A CELEBRATED saxophonist has revealed her highlights from 2021 and her hopes for next year.

Despite the pandemic Ulverston's Jess Gillam has managed to pack a lot in to the last 12 months.

She said: “As a musician it’s been an interesting year. In the pandemic there has been ups and downs with things being cancelled and a lot of uncertainty.

“Generally I’ve had some really nice highlights and it’s been amazing to return and play to some live audiences again.”

Jess said her most memorable part of 2021 was when she got to tour with her new ensemble for the first time.

“To play with a group of close friends and to do a run of concerts to play music we really love was amazing," she said.

“I’m hoping that everything will be more certain next year and more planned tours can go again but most importantly people will be well.

“I’m really looking forward to playing internationally, making up for some of the dates that have been cancelled and continuing to meet new people and audiences.

“I hope that generally there will be more kindness. In 2020 when everything kicked off we saw so many random act of kindness and then in 2021 it feels like everyone is in a rush to get back to things, and we have lost that kindness, personally I would like to see that again.

“I am working on a new album. In the new year I’m travelling to America. I’ve only been once and it has meant to be happening since 2020 so I can’t wait for that and just playing in lots of countries I’ve never been to, working with new orchestras and people, finding out about new cultures and making music with different people.

“It was a novelty for me to actually be in the same place. I travel so much for my job which is amazing but it was quite strange to be in the same place which meant I could learn some new things. I love baking and cooking so I did more of that.”