The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Photo credit: Richard Dear / Creative Commons

Saxophonist, composer and educator Tommy Smith yesterday launched an imaginative and entrepreneurial new scheme to award prizes to current BMus and MMus jazz students  at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, (known till 2011 as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) by seeking annual donations. Donors can endow a prize to be awarded and choose the name to be associated with it. On the first day yesterday, three early donors have already stepped forward. So as of yesterday, hey prestissimo, the Conservatoire has the first three prizes for jazz students in Scotland:

– The Guy Jones Prize in Jazz Improvisation will be presented to the student who has made ‘the most significant advancement in the pursuit of excellence within the realm of improvisation.’

– The George Duncan Prize for Jazz Composition will be awarded to a student ‘who has composed an outstanding work for small or large-scale ensemble.’

– The Joe Temperley Prize for Jazz Arranging will be presented to a jazz student ‘who has expertly and imaginatively arranged a traditional jazz standard for small or large-scale instrumentation.’

These three are hopefully just a beginning, and there is more potential for donors to get involved by emailing t.smith (at) rcs.ac.uk

Tommy Smith is current Artistic Director of the B.Mus. in Jazz, the first ever full-time jazz course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His is also founder/director of The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) and The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra.