On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 November in the Welsh capital Cardiff , 207 musicians, educators, students, promoters and other jazz professionals attended the 2025 JPN annual Conference. Jointly hosted by Cardiff University Music Department and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), the conference achieved the highest attendance numbers to date, including many first-time delegates. Such a turnout was very gratifying for JPN’s UK/Ireland-wide Board of Trustees, all of whom were very much in evidence – chairing and participating in sessions, running breakout discussions and even, as a finale, summing up the whole event in fluent Welsh.
As JPN’s first ever conference in Wales, the significance of the Welsh language – in daily use but also a major influence on the Welsh cultural scene – was clear from the start, with a welcome from Welsh BBC presenter Huw Stephens who gave a fascinating overview of the Welsh popular music scene, from Shirley Bassey onwards. Huw started with the words
‘Good morning, it’s wonderful to be here to welcome you to Cardiff. Mae’n fraint cael bod yma gyda chi bore ma, yn fy ninas enedigol. A small but perfectly formed city, and one that is full of music’.
Cardiff certainly was full of jazz for two days with ten outstanding official showcase bands from across the UK/Ireland at the RWCMD and two additional daytime showcase bands presented by Cardiff University. The guest finale featured acclaimed Welsh jazz pianist and composer Huw Warren with singer/violinist Angharad Jenkins presenting their brand-new project exploring the traditional songs and music of Swansea and the Gower.
An emerging theme across the showcase programme and explored in a conference session was the connections made by many jazz and improvising musicians with folk music . This was demonstrated not only by Warren and Jenkins but in the work of Tomos Williams’ band Burum; Aberdeen’s Matthew KiIlner’s Quartet; the electrifying duo of Shetland’s Norman Willmore and drummer Corrie Dick; Sligo’s Nils Kavanagh and his band, influenced by the North Ireland landscape; and Ukrainian folk song from the distinctive guitarist/vocalist Ruta Di.
Away from the folk vibe, London rising star saxophonist Donovan Haffner gave his own take on contemporary jazz and Lincolnshire’s passionate free jazz trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe encouraged the audience to participate in whatever way they wished. Bringing the showcases to a close, Welsh double bassist Ursula Harrison – 2024’s BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year – joined vocalist Sylvie Noble in a perfectly crafted duo set.
The programme for the conference itself was based around needs expressed at previous JPN events for practical and useful sessions addressing many of the current issues faced by grassroots promoters and musicians today. Featuring speakers from across the UK and Ireland, conference sessions focussed on a range of topics including: audience development; navigating the confusing world of agents, managers and promoters; diversification on stage; talent development from school age onwards; succession planning; the place of UK and Irish jazz on the global stage; and how greater participation for UK artists in international showcase and other gatherings can be developed with the support of the relevant funders. As with any conference as much work was done via networking and 1:1 meetings and time for such contact was allocated alongside the programmed sessions, continuing into the night in the RWCMD bar.
Comments were made on the number of young people among the delegates. Along with a cohort of students from the two colleges, under- 35’s were the main focus for this year’s bursary programme, in preparation for JPN’s forthcoming Routes into Jazz project. To be piloted in Scotland and England over the next year, Routes Into Jazz will offer mentoring, training, visits and placements to a selected number of young people interested in a career in the jazz sector.
Responses to the post-conference survey have been flooding in, useful for the organisers of next year’s conference which will take place in Scotland.
Quotes from the survey include: ‘This was the best JPN Conference I have attended’; ‘Super insightful and valuable – I learned a lot!’; ‘Fantastic to see the promoting of upcoming and established talent’ ; ‘Opened my eyes to the different genres within the jazz family’; ‘All music with a strong sense of place’. Suggestions for the future include ‘ UK touring for British and Irish bands’; ‘Routes into teaching and how jazz musicians can use their skills’; ‘More networking parties and icebreakers’; ‘Please get young people involved in the planning of the conference’.
As the conference drew to a close, JPN members felt assured that the future of jazz and the involvement of younger people in developing the sector was showing very positive signs. Everyone involved was already looking forward to seeing how things will develop over the coming year.
The 2025 JPN Conference was supported by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council Wales and Arts Council Northern Ireland, with sponsorship from The Ivors Academy, Making Music, The Musicians Union, Ticketsource Ltd and Cardiff Council.
Ros Rigby, November 2025
