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Jazz alumnus awarded new music prize

Tue 16 April 2019

Cherise Adams-Burnett receives The Drake YolanDa Award.

The £30,000 prize was founded by award-winning musician and broadcaster YolanDa Brown and philanthropist James Drake to support a diverse range of young UK artists who demonstrate creative excellence and commitment to break through into the music industry.

Jazz singer and songwriter Cherise Adams-Burnett, who graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Trinity Laban in 2017, was selected from 200 entries as one of 10 recipients of the inaugural award by a star-studded panel of industry judges including choirmaster Gareth Malone and Music Editor of The Independent Roisin O’Connor.

As a winning act, Cherise will receive £3,000 towards touring, marketing and recording.

The award’s co-founder, YolanDa Brown stated in a press release

“It was an absolute pleasure meeting the 10 winning acts for the 2019 Drake YolanDa Award. There is so much amazing music in the world and the mainstream acts signed to major labels tend to dominate the airwaves and column inches. We are committed to helping put a spotlight on as many of these amazing emerging acts as possible.”

Cherise performs at Trinity Laban on 13 May as part of a special event to recognise Tomorrow’s Warriors Artistic Director Gary Crosby and celebrate his Honorary Fellowship.

As London’s Creative Conservatoire, Trinity Laban is an internationally celebrated centre of excellence, offering world-class training that transforms those with potential into resourceful, enterprising and adaptable artistic leaders.

To find out more about studying at Trinity Laban, visit our Jazz pages.

For more information about The Drake Yolanda Award, visit the award website.