The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BKCM) has announced that it has opened applications for its Jazz Leaders Fellowship — a $12,500 award for emerging Black women and Black non-binary jazz musicians.
Now in its fifth year, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s Jazz Leaders Fellowship connects these musicians with the resources and opportunities to further develop their craft and pursue projects that advance their careers.
Chad Cooper, Executive Director of Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, said regarding the Fellowship, “We’re so excited to be celebrating our fifth year of the Jazz Leaders Fellowship, an initiative that has had a lasting impact on the artists involved, the Conservatory’s jazz program, and the community at large. One of the goals of JLF was to build a network of musicians whose relationships with each other and with BKCM lasted well beyond the fellowship year. We’ve witnessed exactly that: Fellows have curated our annual Midsummer Nights jazz festival, uplifting the work of so many Black women and nonbinary musicians. Fellows have returned to teach master classes. Fellows come back to gig at BKCM’s House Party, and at our annual Open Stages music festival in front of thousands of people. Fellows are actively collaborating with each other on music projects entirely independently of BKCM. It’s an incredible cohort, now half a decade in age, that shows the enduring, and undeniable impact of this kind of career investment.”
Since 2021, two musicians have been selected annually to receive the $12,500 award and access to BKCM rehearsal space. With last year’s addition of Goussy Célestin and Key Hutchinson, eight musicians have been awarded Fellowships since the program’s launch.
“The financial support has been huge because it meant I didn’t have to take every gig, so I could focus on workshopping new music. Reinvigorating my relationship with BKCM has given me hope: The music industry is complex, but there are still spaces where like-minded people can do work that really matters.”
– Melanie Charles, 2023-24 Jazz Leadership Fellow and Grammy winner
Fellowship winners are responsible for developing one public performance as the leader of an ensemble, and for collaborating with BKCM’s Community Music School Jazz Program Director to establish a framework for engaging students with the Fellow’s artistry.
In fulfillment of the fellowship, Charles curated BKCM’s Midsummer Nights series — and last year’s fellow Key Hutchinson was a featured performer. Melanie’s collective, Make Jazz Trill Again, is focused on taking jazz from the museum to the streets, and her curation of the event focuses on representing the full breadth and diversity of contemporary jazz in NYC, infusing elements of R&B, hip-hop, Latin, African and experimental musical traditions across four concerts that offer something for music lovers of all ages and backgrounds.
“Jazz is such a needed art form because of its creative, improvisatory nature, with no two pieces being the same. Through this award, we’ve gotten to witness this idea embodied through the eight unique musicians who have brought their own flavor to the genre. I’m thrilled to be able to see what this next batch of musicians will show us through this round of applications.”
– JLF Committee Chair Fay Victor
The Jazz Leaders Fellowship program was conceived by former Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Board member Daniel DiPietro and developed by the Jazz Leaders Fellowship Committee, led by musician and educator Fay Victor. The fellowship is made possible by the generous support of DiPietro and his wife Alexis. For a full list of the Jazz Leaders Fellowship Committee, whose members play a key role in the selection process, click here.
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