Jazz Camp West Fellowship Award
PROPEL YOUR CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL
A unique scholarship opportunity to engage in one-on-one mentorship with the 2025 Artist in Residence, and other seasoned professionals and masters of their craft.
Jazz Camp West Fellowship 2025
June 7-13, 2025
La Honda, CA
Fellowship Applications to open soon!
Congratulations to Living Jazz’s 2024 Fellowship Award Winner
Laura-Simone Martin
18-year-old bassist, vocalist, and change-maker Laura-Simone Martin has been selected to participate in this intensive week led by Allison Miller and Linda May Han Oh.
Currently a freshman at Michigan State, Laura-Simone is a driven emerging artist: in her junior year of high school, she combined her passions for music and activism by founding the Queen Amina Music Program to help push the “women in jazz” music movement. This program is for 4th-8th grade instrumentalists at the Lawrence Intermediate School and Lawrence Middle School, where she teaches songs, the history of women in jazz, improvisational skills, and how to navigate modal progressions.
At just 18 years old, Laura Simone has performed at nationally acclaimed venues like the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, Blue Note at Sea, the Kennedy Center, Monterey Jazz Festival, and more. This past summer, she was a part of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra, where she toured Europe with Sean Jones and 2x Grammy winning vocalist, Dee Dee Bridgewater.
This year’s Fellowship is made possible by The Bob Griffith Memorial Fund, in memory of beloved Living Jazz ancestor who emphasized making education accessible and affordable and deeply valued the arts.
This 7-day extended learning track is designed to teach and improve performance, technique, music business entrepreneurship, and creative leadership. This year’s Fellow will be mentored by Living Jazz’s Artistic Director, Allison Miller and the 2025 Jazz Camp West Artist in Residence.
The Fellowship is a full-tuition scholarship award, that grants full participation in the Jazz Camp West daily classes, jam sessions, open mics, and performances.
Applications will be due by March 1 at 11:59pm PST.
This program is a dynamic learning experience that supports and improves the Fellow in every layer of musicianship.
For this reason, the program is multi-dimensional in structure.
Fellows will shadow and assist Linda May Han Oh in her Artist in Residence duties (classes, presentations, performances).
Fellows are also required to participate in one-on-one mentorship sessions with Jazz Camp West Faculty, including Artistic Director Allison Miller.
They will attend select Living Jazz staff meetings to get real-world production experience and sit-in on faculty performances.
Fellows will receive a slot in one of the nightly faculty concerts with a short set of their very own.
Each day, fellows will participate in classes, jam sessions, and have candid discussions with Jazz Camp Faculty.
2023 Fellowship Award Recipient - Guilhem Fourty
Ulysses Owens Jr., Artist in Residence
Allison Miller, Artistic Director
Guilhem Fourty is a French drummer, composer, educator, and award winner. After studying at the Toulouse Music Conservatory for 7 years, he received a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2019 to study Drums performance and music production.
At the age of 21, Guilhem had already played with great musicians such as multiple Grammy Award nominee saxophonist Miguel Zenón. The same year, he joins the Berklee Jazz and Gender Institute under the mentorship of NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington.
In 2022, Guilhem received an award from the French Foundation “Marcel Bleustein Blanchet pour la Vocation”, and he more recently got selected as recipient for the 1st Annual Jazz Camp West Fellowship.
Emerging musician of the Boston scene, Guilhem has worked and played with great musicians such as Miguel Zenon, Peter Eldridge, Bill Pierce, Audrey Bussanich, Ian Coury, Greg Hopkins, Pedro Couto Silva, Devon Gates, among others, and has also been working extensively as a studio drummer.
He has performed in many venues around the world (France, United States, Brazil), and played in festivals such as J.E.N, Reno Jazz Fest, Jazz in Marciac, Jazz à Vienne.
Guilhem his masters degree studies in Fall 2023 at the prestigious Berklee Global Jazz Institute with a Full-Tuition Scholarship.
One-On-One Sessions May Include
Musician’s Career Guide
Creative Entrepreneurship
How to Make an Album
How to become an effective Teaching Artist
The Art of Multi-tasking as an Artist
The importance of building relationships within the musical community
DIY Marketing
Maintaining artistic integrity while developing your career
The Art of Creative Collaboration
Taking your artistry to the next level
Creative Making: Believing in yourself and the gifts you have to offer
Guidelines
Eligibility
Candidates must meet the following criteria
Be of the ages 16-30 before June 8, 2024.
Possess strong desire to pursue a career in improvised music and/or music education.
Have professional experience gigging and teaching jazz and related styles of music.
Ability to collaborate and work within a team.
Demonstrate strong leadership skills.
Application Materials
Jazz Camp West general information form
Video essay responding to the following prompts: TBD
Video demonstrating proficiency. (Detail Below)
(2) Letters of recommendation or references.
Any additional performance clips/music videos (youtube links).
Biography.
Video Requirements
1. Perform one tune from the American songbook - melody (head in), one chorus of a solo, melody (head out) with a clear and definitive ending.
Rhythm section players - you must include one chorus of comping before your solo chorus.
You are not required to perform with a band but it is encouraged.
2. Perform a Jazz blues of your choice with same guideline as above.
3. Video essay (prompts in application)
Timeline
TBA December 2024 - Applications open.
March 1, 2025 - Applications must be submitted no later than March 1, 2025 by 11:59pm.
March 1 - March 30, 2025 - Application reviews and interviews of finalists will be conducted.
March 31, 2025 - Fellowship applicants will be notified by this date.
PLEASE NOTE
This is a full tuition scholarship to Jazz Camp West. This means that all camp lodging, travel stipend of up to $500, meals, and regular camp tuition fees will be covered alongside the fellowship program.
