Nils Kavanagh is a jazz pianist originally from County Sligo. Beginning piano lessons at age six, Nils was introduced to jazz music at sixteen through the Sligo Jazz Project festival and summer school. First learning from local pianists Kieran Quinn and Mark Murphy, he quickly developed a love for jazz. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Nils studied under Scott Flanigan, prolific Irish jazz pianist.

On April 10th, 2022, Nils won the inaugural Young Irish Jazz Musician of the Year award at the live grand final, which took place in the Limerick University Concert Hall. The competition was jointly run by Improvised Music Company and Limerick Jazz Festival and adjudicated by Irish musicians of the highest calibre: Dr. Linley Hamilton, prolific jazz trumpeter, BBC broadcaster and lecturer; director of Galway Jazz Festival and RTE broadcaster Ellen Cranitch; and Bill Whelan, Grammy winning composer, producer, and arranger.

In 2023, at the age of 21, Nils went on tour with his trio across Ireland, including playing the opening concert at Sligo Jazz Project, and featuring on another internationally acclaimed Irish jazz festival, Limerick Jazz Festival. He was also the inaugural Young Artist in Residence at Sligo Jazz Project in 2023. Directly following the tour and the festival, he recorded his debut album, set to be released in late 2024.

Nils has performed and collaborated with a number of the leading musicians on the UK and European jazz scene, including Tony Kofi, Liane Carrol, John Goldsby, and Paul Clarvis.

Music education is also a passion of Nils’. He teaches privately and has given workshops in various education settings, such as Sligo Jazz Project’s internationally acclaimed summer school.

Currently Nils is working as a professional musician in the United Kingdom and throughout Ireland. He is studying Jazz Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, tutored by world class pianists Huw Warren, and Elliot Galvin.

Nils is a touring sideman with the bands Wheel inside a Wheel, and the Mingus Project, who have recently published their debut releases “A Wheel Inside a Wheel” and “Live at the Flute and Tankard” respectively, available on most streaming services. He has performed with well-known Irish band Those Nervous Animals, and co-leads the Irish jazz fusion collective Saffron, with whom he has performed extensively across Ireland, their notable appearances including performances at Sligo Jazz Project and Limerick Jazz Festival.

Nils leads an energetic and explorative piano trio of Ireland's top jazz performers, with Derek Whyte on double bass and Miles Ronayne on drums. Ranging from compositions inspired by Celtic traditional music and contemporary jazz from Scandinavia and the UK, to modern interpretations of jazz repertoire and other popular music, Kavanagh's trio brings a new flavour to the classic piano trio format. They are releasing their debut album in late 2024.