West Bromwich drummer selected to join new all-female jazz band

Scarlett Churchill, 22, from West Bromwich, studied for a degree in music and graduated from Wolverhampton University in 2020.

She is currently studying for a Master’s degree in music in the University’s School of Performing Arts based at the University’s Walsall Campus.

Scarlett has now joined the Jazzlines programme, which helps nurture creative jazz music and Talent Development initiatives based within Performances Birmingham Limited (PBL), the charity that runs Town Hall and Symphony Hall (THSH).

It offers performance opportunities to emerging and established contemporary jazz musicians in venues across the city and commissions cutting-edge new work, providing support to ensure future performances and a legacy for new projects.

The programme is supported by the grant made to THSH by Arts Council England under the National Portfolio Organisation scheme.

Rise-Up is the new, free to access, all-female jazz ensemble, a project designed to take a positive step towards achieving a 50/50 gender split in the jazz sector by engaging with talented female musicians at the crucial stage in their careers by offering them high-profile mentorship from world renowned jazz musicians.

It gives them access to rehearsal spaces in the Symphony Hall and also provides them with a platform to showcase their musical and compositional talent through concerts and access to recording studios.

Scarlett said: “The musicians are amazingly talented and it is a privilege to be able to drum for this project.

“Performing at such a prestigious venue like the Symphony Hall is a dream, and I am excited to see what else may come from being a part of this fantastic project. I am very glad I joined.”