Nikki Iles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
16 May 1963
Nikki Iles BEM | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Nikki Anne Burnham 16 May 1963 Dunstable, Bedfordshire, UK |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupations | Musician, composer, educator |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Years active | Mid-1980s–present |
| Labels | 33Jazz, Basho |
| Website | www |
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson
Nikki Anne Iles BEM (née Burnham; born 16 May 1963) is a British jazz composer, pianist and educator.
Iles was born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, on 16 May 1963.[1] She started her musical education at primary school, where she learnt to play the harmonica and the clarinet, and at eleven years old she won a junior exhibition at the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied clarinet and piano[1] from 1974 to 1981.[2] She became a member of the Bedfordshire Youth Jazz Orchestra.[1] She went on to the Leeds College of Music (1981–1984).[1]
Later life and career
After graduating from the Leeds College of Music, she decided to settle in Yorkshire.[2] After marrying trumpeter Richard Iles, she changed her surname from Burnham.[2] She joined his band Emanon, with which she played some of her compositions.[1] Iles also began playing with several London-based bands, such as those led by Steve Argüelles, Mick Hutton and Stan Sulzmann.[1]
Iles won the 1996 John Dankworth Special Award at the BT Jazz Festival.[1] Following a serious car crash after a gig, Iles opted to settle in London.[1]
Iles was a senior lecturer at Middlesex University, and has taught at the University of York, Leeds College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music, and in Bulgaria, Holland, France, and Finland.[1] In 2021 Iles was awarded the Ivor Novello Jazz Composition Award for her work 'The Caged Bird'.[3]
Iles was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to music.[4]
In 2025 Iles was announced as the new principal conductor of Hamburg's NDR Bigband.[5]
