NYJO and Sam Eastmond Take John Zorn’s Masada on Tour

TJCUK Team
41 minutes ago
2 min read

NYJO reunites with composer, arranger, and conductor Sam Eastmond to take a powerful new iteration of John Zorn’s Masada on tour in March 2026. The tour includes a performance at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s, giving NYJO’s

young musicians the opportunity to perform on one of the world’s most internationally renowned jazz stages.

Following the success of their first collaboration in 2021, when NYJO and Eastmond presented Masada across a double night bill at Cafe Oto, the project has continued to grow in profile and ambition. The work was later successfully brought to London as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, NYJO is now proud to take this evolved project

out on tour to audiences across the UK.

Audiences can expect tight, punchy horn lines, a relentlessly driving rhythm section, soaring

solos, and the distinctive punk energy that defines Sam Eastmond’s musical voice. Zorn’s compositions are treated as living, communal music that is urgent, visceral, and fiercely alive. Rooted in collaboration, this project embodies a community of dedicated NYJO musicians and

staff. Sam Eastmond describes the project’s ethos:

“Music to me, and to my dear friend John Zorn, is about community. About groups of musicians all with a common purpose elevating each other in service of the sound. Egos subsumed to the group. Playing the right notes is a starting point. We’re here to play the emotion of the sound. Rehearsals are about growing a band, learning to play together, serious fun.”

Alongside the gigs, NYJO will also deliver a March 2026 Schools’ Tour, giving secondary school students the opportunity to experience and take part in live, jazz-inspired music. A small ensemble of NYJO Emerging Professional musicians will draw inspiration from John Zorn’s Masada to develop outreach projects in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Birmingham. In RCT, musicians will perform a 45-minute gig, followed by an in-school workshop, leaving schools with new repertoire to continue rehearsing independently. Music created by participating students will be performed as the opening act for the Masada concert in Cardiff, placing local young musicians at the heart of the performance. In Birmingham NYJO Emerging Professional musicians will deliver workshops with B:Music’s beginner and intermediate jazz groups to create the opening act for the B:Music gig.