The internationally renowned concert hall, Turner Sims, based at Highfield Campus has presented a promoted concert series for more than 40 years, bring outstanding music and musicians to the city, from internationally renowned artists to rising stars. The recently announced Autumn 2018 features jazz, world, folk, and classical artists including 2018 Classic Brit Award winner Jess Gillam, legendary musician and author Alfred Brendel, jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen, and folk singer Cara Dillon.
In 2017 Turner Sim’s recently collaborated with the Southampton Music Hub and Chinkeke, Europe’s first professional majority Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) orchestra, to bring a unique opportunity for school pupils from across the city of Southampton to work and perform with professional musicians in an extraordinary musical performance.
At the heart of Turner Sim’s approach is this opportunity to engage diverse audiences with music. ‘The Jazz Ticket’, our collaboration with jazz collective Tomorrow’s Warriors, began in Southampton and then toured to six cities throughout 2017 involving 54 schools and 600 young people. SON, Southampton’s professional orchestra, and one of our newly announced Associate Artists, have pioneered a different approach to the concert format with their ‘Unwrapped’ series. And with the soon to be launched Jazz South project, supported by Arts Council England and the University, we will be supporting talent development across the region, ensuring greater ambition and access to high quality music.