Emma Rawicz 4tet with Mark Lockheart

Tonight, Emma welcomes Mark Lockheart, whom she first met as a teenager at Dartington International Summer School, and has since become a vital mentor figure for her. "Were it not for Mark's encouragement I would not be the musician I am today, and I am beyond excited to share the stage with him, in a tenor saxophone extravaganza!". Emma Rawicz is a young saxophonist, bandleader and composer with an astonishing musical maturity. At just 24 years of age, Rawicz has achieved a huge amount, including the release of four critically acclaimed albums “Incantation”, “Chroma”, “Big Visit” and INKYRA, extensive headline tours across 15 countries, appearances in high profile festivals and venues including concerts featuring as a soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with the German SWR Radio Big Band at a sold out Berlin Philharmonie. Mark Lockheart is one of the UK's most distinctive and forward-thinking saxophonists and composers, celebrated for his fearless creativity and genre-defying collaborations. Lockheart first came to prominence with the pioneering big band Loose Tubes, before going on to shape the UK scene through projects such as Perfect Houseplants and the Mercury Prize-nominated Polar Bear and has gone on to perform and collaborate with many extraordinary musicians and composers such as Dave Holland, Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler. Emma says 'Having Mark as part of this residency was very important to me from the beginning of the planning process, not least because I firmly believe that were it not for him, I would not be a jazz musician at all! I had the pleasure of first meeting Mark when I was fourteen or fifteen at the Dartington International Summer School, where he was leading the jazz course. At this point I didn't really have any idea what jazz was, and I remember a session where Mark played us a recording of Joe Henderson, who I had never heard of before, and it had such a profound impact on me that I knew for the first time exactly what I wanted to do. In the intervening years, I have had the pleasure of learning even more from Mark and he has been a vital mentor figure for me. Were it not for Mark's encouragement I would not be the musician I am today, and I am beyond excited to share the stage with him, in a tenor saxophone extravaganza!