Arts Council of Northern Ireland The National Lottery
Funding, Artists

Live jazz series at The MAC with leading musician David Lyttle and guests

7th April, 2025

Multi award-winning NI Jazz musician, David Lyttle, is half-way through an ambitious weekly performance series at The MAC in Belfast. The series, which is supported with National Lottery funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, features David Lyttle performing with acclaimed jazz musicians from around the world as well as next generation NI talent, premiering new music and hosting the unique youth-focused Jazzlife Jams. All performances are free for the public to enjoy every Saturday afternoon.

A man in a checked shirt and a hat sits at a drumkit.
Pictured at The MAC is musician, David Lyttle.

On the weekly line-up is a group of young people from across Northern Ireland who are part Jazz Juniors, a youth music educational programme launched by Jazzlife Alliance, also supported by The National Lottery. Its members, aged 9-16, are taught by David Lyttle to learn the skills of playing jazz and they also perform in concerts throughout Northern Ireland. As part of the programme, the ensemble also gets the opportunity to be coached and learn from other international jazz musicians throughout the year.

Watch the video taken at one of the Jazzlife Jams at The MAC below.

Born in Co. Armagh, David Lyttle, who is an Arts Council of Northern Ireland Major Individual Artist Award recipient, has brought his projects to almost 50 countries and received nominations in the MOBO Awards and Urban Music Awards for Best Jazz Act. He has collaborated with cutting edge jazz icons of today from Joe Lovano to Kurt Rosenwinkel, as well as unique studio projects in hip-hop with Talib Kweli and spoken word with Liam Neeson. Closer to home he founded the Jazzlife Alliance charity in 2018 and in 2021 established its flagship jazz improvisation programme Jazz Juniors, which now operates nationally in three NI hubs.

David Lyttle, commented, “It’s been great to perform regularly closer to home and continue my association with the MAC. I’ve enjoyed presenting some of my international collaborations in Belfast and providing a platform for NI’s next generation. I’m very grateful to the Arts Council and The National Lottery for supporting me in this project and for continuing to support jazz in Northern Ireland.”
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music and Opera, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said, “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to support David Lyttle’s jazz series at The MAC where audiences can hear David perform with local, national and international talent, thanks to game-changing funding from The National Lottery. The series also offers a vital opportunity for young people from David’s Jazz Juniors programme to perform to a live audience. We are committed to supporting opportunities for our young people to access and participate in high quality music making and Jazz Juniors is the perfect platform to nurture and develop gifted young musicians. Congratulations to all involved.”
A man in a checked shirt and hat plays the drums. There are two young musicians standing by the drumkit playing the saxophone and trumpet.
Musician David Lyttle with some members of Jazz Juniors performing at The MAC

David takes to the stage in The Crush cafe space upstairs at The MAC from 2:30pm on Saturdays, presenting a range of acclaimed performers and next generation talent in the first half set and hosting the Jazzlife Jam, a youth jam session in partnership with Jazz Juniors, in the second half.

All events are free and you can follow David on social media for updates. For more information on the work of Jazzlife Alliance visit www.jazzlifealliance.org