Applications remain open for the Jazz Leaders Fellowship at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, a program that awards $12,500 to emerging Black women and Black nonbinary jazz musicians. Now in its sixth year, the fellowship supports artists developing their craft through performance, mentorship and community engagement opportunities.
Since 2021, the program has selected two fellows annually, providing recipients with financial support and access to rehearsal space at BKCM. With the addition of 2024-25 fellows Kersten Stevens and Alexandria DeWalt, the fellowship has supported 10 musicians since launching.
Each fellow develops a public performance as an ensemble leader while collaborating with BKCM’s community music school jazz program director to create opportunities for students to engage with the fellow’s artistry.
“The support of Black women and nonbinary artists within a cultural form and artistic medium like jazz — a music built upon the principles of participatory democratic process, the affirmation of identity and personal voice, and the acknowledgment and validation of an individual’s lived experience in relation to and inextricable from the formation of impactful artistic practice and production — is both a natural and deeply paramount decision to always make,” said Elijah Thomas, jazz program manager at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. “The Jazz Leaders Fellowship uplifts the human force that has driven artistic innovation since the inception of the music itself and I’m so grateful to play a small part in its facilitation.”
The fellowship has also expanded into a platform for performance and curatorial opportunities. For the past two summers, vocalist and composer Melanie Charles, a 2023-24 fellow, curated BKCM’s Midsummer Nights jazz series.
The lineup has included artists such as 2024-25 fellow Key Hutchinson and Jazz Leaders Fellowship committee member Cleo Reed. Charles will return this summer with programming shaped by the mission of her collective, Make Jazz Trill Again, which focuses on bringing jazz into public and community spaces.
“Jazz is such a necessary and unique art form because of its creative, improvisatory nature, with no two approaches to the music being the same. Through this award we’ve gotten to witness exactly this idea through the 10 unique musicians who have brought their own flavor to the industry,” said Fay Victor, chair of the Jazz Leaders Fellowship Committee. “It’s exciting to be able to see the artistry of this next batch of musicians that will come through in this round of applications.”
BKCM Jazz Program Manager Elijah Thomas described the fellowship as part of jazz’s ongoing tradition of artistic expression, identity and innovation while supporting Black women and Black nonbinary musicians helping shape the genre today.
The fellowship was conceived by former BKCM board member Daniel DiPietro and developed by the Jazz Leaders Fellowship Committee, led by musician and educator Fay Victor. The program is funded through support from DiPietro and his wife, Alexis. Additional information about the fellowship and committee members is available on BKCM’s website.
