BBC Radio Scotland today announced details of its new Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition and The Culture Scene, a brand new weekly podcast for BBC Sounds. Both commissions form part of BBC Scotland’s ongoing commitment to support Scotland’s young emerging musical talent and the country’s vibrant arts and culture industry.

Broadcaster and musician, Seonaid Aitken appeared today on BBC Radio Scotland’s The Afternoon Show, to officially launch the station’s first-ever Young Jazz Musician of the Year. Developed in association with the Glasgow Jazz Festival, the competition will be open between 14 June-3 September for musicians living in Scotland aged between 16-27 years old.

The six shortlisted entries will perform at the final which will be held at BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay headquarters in front of a live audience and broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland. The winner will be awarded the title of BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician 2023, receive a recording session at BBC Scotland and their own performance slot at the Glasgow Jazz Festival in 2024.

Speaking about the competition Seonaid says: “I am thrilled to be launching this new opportunity for Scotland’s young jazz musicians. I am under no illusion that whittling down entries to only six finalists will be a challenge given there’s so much jazz talent in Scotland, but I am super confident that audiences will love what they see and hear when we reach our final in November.”

Jill Rodger, Festival Director, Glasgow Jazz Festival adds: “We are delighted to be involved in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition and proud to be providing a stage for the winner at our next Festival as part of the prize. We’re excited to celebrate the wealth of young jazz talent in Scotland today.”

Ewan Hastie, winner of the UK wide BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2022 will perform a special set during the final which will be held in November. He commented: “Of course I am delighted to be asked to perform at the first BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician competition. I feel it's so important to be promoting Jazz in Scotland in any way and I’m pleased that the BBC are providing this platform for the keen jazzers North of the Border.”

Details of how to enter, terms and conditions can be found here www.bbc.co.uk/youngjazz

Providing an extra dose and one-stop shop for all things cultural in Scotland will be The Culture Scene, a brand new weekly podcast from BBC Radio Scotland for BBC Sounds. Presented by Nicola Meighan it will be a curation of the best bits of the week from The Afternoon Show along with longer listens of features and interviews with some of Scotland’s most talented artists across books, theatre, comedy, music, visual arts, film and tv. Episodes will drop every Friday afternoon on BBC Sounds from 16 June 2023.

Speaking about The Culture Scene, Nicola says: “I’m delighted to be presenting this brand new culture podcast for BBC Sounds. Scotland’s arts scene is thriving, and endlessly inspiring, and I’ll never tire of hearing from the creative, diverse and ingenious voices who light up our days and nights. The Culture Scene will explore as many of them as we can, as we celebrate the country’s packed cultural diary every week. I can’t wait.”

Commenting on the new commissions Gareth Hydes, commissioning editor at BBC Scotland says: “BBC Radio Scotland is proud to be the place for audiences interested in Scotland’s arts and culture communities. Both of these new commissions deliver against our commitment to support and celebrate the talented artists who play an important part in Scotland’s rich cultural landscape.

“The new BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition complements our already successful and established Young Traditional Musician and BBC Introducing Act of the Year competitions both of which are hugely popular with audiences and artistes alike. We will be announcing details of our Young Classical Musician of the Year in the next few months which will complete our competition line-up.”