Nikki Iles was the surprise winner of the NDR Big Band composition competition in 2020. The British pianist and composer was immediately invited for a week of recording and was named composer-in-residence in 2023. The resulting CD »Face to Face« delighted audiences and critics alike and was nominated for the 2024 German Jazz Award. What else might come next? Well, for example, the call to become the ensemble’s chief conductor in 2025 and to write a new commissioned work.

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DR BigBand / Nikki Iles

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

NDR BigBand / Nikki Iles

»Polar Soundscapes« is Geir Lysne’s musical interpretation of the polar north: very personal, explosive and lyrical at the same time. Born in 1965 in Trondheim, Norway, saxophonist, composer and bandleader Geir Lysne has been Chief Conductor of the NDR Big Band since 2016. In his role as chief conductor, he has not only conducted great projects, but has also written a large number of unique musical pieces for the ensemble.

NDR Bigband / Geir Lysne

The Canadian trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler (1930 - 2014) was one of the quieter but all the more powerful figures in jazz. His move to Great Britain in 1952 was what we would today call a »match«, a happy and momentous encounter. A lyrical melancholic (»sad music makes me happy«) met the hard-hitting sound and broad rhythm of northern English brass bands and, with an irrepressible desire for freedom, mixed some of the most important and influential large ensemble recordings of the last 60 years.

NDR Big Band

Jun 21, 2026

NDR Bigband / Norma Winstone / Dave Holland / Nikki Iles

Sep 28, 2025

DR BigBand / Nikki Iles

Sep 28, 2025

NDR BigBand / Nikki Iles

NDR Big Band