Nikki Iles‘ second programme for the NDR Big Band is a musical reflection on current events, but rather than being sombre music it is filled with bright hope. »In this programme, I have focused on themes of unity – how important it is to find empathy and common ground despite the challenges we face.«
For her, each programme is also a shared journey: the better you know your travelling companions, the more naturally you travel together and the less you have to discuss. The new compositions for the NDR Big Band give even greater space for the individual strengths of the musicians. The musical echo of Nikki Iles‘ dreams takes a world of division on a journey of humanity. »Making music together gives me hope for our shared humanity and reminds me that we must not be afraid to dream.«
Performers
NDR Bigband
director Nikki Iles
Programme
Nikki Iles
The Shadow of a Dream: Journeys Through a Strange World
Nikki Iles was the surprise winner of the NDR Big Band composition competition in 2020. The British pianist and composer was immediately invited for a week of recording and was named composer-in-residence in 2023. The resulting CD »Face to Face« delighted audiences and critics alike and was nominated for the 2024 German Jazz Award. What else might come next? Well, for example, the call to become the ensemble’s chief conductor in 2025 and to write a new commissioned work.
At just eleven years old, Nikki Iles earned a place in the Royal Academy of Music’s junior programme in 1974. She went on to study there and later at Leeds College of Music before rising to prominence in northern England’s large-format jazz scene with the Creative Jazz Orchestra. Over the years, she has received numerous honours, including the John Dankworth Special Award at the BT Jazz Festival in 1996, the British Jazz Award for Best Pianist in 2017, the Ivors Academy Award in 2019, and »Jazz Ensemble of the Year« at the 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards with her own jazz orchestra.
»More than the individual notes, I remember the sound of a musician,« Nikki Iles once said. After countless concerts and hours in the studio, the 61-year-old Brit carries the sound of the NDR Big Band in her mind – she even dreams about it. »I find myself searching for shadows and echoes of distant memories to make sense of the realities of a turbulent world. I try to penetrate these unknown realms in my music by exploring both the bright and dark aspects of the human experience.«
