It’s a partnership that takes one of the world’s leading luxury hotels back to its jazz era roots — while playing a key part in nurturing young musicians in Scotland.
Five rising stars on the UK jazz scene, all students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), will shine in front of an international audience when they bring the mood of the roaring twenties to the world-renowned Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.
Gleneagles is supporting four Undergraduate jazz students through the creation of The Gleneagles Ensemble. As the hotel’s in-house jazz band, Tom Stephenson (guitar), Matt Carmichael (saxophone), Mark Hendry (bass) and Dominykas Snarskis (drums) will entertain at a series of exclusive events over the coming months, putting a contemporary spin on the American and European songbook. They made their debut last week in London (October 11), at the launch of Gleneagles’ new luxury leather collection.
Award-winning jazz pianist Peter Johnstone is the recipient of the Gleneagles Scholarship, created to celebrate and support an exceptional performance student at the Royal Conservatoire. Jazz and Gleneagles share a rich heritage and make perfect bedfellows — when Peter and The Gleneagles Ensemble perform, they will celebrate the jazz age in the opulent, Art Deco-inspired surroundings of the hotel, which welcomed its first guests in 1924.
Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “The Gleneagles scholarship and ensemble is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate jazz, and its new artists, in Scotland. Our partnership with Gleneagles has been designed to nurture our student performers through a prestigious programme of scholarship and performance. It’s a relationship built on our shared passion for excellence as world-class organisations located in Scotland. Gleneagles believes in the importance of investing in young people and the arts, and it is a pleasure to work together to create meaningful opportunities for next generation of performing artists.”
