Next Jazz Legacy: Mentorship for Emerging Jazz Artists
Application Deadline: Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 11:59PM (Eastern Time)
About
Next Jazz Legacy is a national apprenticeship and mentorship program designed to elevate emerging jazz improvisers. Operated in partnership with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, funded by the Mellon Foundation, and led by GRAMMY-winning artist and NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington, the initiative increases opportunities for musicians who will contribute to a vibrant and inclusive jazz future.
Awardees receive a comprehensive support package including intergenerational mentorship, performance showcases at major jazz festivals, professional networking opportunities, and financial resources for creative and career development—helping secure a more equitable and sustainable future for jazz.
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 professional artists. From 2027-2028 we will support six artists with a comprehensive package that is designed to have a deep impact on each awardee's career. The awardees will benefit from the following:
1. Apprenticeship: learning by doing; performances under the stewardship of a bandleader mentor. Each awardee will be matched with a bandleader mentor.
2. Creative and Business Mentorship: knowledge and guidance, passed from one generation to the next, from both artists and industry professionals. Each awardee will be matched with a creative mentor and a business mentor.
3. Cohort Learning Sessions (4 per cycle): an opportunity for awardees to learn together, exchange ideas and build a professional network under the guidance of Terri Lyne Carrington and selected guest speakers.
4. A Berklee Online learning course provided by the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
5. Empowerment and promotion: experience for awardees to present and communicate about their music via showcases developed in collaboration with partner presenters, and artist profile films.
6. Financial investment: one $10,000 grant per awardee, which enables awardees to invest in the next stages of their career. This award is distributed in 2 payments of $5000 during the course of the program. Once selected, awardees will be asked to propose how they will use their grant to cover specific costs that would contribute to their career development. This will be signed off by the NJL program team. Awardees can consult with their mentors for advice on best usage of funds.
Eligibility
Next Jazz Legacy seeks to support artists whose access to resources and learning has been the most limited. 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:
- An artist with professional experience.
- 21-35 years old at the time of this application.
- Based in the US or a US territory at the time of the application.
- Available for full participation in the program between from January 2027 - January 2028.
At this time, this program will not consider supporting artists who 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.
- A 2026 New Music USA program grantee.
Timeline
Application Launch: Monday, September 28, 2026 at 12:00PM (EST)
Application deadline: Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 11:59PM (EST)
Awardees will be notified in late December 2026.
Awardees will be announced publicly in late January 2027.
Application Requirements
1. Resumé/CV (PDF)
2. 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, including all three (3) video files, does not exceed a total duration of ten (10) minutes. If you are sharing a YouTube link of a full concert, please provide a timestamp for the moment that best represents your artistry.
3. Personal statement: The personal statement can be completed by submitting a video (max 4 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. You may provide links to YouTube or Vimeo or upload an .mp4, .mov, or .avi file if submitting a video.
Please answer 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 there are any you wish to disclose.
- How would you gain from and contribute to the peer learning cohorts?
Review Criteria/Process:
Applications will first be screened for eligibility and completeness, 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 impact that admission to this program would make on the next steps in your career.
Please visit our FAQs here. Should you have any further questions about the Next Jazz Legacy program, please email us at nextjazzlegacy@newmusicusa.org.
Next Jazz Legacy
Next Jazz Legacy: Mentorship for Emerging Jazz Artists
Application Deadline: Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 11:59PM (Eastern Time)
About
Next Jazz Legacy is a national apprenticeship and mentorship program designed to elevate emerging jazz improvisers. Operated in partnership with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, funded by the Mellon Foundation, and led by GRAMMY-winning artist and NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington, the initiative increases opportunities for musicians who will contribute to a vibrant and inclusive jazz future.
Awardees receive a comprehensive support package including intergenerational mentorship, performance showcases at major jazz festivals, professional networking opportunities, and financial resources for creative and career development—helping secure a more equitable and sustainable future for jazz.
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 professional artists. From 2027-2028 we will support six artists with a comprehensive package that is designed to have a deep impact on each awardee's career. The awardees will benefit from the following:
1. Apprenticeship: learning by doing; performances under the stewardship of a bandleader mentor. Each awardee will be matched with a bandleader mentor.
2. Creative and Business Mentorship: knowledge and guidance, passed from one generation to the next, from both artists and industry professionals. Each awardee will be matched with a creative mentor and a business mentor.
3. Cohort Learning Sessions (4 per cycle): an opportunity for awardees to learn together, exchange ideas and build a professional network under the guidance of Terri Lyne Carrington and selected guest speakers.
4. A Berklee Online learning course provided by the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
5. Empowerment and promotion: experience for awardees to present and communicate about their music via showcases developed in collaboration with partner presenters, and artist profile films.
6. Financial investment: one $10,000 grant per awardee, which enables awardees to invest in the next stages of their career. This award is distributed in 2 payments of $5000 during the course of the program. Once selected, awardees will be asked to propose how they will use their grant to cover specific costs that would contribute to their career development. This will be signed off by the NJL program team. Awardees can consult with their mentors for advice on best usage of funds.
Eligibility
Next Jazz Legacy seeks to support artists whose access to resources and learning has been the most limited. 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:
- An artist with professional experience.
- 21-35 years old at the time of this application.
- Based in the US or a US territory at the time of the application.
- Available for full participation in the program between from January 2027 - January 2028.
At this time, this program will not consider supporting artists who 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.
- A 2026 New Music USA program grantee.
Timeline
Application Launch: Monday, September 28, 2026 at 12:00PM (EST)
Application deadline: Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 11:59PM (EST)
Awardees will be notified in late December 2026.
Awardees will be announced publicly in late January 2027.
Application Requirements
1. Resumé/CV (PDF)
2. 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, including all three (3) video files, does not exceed a total duration of ten (10) minutes. If you are sharing a YouTube link of a full concert, please provide a timestamp for the moment that best represents your artistry.
3. Personal statement: The personal statement can be completed by submitting a video (max 4 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. You may provide links to YouTube or Vimeo or upload an .mp4, .mov, or .avi file if submitting a video.
Please answer 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 there are any you wish to disclose.
- How would you gain from and contribute to the peer learning cohorts?
Review Criteria/Process:
Applications will first be screened for eligibility and completeness, 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 impact that admission to this program would make on the next steps in your career.
Please visit our FAQs here. Should you have any further questions about the Next Jazz Legacy program, please email us at nextjazzlegacy@newmusicusa.org.