An evening of improvised music will see pupils of a project set up by one of the country’s leading jazz educators.

Sunday, December 15 will celebrate the culmination of a year’s learning with the Malvern Jazz Collective – a 20-strong pool of musicians – performing some of the techniques taught by Simon Purcell.

In September 2018 the Professor of Jazz at London’s Guildhall School of Music, used the power of social media to track down a keen fan of contemporary jazz to see if there would be any interest in starting regular jazz workshops in Malvern.

As Simon grew up in the town, he was keen to establish a community jazz education scheme here, and travels from London once a month to pass on his lifetime of learning to the regular workshop pupils – most of whom are ‘of a certain age’.

He said: “I am passionate about jazz education and felt it was important that Malvern had some sort of facility for learning. It has been a pleasure to meet all these new people and to see new musical friendships happening as a result. Sunday’s concert will be a great way to celebrate all this.”

Jackie Harris, a local musician and long-time jazz fan, has been co-ordinating the project and has been amazed at the response from students who travel from as far afield as the Forest of Dean.

She said: “I really thought we would struggle to get half a dozen people. Jazz does not have a very big following in Malvern or Worcester, but with the help of a couple of our team we managed to spread the word and within two months we had to form two sessions to cope with the numbers.

The performance at Malvern Cube kicks off at 7.30pm and will include two other bands linked with the collective, A Touch of Jazz, and Lost Cat. Tickets are available from Malvern Cube, at malverncube.com or Malvern TIC and on the door. Tickets are just £2 each.