We try something new this year, extending our youth ensemble programme into the global arena and offering a small international youth jazz band drawn from different parts of the world, including students from South Africa, Europe and Israel. The band is co-ordinated and conducted by master Dutch bassist Hein van de Geyn, now resident in Cape Town after a period as artistic manager of the Rotterdam Jazz Academy. He established himself as one of the most sought-after bass players in Europe and was awarded numerous prizes, including the prestigious Prins Bernhard Fonds Music Prize for his role in the development of European Jazz as well as for his stimulating role as mentor and producer of many young musicians in Holland and abroad. His "Comprehensive Bass Method" is rapidly becoming the standard teaching work for the double bass worldwide. The band features South Africans Sisonke Xonti (sax) and Kyle du Preez (trombone), with Israeli pianist Milton Michaeli from Rimon in Tel Aviv and drummer Ruben Steijn from the Amsterdam Conservatory.