The Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³) organization, founded by Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa in 2020, has announced the lineup for the M³ Festival, to be held in-person for the first time June 16-18 and June 21-22, 2022 at the Greenwich House Music School in New York City. The festival, which, according to the press release received at JazzTimes, “aims to normalize and give visibility to women and non-binary musicians in the jazz and creative music industries,” features 19 women, non-binary, and mostly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People Of Color) artists from all over the world, including Caroline Davis, Malika Zarra, Michele Rosewoman, Monnette Sudler, Fay Victor, Maya Keren, Serpa, and Shyu. The festival has partnered with NYC Winter JazzFest to present the event.
The organization had previously commissioned 48 artists to create 24 new duo music/video compositions across four cohort cycles, each lasting six months. Since its founding in 2020, M³ has produced and presented three interactive online M³ Festivals, premiering 18 music/video commissions in December 2020, June 2021, and March 2022 at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. In addition, M³ has published two online writing anthologies; the first, The Art of Being True, edited by acclaimed jazz writer Jordannah Elizabeth, appeared in April 2021, and Volume 2, edited by writer, poet, and scholar Naomi Extra, followed in April of this year.
Learn more about the festival and organization at its website.
M³ Festival Schedule:
Thursday, June 16
6pm – CN’s La permanencia de los ecos – Hamburg/Argentina
7:15pm – Malika Zarra Quintet – Paris, France
8:30pm – Michele Rosewoman’s Textured Trio – NYC
9:45pm – Maya Keren’s Careful in the Sun – NYC
11pm – Lesley Mok’s The Living Collection – NYC
Friday, June 17
6pm – Jen Shyu’s Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses (excerpts) – NYC
7:15pm – Miriam Elhajli – Brooklyn, NY
8:30pm – Monnette Sudler – Philadelphia, PA
9:45pm – Caroline Davis’ Portals – Brooklyn, NY
11pm – Romarna Campbell Showcase – London, UK
Saturday, June 18
7:15pm – aden – NYC
8:30pm – Fay Victor’s SoundNoiseFUNK – NYC
9:45pm – Samantha Boshnack’s Uncomfortable Subjects – Seattle/NYC
11pm – Cleo Reed – NYC
Tuesday, June 21
6pm – Shanta Nurulah’s Sitarsys – Chicago
7:15pm – Sumi Tonooka – Philadelphia, PA
8:30pm – Sara Serpa – NYC/Lisbon
9:45pm – Alchemy Sound Project: Erica Lindsay’s Meditation on Transformation – Rosendale, NY
11pm – Rémèd: Val-Inc aka Val Jeanty SoundChemist – Haiti/Boston
Wednesday, June 22
6pm – 9pm: World Premiere Screenings of Cohort 4 duo commissions and Closing Night Gala