Leeds Conservatoire’s Jazz department, along with two people closely tied to it, have been shortlisted for the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, run by the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Group and now marking its 21st year celebrating jazz talent across the UK.
The Conservatoire itself is nominated for the Jazz Education Award, honouring decades of trailblazing teaching that stretches back almost to its founding in 1965 — a jazz and light music diploma followed within just two years, and in 1993 the institution launched Europe’s first Jazz Studies BA.
Over six decades, that early commitment has helped the Conservatoire become a significant centre for jazz education, producing musicians, composers and educators who’ve gone on to shape the wider UK and international scene.
Alongside the department, two people with close ties to it also made the cut this year. Trumpeter, composer and bandleader Olivia Cuttill, who graduated in 2023 and is fast becoming a notable voice in British jazz, is nominated for Jazz Newcomer of the Year.
A formative influence
Nikki Iles, meanwhile, earns recognition through the Services to Jazz Award for her broader impact on the UK scene. Iles goes back a long way with the Conservatoire — Jamil Sheriff, who now heads its School of Music and Education, names her as a formative influence, having been her student as a teenager when the place was still called Leeds College of Music.
Jamil Sheriff said: “Our Jazz department, one of our graduates and a hugely influential figure in our jazz community making the Parliamentary Jazz Awards shortlist is a wonderful reflection of our pioneering legacy. From the diploma we launched in the 1960s to the bold and performance-led Jazz degree we offer today, our commitment has always been to give artists the space, skills and confidence to develop their own voices. We are incredibly proud to see our efforts acknowledged in this way.”
The winners will be revealed at a ceremony held at World Heart Beat in the capital on the 13th.
