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]