FINLAY PANTER
Liverpool-born Finlay Panter was the 2005 recipient of the Sabian Cymbal Award and graduated from the RNCM with honours in 2007, having played with and received lessons from the likes of Chris Potter, Dave Weckl, John Patitucci, Bob Mintzer and Dennis Rollins. As the drummer and a founding member of Beats and Pieces Big Band he has won an array of jazz awards, beginning with the 2010 European Young Artists’ Jazz Award at Burghausen International Jazz Festival. Based in Berlin for more than a decade, Finlay has been tutored by John Hollenbeck and Jim Black, and has performed extensively throughout Europe - highlights include Bimhuis, Porgy & Bess, Jazzahead!, Oslo Jazzfestival, North Sea Jazz Festival and фузион Festival - and at transatlantic jazz festivals in Toronto, Rochester and Montreal. In addition to his passion for improvisation and creative grassroots projects (Chris Illingworth Trio, Charity Children, Sound 8 Orchestra), Finlay is also a talented composer and was nominated for a 2018 jazz category British Composers Award.