Next Jazz Legacy: For A More Inclusive Future
Application deadline: Monday, October 16th, 2023 at 11:59PM (Eastern Time)
About
Next Jazz Legacy is a partnership between New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice with major funding from the Mellon Foundation and additional support from Next Jazz Legacy donors Joe and Nancy Walker.
This national program is focused on increasing opportunities for emerging women and non-binary improvisers in jazz, who have been underrepresented in the art form. Next Jazz Legacy seeks to address inequalities in jazz by supporting early-career-stage artists whose access to resources has been limited. By offering creative and professional experience through long-term apprenticeships, financial support and promotion, Next Jazz Legacy aims to inspire change that will benefit everyone in the jazz community. GRAMMY-winning artist and NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington is the program’s Artistic Director.
Each selected awardee will receive: a $10,000 award, apprenticeship (performance opportunities with master bandleaders), creative and business mentorship sessions, four learning cohorts, and professional and promotional support.
The 3rd cycle (2023-24) of the Next Jazz Legacy program will include seven artists chosen by an esteemed panel of musicians, chaired by NJL Artistic Director Terri Lyne Carrington, with gender justice and racial justice as guiding principles. For applications to be considered, candidates are kindly requested to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. Selected artists will be announced in January 2024.
What Next Jazz Legacy Offers
The Next Jazz Legacy program combines individual and group learning opportunities with financial support and promotion. Our focus is emerging artists who are at a pivotal stage in the early phase of their career as a professional artist. From 2021-2024 we will support 7 artists per year with a comprehensive package of support that is designed to have deep impact on each participant’s career. Each participant will benefit from the following activities:
Apprenticeship: learning by doing - performances under the stewardship of a master bandleader
Creative and Business Mentorship Sessions: knowledge and guidance, passed from one generation to the next, from both artists and industry professionals
Learning Cohort Sessions (4 per cycle): an opportunity for participants to learn together, exchange ideas and build a professional network under the guidance of Terri Lyne Carrington and with input from guest speakers
(1) Berklee Online learning course provided by the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice
Empowerment and promotion: experience for participants to present and communicate about their music via the Next Jazz Legacy podcast, short films and showcases developed in collaboration with partner presenters
Financial investment: one $10k grant per apprentice, which enables participants to invest in the next stages of their career. Once selected, participants will be asked to propose how they would use their grant to cover specific costs that would contribute to their career development. This will be signed off by the NJL project team. Participants can consult with their business mentor for advice on best usage of funds.
Eligibility
Next Jazz Legacy seeks to support emerging artists whose access to resources and learning has been the most limited, including but not limited to, women of color and non-binary improvisers. This contributes to the jazz community as a whole by making it more accessible to a broader range of untapped artists and, longer-term, increasing the quality of the music itself.
The artist applying to this program must be:
A woman or non-binary improviser in jazz
An emerging artist with substantial professional experience
21-35 years old
Based in the US or a US territory
Available for full participation in the program between January 2024 and December 2024
At this time, this program will not consider supporting artists that are:
Enrolled in an academic institution at any time during the duration of the program
Contracted with a third party recording company
Based outside of the US
Not able to demonstrate their need for this program
Timeline
Application Launch: Monday, August 28th at 5:00PM (EST)
Application deadline: October 16th at 11:59PM (EST)
Decisions issued in December 2023.
Awardees officially announced in January 2024.
Application Requirements
1. Performance Videos: Please submit three (3) video performances featuring you in an ensemble setting. Please include at least one (1) original composition and/or an arrangement. You may include one (1) audio recording, but we highly encourage you to submit three (3) videos. Please ensure that your submission, comprising all three (3) video files, does not exceed a total duration of ten (10) minutes. If you're sharing a YouTube link of a full concert, please provide a Timestamp that best represents your artistry.
2. Personal statement: The application form can be completed by submitting a video (max 2 mins) or uploading a written response (max 500 words) in a PDF or Word document format. You are not required to submit a video response, but you must please choose one of these approaches as our advisors will only review one. You may provide links to YouTube or Vimeo or upload an .mp4, .mov, or .avi file if submitting a video. Please cover the following questions:
Tell us about your music and how you are seeking to grow as an artist
Why is this program important to you right now? Please consider the different opportunities the program is offering (e.g. apprenticeship, mentoring and being part of a cohort). Please also tell us about the barriers you’ve faced until now, if any you wish to disclose.
How would you gain from and contribute to the peer learning cohorts?
3. Resumé/CV (PDF)
Review Criteria/Process:
Applications will first be screened for eligibility and completeness and then moved to a peer review process. Submissions will be judged by a panel of independent artists and experts chaired by Terri Lyne Carrington. All applications will be judged equally on:
- Artistry (creativity, interpretative skills), musicianship (technique, rhythmic interpretation, improvisation), and composing/arranging skills, as demonstrated through the submitted work samples
- The potential impact the program will make toward the next steps in your career
Please visit our FAQs here. Should you have any questions about the Next Jazz Legacy program, please email us at nextjazzlegacy@newmusicusa.org
Next Jazz Legacy
Next Jazz Legacy: For A More Inclusive Future
Application deadline: Monday, October 16th, 2023 at 11:59PM (Eastern Time)
About
Next Jazz Legacy is a partnership between New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice with major funding from the Mellon Foundation and additional support from Next Jazz Legacy donors Joe and Nancy Walker.
