Jazz stars recognised in New Year’s Honours

A number of musicians and educators were recognised in the New Year’s Honours list over the weekend. Vocalist and composer Cleveland Watkiss has been given an MBE for services to music, as has Nigel Tully, head of NYJO - the National Youth Jazz Orchestra; he’s credited with securing the future of the project and says he hopes the award will increase the visibility of the orchestra’s work. Speaking to the BBC, Tully said: "I am humbled to be honoured with this award, and to join an ever-growing list of my colleagues in jazz to be recognised for their passion and commitment to the music. This award is a great thing for jazz as well as NYJO, it has some of the most creative musicians in the country. If they played classical music they would be showered with honours".

There was also a CBE for trumpeter Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, the principal of London’s Royal Academy of Music, while the founder of the London Community Gospel Choir, Bazil Meade, was made an MBE.