
Next Jazz Legacy
Next Jazz Legacy is a new national apprenticeship program for women and non-binary improvisers in jazz, with the intersection of gender and race as a guiding principle.
Focused on increasing opportunities for musicians most underrepresented in the art form, the three-year, national program launched by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice – with major funding from the Mellon Foundation – invests in awardees through personalized apprenticeships, financial support, and a mission to inspire waves of lasting change.
Combining individual and group learning opportunities with a comprehensive support package designed to deliver deep impacts on every candidate’s career, awardees receive $10,000, performance opportunities with master bandleaders, two-way mentorship, a learning cohort, and professional promotional support.
Next Jazz Legacy champions those whose access to resources has been limited. With gender and racial justice as guiding principles, the inaugural group of Next Jazz Legacy awardees was chosen through an open call process and a meticulous, months-long review process by a distinguished and diverse panel of jazz trailblazers, chaired by NEA Jazz Master and Next Jazz Legacy’s Artistic Director, Terri Lyne Carrington. Once the seven awardees were selected, Carrington and the Next Jazz Legacy team worked closely with each of the seven musicians to match them with a pair of master bandleaders for a year-long performance apprenticeship, as well as an additional creative mentorship, both aligned with the awardees’ unique interests.
The second cycle will include seven artists chosen by an esteemed panel of musicians, chaired by Carrington, and continuing to use gender and racial justice as guiding principles. Candidates must be U.S. residents, fully vaccinated, and not currently enrolled in an academic institution program or contracted with a third party recording company. Selected artists will be announced in March 2023.
See the full list of the inaugural Next Jazz Legacy artists, their respective instruments and bandleader pairings below. Any questions should be addressed to our Program Manager Lolivone de la Rosa at [email protected]
2021-2022 Awardees
Drummer & Composer Apprenticeship: esperanza spalding | Creative Mentor: Wayne Shorter
Singer/songwriter, Trombonist & Multi-instrumentalist | Apprenticeship: Tia Fuller | Creative Mentor: Bobby McFerrin
Musician, Composer & Producer | Apprenticeship: Lizz Wright | Creative Mentor: Brandon Ross
Pianist, Vocalist & Composer | Apprenticeship: Marcus Miller | Creative Mentor: Georgia Ann Muldrow
Pianist & Organist | Apprenticeship: Chris Potter | Creative Mentor: Kris Davis
Guitarist & Composer | Bandleader: Linda May Han Oh | Creative Mentor & Recording: Bill Stewart
Trombonist, Composer & Educator | Apprenticeship: Mary Halvorson | Creative Mentor: Jen Shyu
Why This Program Is Needed
According to an analysis of NPR’s 2019 Jazz Critics poll…





Program Highlights
Next Jazz Legacy Advisory Board
Artistic Director, BIJGJ

Gabrielle Armand
VP Brand, Sales, Marketing, Jazz at Lincoln Center

Darlene Chan
FestivalWest, Inc., Los Angeles, New Orleans
Vocalist & educator
Pianist & Composer/Associate Director of Creative Development, BIJGJ
Director of Hip Hop Culture & Contemporary Music, The Kennedy Center
Executive Director, Little Black Pearl Art and Design Academy
Trumpeter, bandleader, composer and educator
Producer at NPR
President & CEO, New Music USA
New York Winter Jazz Festival
Jazz pianist & composer
Pianist & composer
Songwriter, bassist, guitarist & West Coast Dir. of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz
Managing Director, Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice
Press & Media Links
Funders
Next Jazz Legacy is a partnership between New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice with support from the Mellon Foundation. Next Jazz Legacy extends their gratitude to Joseph A. and Nancy Meli Walker for their generosity.

