Nigel Tully

Year of birth: 1943

I was honoured to be asked to succeed my friend Bill Ashton as Chair of NYJO last year, and am really enjoying helping to take this great band on to the next stage of its development as a true national first-team for youth jazz.

My qualifications for the job are :

* I have been on NYJO's Board since 2000, when I persuaded the Worshipful Company of Musicians to sponsor NYJO for 3 years.

* I love jazz, chair the jazz committee of the WCoM, and promote around 20 small jazz gigs every year.

* I have led my own professional rock covers band "The Dark Blues" for over 40 years and over 5,000 gigs. I'm not competent to play jazz well, but I know a lot about bandleading and the life of a pro musician.

Apart from that, I had a separate business career for many years with the computer company IBM, and still work as a freelance business mentor & coach. I am very happily married to Dr Deborah Cunningham - also a jazz fan, and NYJO Flute Chair sponsor. My son Giles has been a pro musician in Beijing, China, for 6 years, and my daughter Laura is doing a PhD at Harvard, USA.