COMPETITION WINNER with his composition Variations On An Enclosure
Will Everitt (20) grew up in London playing cornet and trumpet and has studied composition for the last seven years. He’s been involved in both jazz and classical idioms for most of his musical life, and he’s increasingly interested in the crossover between the two genres. Will grew up playing for his local youth band before playing with The NYBBGB and currently with East London Brass. The banding movement has played a big part in his musical education and development, so writing for The NYBBGB Youth Band was something he was very passionate about.
When approaching writing for brass band, Will was eager to bring something fresh to the medium by integrating material derived from the jazz tradition, one of his passions. The entirety of Variations On An Enclosure is, as the name suggests, developed out of a single four-note cell. This cell was derived from Will’s explorations into the use of ‘enclosures’ in jazz melody and improvisation; an ‘enclosure’ refers to the technique of selecting a target note and preceding it with the surrounding notes above and below. Throughout the work, Will explores a wider palette of expression by balancing the lyricism that is so idiomatic to brass band writing with a more jazz-orientated harmonic language, such as polychords and chromatic modes.
Find out more about Will and his work on his SoundCloud and Instagram channels.
