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3,000 of the UK's finest young musicians aged 25 and under came together at the Royal Albert Hall for the Music For Youth Proms. They premiered songs from Jack's new musical, Duet, which tells the inspiring and harrowing real-life story of Jack's former piano teacher, Mike. Jack wrote the music, orchestrations and arrangements for the event, totalling 25 minutes of music. He also devised the show theme and accompanying campaign, A Thank You Note, #ThankYourMusicTeacher.

Jack has been touring UK schools ready for the Music For Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th November. 3000 of the UK's finest young musicians aged 25 and under will come together to premiere four songs from Jack's new stage musical, Duet, which tells the true story of his piano teacher, Mike.

Jack has been visiting the GLF Schools and The Vale Primary School, including working with individual students who will sing solos on the night.

There has been extensive national and regional coverage, including from BBC News and BBC London, a live interview and performance on BBC Radio 4's PM programme with Evan Davis, and Jack has written pieces for The Times and for Gramophone Magazine, exploring his own inspiring teacher Mike, his orchestrations for the Proms and curating a playlist of music teacher-composers through time.

Jack has devised and is now helping to lead a major UK-wide music education campaign with the charity Music For Youth. 'Thank You Notes' will celebrate the nation's music teachers, culminating in the MFY Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in November. Over 3000 young people will come together to perform songs written by Jack, celebrating his own piano teacher who turns 80 next year. 

The campaign has been announced by Campaign Newspaper Partner, The Times, with support from Campaign Radio Partner, Scala Radio. Other Campaign Partners include the Royal Albert Hall, the National Education Union and Musicians' Union, with support from the ISM and UK Music. Julian Lloyd Webber contributed the first Thank You Note video, with more star supporters from across genres to come.

If you have a memory of an inspiring music teacher or mentor, past or present, record a short video sharing your memories and upload them on social media with the hashtag #ThankYourMusicTeacher and #ThankYouNotes, contributing to a nationwide online video tribute. 3000 young people and a selection of the best thank you notes will be chosen to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in a national celebration. There is also a callout for a talented pianist, aged 25 or under, to perform classical pieces and original music written by Jack to open the MFY Proms, and a competition to find the nation's best music teacher, supported by The Times.

To purchase tickets for the MFY Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, click here: https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2023/music-for-youth-proms-2023/

Jack spoke with stage and screen star, Mandy Patinkin, for a special one-hour programme on Magic Radio's Magic At The Musicals. They explored Sondheim, Evita and his TV work, from Homeland to Criminal Minds.

Picture: John Phillips, Getty Images

A global youth music project Jack devised and helped lead has now been officially launched, beginning a year-long journey that will travel around the world.

The Commonwealth Music Relay will see an original song 'carried' by young musicians around the 56 countries of the Commonwealth through 2023 and 2024, marking the Commonwealth's 'Year of Youth'. A new song, 'Symphony', has been co-written by young people from all of the Commonwealth regions, supervised by Jack and hit songwriters Pam Sheyne and Richard Harris, and will now travel the globe with new variations, cover versions and interpretations recorded by young musicians in each nation. The main theme and ten of the best variations will then be performed live at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in 2024.

The project is delivered by the Commonwealth Resounds, the Commonwealth's official music organisation.

Members of National Youth Music Theatre performed an arrangement of 'One Day' - a song Jack wrote aged 16, following a school trip to Poland and Auschwitz-Birkenau - at the 2023 Holocaust Educational Trust Appeal Dinner at London's Roundhouse.

This follows on from the 2022 Appeal Dinner, where Jack was joined by BRIT-nominated soprano Camilla Kerslake, premiering another song Jack had written for the Holocaust Educational Trust, 'Getting Closer'. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Rabbi were in attendance; the evening helped raise £1m for the charity.

Jack was previously an ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Jack is delighted to be joining the board of Creative UK Group (formerly the Creative Industries Federation and Creative England), the independent network for the UK's creative industries. They provide investment, lobbying and collaborative opportunities across the creative sector.  

He also sits on the Creative UK Council. 

Jack has been working with the GLF Schools Foundation and a Surrey primary school to learn a brand new musical from scratch... in the space of six weeks. His new children's seaside sketch show, 'Gulls & Buoys', premiered at Langley Vale's The Vale Primary School on Tuesday 18th July 2023.

Jack's weekly Culture Bunker show on Scala Radio will now air 3-5pm GMT every Saturday. He'll continue to welcome star and behind-the-scenes guests, preview upcoming arts events and share stories behind a hand-picked selection of music. 

Plus, Jack doubles up with a new show every Sunday, 3-5pm GMT. There, expect two hours of uplifting and gentle classics to round off the weekend.

 Jack was honoured to join the voting panel for the 2023 BRIT Awards.

He also sat on the judging panel for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Awards.

Jack is presenting and curating 'Curtain Call', the new musical theatre show for British Airways' in-flight entertainment. The show is available on all BA flights from September.