This national program is focused on increasing opportunities for emerging women and non-binary improvisers in jazz, who have been underrepresented in the art form. Next Jazz Legacy seeks to address inequalities in jazz by supporting early-career-stage artists whose access to resources has been limited. By offering creative and professional experience through long-term apprenticeships, financial support and promotion, Next Jazz Legacy aims to inspire change that will benefit everyone in the jazz community. GRAMMY-winning artist and NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington is the program’s Artistic Director.
Each selected awardee will receive: a $10,000 award, apprenticeship (performance opportunities with master bandleaders), creative and business mentorship sessions, four learning cohorts, and professional and promotional support.
The 3rd cycle (2023-24) of the Next Jazz Legacy program will include seven artists chosen by an esteemed panel of musicians, chaired by NJL Artistic Director Terri Lyne Carrington, with gender justice and racial justice as guiding principles. For applications to be considered, candidates are kindly requested to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. Selected artists will be announced in January 2024.
What Next Jazz Legacy Offers
The Next Jazz Legacy program combines individual and group learning opportunities with financial support and promotion. Our focus is emerging artists who are at a pivotal stage in the early phase of their career as a professional artist. From 2021-2024 we will support 7 artists per year with a comprehensive package of support that is designed to have deep impact on each participant’s career. Each participant will benefit from the following activities:
Apprenticeship: learning by doing - performances under the stewardship of a master bandleader
Creative and Business Mentorship Sessions: knowledge and guidance, passed from one generation to the next, from both artists and industry professionals
Learning Cohort Sessions (4 per cycle): an opportunity for participants to learn together, exchange ideas and build a professional network under the guidance of Terri Lyne Carrington and with input from guest speakers
(1) Berklee Online learning course provided by the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice
Empowerment and promotion: experience for participants to present and communicate about their music via the Next Jazz Legacy podcast, short films and showcases developed in collaboration with partner presenters
Financial investment: one $10k grant per apprentice, which enables participants to invest in the next stages of their career. Once selected, participants will be asked to propose how they would use their grant to cover specific costs that would contribute to their career development. This will be signed off by the NJL project team. Participants can consult with their business mentor for advice on best usage of funds.
Eligibility
Next Jazz Legacy seeks to support emerging artists whose access to resources and learning has been the most limited, including but not limited to, women of color and non-binary improvisers. This contributes to the jazz community as a whole by making it more accessible to a broader range of untapped artists and, longer-term, increasing the quality of the music itself.
The artist applying to this program must be:
A woman or non-binary improviser in jazz
An emerging artist with substantial professional experience
21-35 years old
Based in the US or a US territory
Available for full participation in the program between January 2024 and December 2024
At this time, this program will not consider supporting artists that are:
Enrolled in an academic institution at any time during the duration of the program
Contracted with a third party recording company
Based outside of the US
Not able to demonstrate their need for this program
Timeline
Application Launch: Monday, August 28th at 5:00PM (EST)
Application deadline: October 16th at 11:59PM (EST)
Decisions issued in December 2023.
Awardees officially announced in January 2024.
Application Requirements
1. Performance Videos: Please submit three (3) video performances featuring you in an ensemble setting. Please include at least one (1) original composition and/or an arrangement. You may include one (1) audio recording, but we highly encourage you to submit three (3) videos. Please ensure that your submission, comprising all three (3) video files, does not exceed a total duration of ten (10) minutes. If you're sharing a YouTube link of a full concert, please provide a Timestamp that best represents your artistry.
2. Personal statement: The application form can be completed by submitting a video (max 2 mins) or uploading a written response (max 500 words) in a PDF or Word document format. You are not required to submit a video response, but you must please choose one of these approaches as our advisors will only review one. You may provide links to YouTube or Vimeo or upload an .mp4, .mov, or .avi file if submitting a video. Please cover the following questions:
Tell us about your music and how you are seeking to grow as an artist
Why is this program important to you right now? Please consider the different opportunities the program is offering (e.g. apprenticeship, mentoring and being part of a cohort). Please also tell us about the barriers you’ve faced until now, if any you wish to disclose.
How would you gain from and contribute to the peer learning cohorts?
3. Resumé/CV (PDF)
Review Criteria/Process:
Applications will first be screened for eligibility and completeness and then moved to a peer review process. Submissions will be judged by a panel of independent artists and experts chaired by Terri Lyne Carrington. All applications will be judged equally on:
- Artistry (creativity, interpretative skills), musicianship (technique, rhythmic interpretation, improvisation), and composing/arranging skills, as demonstrated through the submitted work samples
- The potential impact the program will make toward the next steps in your career
Please visit our FAQs here. Should you have any questions about the Next Jazz Legacy program, please email us at nextjazzlegacy@newmusicusa.org