Jess Gillam

Jess Gillam is a celebrated saxophonist and presenter. With her electrifying performances, vibrant stage presence and magnetic personality, the ‘uniquely mercurial’ (The Times) Jess has been invited to play on the world’s major stages since becoming the youngest ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Equally at home behind the microphone, Jess’ award-winning weekly show, This Classical Life, on BBC Radio 3 is now in its seventh season. Jess is passionate about broadening the repertoire for the saxophone, especially in the classical sphere. Recent commissions include Glasslands by Anna Clyne premiered with the Detroit Symphony. Other new works include Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto, first heard with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and Karl Jenkins’s Stravaganza performed to a sold-out BBC Proms audience. Jess held the position of Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall until 2025 and was an Artistic Partner of Manchester Camerata. Jess’ concerto appearances have included performances with the BBC orchestras, DSO Berlin, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Gothenburg, Iceland, Lahti, London, NDR Elbphilharmonie and Sydney Symphony Orchestra as well as the London, Royal Liverpool and Munich Philharmonic, among others. Further afield, concerto highlights in the US have included the Houston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra; she will debut with the Lincoln Center Festival Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra in the summer of 2025. On the recital stage, Jess is seen performing across Europe, the US and beyond. As a former ECHO Rising Star , Jess has appeared throughout Europe’s most prestigious concert halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Wiener Konzerthaus, Konzerthuset Stockholm and Barcelona’s Palau de le Musica. An exclusive recording artist with Decca Classics, Jess is the first and only saxophonist to be signed to the major label. Both her albums have reached No. 1 in the UK Classical Music Charts and her debut album, Rise, was listed in The Times’ Top 100 albums of 2019. Alongside her weekly Radio 3 show, Jess has presented on BBC Radio 2, co-hosted a mini-series on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and presented at the BBC Proms and BBC Young Musician of the Year. Jess loves collaboration and in 2020, she formed her band, the Jess Gillam Ensemble. Their bold, uplifting and open-minded approach is rooted in classical music but takes inspiration from different musical worlds. Since their launch, the ensemble has performed throughout the UK and Europe to multiple sold-out audiences at venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, Latitude Festival, Mozartfest Augsburg and Bath Festival. In 2016, Jess Gillam made history after becoming the first saxophonist to reach the Finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year. She has been the recipient of a Classic BRIT Award, a The Times Breakthrough Award nominee and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2021 for Services to Music. Returning to her roots in Ulverston in Cumbria, Jess continues to promote her own concert series in her hometown, inviting internationally renowned artists, a series she founded at age 12. She is a patron for Young Sounds UK, Music in Secondary Schools Trust, the London Music Fund and is a member of the Council of the Royal Philharmonic Society.