The 42-member National Youth Wind Ensemble of Great Britain, which has been conducted since its foundation in 1998 by Phillip Scott, is Britain’s leading one-player-per-part wind ensemble for talented young musicians aged 13 to 19.

Each year, following nationwide auditions in the autumn, NYWE rehearses for a nine-day period during the Easter holiday and holds a “long weekend” course in July. At the end of each rehearsal course, concerts are given in major venues, for example the West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, and the Royal Northern College of Music Concert Hall, Manchester. In every third or fourth year, it has been the custom for the Ensemble to travel further afield (see Highlights from NYWE’s CV below) and, in the summer of 2011, NYWE will undertake a concert tour to the Far East.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM NYWE’S CV

• August 2000
  Appearance at the BBC Proms Millennium Youth Day at the
  Royal Albert Hall, broadcast live on Radio 3.
• July 2003
  Concert given for the 11th Biennial International Conference of the
  World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Jönköping, Sweden, with percussion soloist Colin Currie.
  World premiere of Rapture by Michael Torke, whose transcription
  for winds was commissioned by NYWE.
• July 2007
  Concert given for the 13th International WASBE Conference
  in Killarney, Ireland, with clarinet soloist Sarah Williamson.
  World premiere of The Spiralling Night by Joseph Phibbs, a NYWE commission.
• July 2009
  Concert given for the Cheltenham Music Festival.
  World premiere of Cloud Atlas by Philip Grange, a NYWE commission
  based on the 2004 Man Booker shortlisted novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
• July 2011
  Tour of the Far East to include a concert for the 15th International
  WASBE Conference in Chiayi City, Taiwan.
  

CRITICAL ACCLAIM – Extracts from recent reviews of NYWE concerts:

“One of the finest wind ensembles in the world. A professionalism
unique in the UK and, I would guess, anywhere.“
Timothy Reynish, at www.timreynish.com and in the WASBE Journal, September 2007.

“My experience of the 2009 [Cheltenham Music] Festival ended on an
extremely optimistic note with the first performance of Philip Grange’s
thrilling Cloud Atlas for symphonic wind band, played superbly by
the National Youth Wind Ensemble conducted by Phillip Scott. …

“ …a performance of remarkable collective virtuosity and outstanding
musicianship that augurs extremely well for the future careers of
these talented young players.“
Paul Conway, in the October 2009 issue of Tempo, the UK’s leading
contemporary music journal, published by Cambridge University Press..

Phillip Scott came to Britain from his native USA at the age of 15 and trained as a pianist and clarinettist at the Royal Academy of Music. A musician with experience in a wide variety of music education settings, he has been responsible for the development of a number of Britain’s leading youth ensembles, among them the Wells Cathedral School Wind Ensemble, of which he was founder conductor from 1985 to 1988. In 2008, he was invited to return to the group as its music director and conductor, giving a memorable performance of Michael Colgrass’s Winds of Nagual in January 2009.

Phillip has conducted the National Youth Wind Ensemble of Great Britain since the Ensemble was founded in 1998. He made his BBC Proms/Radio 3 debut with the group in August 2000 at the Royal Albert Hall, and his recording of Philip Grange’s Clarinet Concerto, with Sarah Williamson and NYWE, appeared on the Campion label in 2006.

He conducted at the Cheltenham Music Festival in 2009 and plans include a Far East Tour with NYWE in the summer of 2011.

Phillip’s professional development training for music teachers is well known in Britain. This work grew out of a Churchill Travelling Fellowship in 1992 which enabled him to work for an extended period with James Froseth at the University of Michigan, whose life-long exploration of the principles of sound music education is internationally admired.

Phillip is currently Principal of the Blackheath Conservatoire in south east London, one of Britain’s longest-established community arts centres.

Internationally recognised for his unique sound and consummate musicianship, Huw Morgan enjoys an unparalleled career as one of the most sought-after brass soloists of his generation. Fêted by The Times (London) as an artist of ‘high intelligence and immaculate professionalism,’ Huw’s dazzling performances have been acclaimed throughout the UK, Europe, Asia, and North America.

Born in South Wales in 1987, Huw began his musical education on the piano at the age of five, taking up the trumpet two years later. At fourteen he won a scholarship to study with John Dickinson and Murray Greig at Chetham’s School of Music, and latterly continued his education at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Professor James Watson, Mark David and Robert Farley, graduating with First Class Honours in 2010. He currently pursues private study with some of the world’s most celebrated players, including Håkan Hardenberger, Jens Lindemann, and Eric Aubier.

Following his success as Brass Winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Huw has gained renown for his prize-winning appearances at many of the most significant international competitions (including Jeju - Korea, Porcia - Italy, and Ellsworth Smith - USA). In 2005 he became the youngest winner of the International Trumpet Guild’s prestigious Solo Award, and last year won both the Brass Prize and Wind Section Award at the Royal Over-seas League Competition. Most recently Huw was placed first, by unanimous jury, at the Only Brass International Trumpet Contest (Antwerp, Belgium), and became the first-ever brass player to be selected for the Making Music/Philip & Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists.
Recent concerto engagements have seen Huw appear with the Northern Sinfonia, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, Hamburg Camerata, Orchestra Mitteleuropea and Banff Festival Orchestra, under conductors including Tortelier and Zehetmair. He has also featured at numerous international festivals: Cheltenham, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, BASBWE, Trømso, and Rainbow21 (Tokyo), broadcasting regularly on both national radio and television. Among his solo recordings, Huw can be heard as the featured trumpeter on the soundtrack to the BAFTA-nominated film, Me and Orson Welles.

With duo-partner and pianist Timothy End, Huw has performed in recital around the UK, with performances at Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and the Southbank Centre. A passionate exponent of contemporary music, Huw has commissioned and premièred works by Leif Segerstam, Eric Ewazen, Hugh Brunt, Luke Burke, and Timothy Bowers. In 2009 he was the featured soloist in the first performance of ‘Only Heavenly Music’ from Karl Jenkins’ Stella Natalis, conducted by the composer in his 60th birthday concert at the Wales Millennium Centre.   
In addition to his solo activities, Huw performs and records regularly with many of the UK’s leading ensembles - appearing as guest principal with the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Aurora Orchestra, and BBC Philharmonic. A committed chamber musician, he is principal trumpet of contemporary group The Theseus Ensemble, a founder member of both QuintEssence and LondonChamberBrass, and enjoys collaborating with a diverse range of artists, including the Risør Festival Chamber Orchestra, All Star Brass Ensemble, and London Schubert Players.

Highlights of the 2010/11 season include concerto performances with the Royal Flemish Orchestra, Lichfield Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Swan and National Youth Wind Ensemble, premières of works by Paul Max Edlin and Olga Neuwirth, as well as recitals at the Sounds New Festival, St James’s Piccadilly, and the Purcell Room (under the auspices of the Park Lane Group).