Richard Wigley - Trombone

Richard was born in 1983 in Doncaster, and began playing the trombone at the age of nine. He discovered his love for jazz when he became a member of the Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra. During his time with D.Y.J.O. Richard performed at the Royal Albert Hall and at the International Association of Jazz Educators conference in New Orleans in January 2001.

In September 2001 Richard began studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where his tutors were Chris Houlding, Rob Holliday and Andy Berryman. Richard started playing in the R.N.C.M. Big Band in his first year and subsequently led the section for the rest of his time at the R.N.C.M.

In 2004 Richard was offered a place in the London Symphony Orchestra Brass Academy, performing a recital at St Lukes in London. He has also performed with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester and regularly plays for musical theatre productions.

Richard plays with a jazz sextet called 6pac, which was formed with five fellow members of the R.N.C.M. Big Band. 6pac went on to gain a Professional Performance diploma (P.P.R.N.C.M.) and they received the R.N.C.M.’s prestigious gold medal award. In 2005, 6pac won the Peter Whittingham Award for an innovative jazz project. This enabled them to encourage young composers and record their debut album ‘Last Minute Changes’. In addition to tours and concert recitals, 6pac also conduct education workshops in both mainstream and special needs schools.

As well as being a member of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra, and 6pac, Richard is also a member of the Munch Manship Octet playing the music of Dave Pell, Shorty Rodgers and Marty Paich. The octet made their debut at the Manchester Jazz Festival in July 2006.