The winners of the 2024 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards have been announced and include a Principal Lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire.
Nikki Yeoh. Photo credit: Nick White
Nikki Yeoh, who lectures on the conservatoire’s Jazz course, won the Jazz Education Award. This accolade is bestowed annually to an educator or project for raising the standard of jazz education in the UK. The quality of Nikki’s teaching is supported by her making the shortlist for the same back in 2022.
“My journey as an autodidact has given me a unique perspective on how to teach an intellectually challenging artform and break it down into bite-sized pieces for beginners through to advanced students,” Nikki noted in her acceptance speech.
She accepted the award in memory of Ian Carr who taught her “how to be my authentic self in every musical situation” and “in honour of all of the professional musicians who give up their weekends and evenings to raise the next generation of British jazz musicians.”
Nikki also thanked institutions, including Leeds Conservatoire, for trusting her to lead courses in “my own quirky autodidactic way.”
The All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards celebrate and recognise the vibrancy, diversity, talent and breadth of the jazz scene throughout the UK, and the award categories reflect the ever-increasing scope of talent from within the UK’s jazz scene.
The Parliamentary Jazz Awards are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Group (APPJG). The APPJG currently has over 73 members from the House of Commons and House of Lords across all political parties.
