The Chris Isaac Award

Established in 2016, in memory of the talented musician Chris Issac, this £1,000 Award fund goes to the most promising jazz musicians.

Chris Isaac loved music. From an early age he took to the piano and gravitated towards Blues and Jazz. His enthusiasm for the genre led him to learn the drums, trombone and trumpet, and he soon formed a band with his friends. He developed a love for the big band sound, encouraged by thoughtful and inspirational music teachers, and eventually earned a place at Leeds College of Music to study Jazz piano.

It was here that Chris found himself in an infectiously passionate musical environment that allowed his talents to be pushed to a level of excellence, and he was awarded a First and several prizes for outstanding performance.  In 2000 he was a finalist in the Perrier Young Jazz Musician of the Year, with his band, The Chris Isaac Quartet, and that same year played, amongst others, at the Bill Evans Jazz Club in Bergen, Norway and at Glastonbury.

Chris moved on to work within the music industry, where he developed a very successful career, rising to become one of the youngest directors at EMI and then Universal Music Group, where he achieved the position of Vice President, Global Digital Supply Chain.  His last project was to create and implement a global digital music archiving system, containing the recordings of half of all known recorded music in the world.  The archive has been named ‘ISAAC’ in his memory and has proved so successful that other music companies have now implemented it.

It is in his memory that his family have set up this award to inspire, promote and benefit future generations of young jazz musicians, particularly pianists, and to keep his passion for music alive.

Applications for this Award should be made via the normal application procedure.

Click here for details about how to apply to our Awards programme.