In 2016, at the age of 17, Jess made history as the first saxophonist to win the Woodwind Final of BBC Young Musician of the Year. She then reached the Grand Final at London’s Barbican Hall, and performed Michael Nyman’s Where the Bee Dances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra to widespread critical acclaim.
Jess made her BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in summer 2017. She appeared at the Proms again in 2018, and has recently been signed by Decca.
Concerto highlights include appearances with Southbank Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and a showcase performance with the Manchester Camerata as well as a concert with Sinfonia Cymru and Gábor Takács-Nagy. She frequently gives recitals throughout the UK. Last year, Jess gave the premiere of a piece written for her by Jeremy Holland-Smith on BBC Four’s Choir of the Year, and has made a guest appearance with Jools Holland and his rhythm and blues orchestra.
The Turkish pianist Zeynep Özsuca has performed worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist. Born in Ankara in 1984, Zeynep currently lives in London and pursues her career as concert pianist and repetiteur.
Zeynep has worked with conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Halsey, Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Antonio Pappano. As a chamber musician, she has performed on prestigious stages including the Berlin Philharmonie, Palau de la Musica Valencia, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall as well as live radio broadcasts on Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio, RBB Kulturradio (Germany), RNE (Spain) and BBC Radio 3. She also regularly appears in concert with her wind and piano sextet Berlin Counterpoint.