Johnson, who led the project, along with students from Co-op Academy North Manchester.
Want to know what happens in the House of Jazz?
Here’s our new video to give you a flavour of our inaugural event, which launched at the end of last year.
Guests were treated to off-the-scale performances from artists led by trumpeter Mark Kavuma.
We are thrilled to announce that three outstanding musicians – Ashley Henry, Jas Kayser and Sans Soucis – have become our new Abram Wilson charity ambassadors. They join our existing ambassador Reuben James and patrons Jools Holland and Nitin Sawhney in supporting the Abram Wilson charity.