University of Southampton: Southampton lecturer nominated for top UK music award

A University of Southampton music lecturer has been nominated for a coveted Ivor Novello Composer Award.

Head of Jazz, Pop and Musical Theatre Performance, Dan Mar-Molinero is in the running for the prestigious award for his jazz composition “22:22”.

The piece, recognised in the Jazz Ensemble category, was written for Dan’s own jazz orchestra, a 17-piece group made up of professional musicians who are prominent on the Southampton music scene. Many are staff and graduates from the University of Southampton’s Music department.

Written over lockdown and first performed at the University’s Turner Sims concert hall in March, the piece is a journey from ‘dark to light’, reflecting the composer’s experience as a musician over the lockdown period.

Dan says: “It’s a great honour to be nominated for this award. Whatever happens next, this will be a moment I cherish forever. Southampton has an active, vibrant music scene which I hope this will play its part in helping to shine a light on.”

The 8 minute piece “22:22” is from Dan’s forthcoming album, Taproot, and is a solo feature for saxophone, played on the recording by UK jazz titan, Julian Arguelles.

Dan’s writing work spans genres, from pop to jazz, appearing in films, tv shows, video games and hit records including a top three hit and several top 10 records. Dan is best known for his jazz work having performed with many leading jazz musicians such as Julian Joseph, Soweto Kinch and Barbara Thompson.

A committed educator, Dan has also been recognised nationally for his work within jazz education with the National Youth Jazz Collective and the Southampton Youth Jazz Orchestra.