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

Jazz Camp lights with Jazz Camp 2025 written on image.
This application is for the Jazz Camp West Fellowship program, which is a full tuition scholarship award available to candidates who meet the following criteria:
  • Must be between the ages of 16-30 before June 7, 2025
  • Must possess a strong desire to pursue a career in improvised music and/or music education
  • Must have professional experience gigging and teaching jazz and jazz-adjacent styles of music
  • Must have the ability to collaborate and work within a team
  • Must demonstrate strong leadership skills
Application Materials
  • General Applicant Information Form
  • 500-700 word Biography
  • Links to two (2) Application Videos - prompts below
  • Two (2) Letters of Recommendation, separate pdf files recommended
  • Student/Demographic/Misc Info

The deadline to apply is March 1, 2025 at 11:59 pm PST. All complete applications will be reviewed and finalists will be interviewed by Artistic Director, Camp Director, Artist-In-Residence, and various Living Jazz staff throughout March 2025. One (1) Fellow will be selected for Jazz Camp West 2025 and all other applicants will be notified by March 31, 2025.

 
For the regular Financial Aid application, please fill out the Jazz Camp West 2025 Registration form on our website here and select 'Yes' in the Scholarship request section to access the application section.

FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION 2025

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General Applicant Information





MM/DD/YYYY












Applicant Bio & Links

Online Presence - Please provide links or handles for any of the following, if available:
Application Videos

Video #1 - About You



Please submit a video link of yourself responding to the following questions:

1) What is something you have built from the ground up?

2) What is something that interests you besides music?

3) Briefly tell us about a person in your life that has been an inspiration

Note:  Applicants must answer all three questions in one video essay. Full video may not exceed 5 minutes

Video #2 - Jazz Standard

Please submit a link demonstrating your musical talents.

Perform one tune from the American Songbook: Melody (head in), one chorus of a solo, melody (head out) with a clear and definitive ending. If you are a rhythm section player you need to include one chorus of comping before your solo chorus. It is not required to perform with a band, but it is encouraged. Perform a jazz blues selection of your choice: Melody (head in), on chorus of a solo, melody (head out) with a clear and definitive ending. If you are a rhythm section player you need to include one chorus of comping before your solo chorus. It is not required to perform with a band, but it is encouraged.


Student Info





References & Letters of Recommendation
The Fellowship program requests two (2) letters of recommendation for each applicant










Applicant Demographics
Jazz Camp West works hard make itself accessible to a diverse range of populations. Donors and foundations typically ask for this information to be included in any fundraising appeal that we submit. We will keep this information anonymous.


Misc Info





Contact Information

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, 2025 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.

2024 Fellowship Award Recipient - Laura-Simone Martin

Linda May Han Oh, Artist in Residence

Allison Miller, Artistic Director

Currently 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.

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

  1. Jazz Camp West general information form

  2. Video essay responding to the following prompts: TBD

  3. Video demonstrating proficiency. (Detail Below)

  4. (2) Letters of recommendation or references.

  5. Any additional performance clips/music videos (youtube links).

  6. 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.

If you have any questions about the fellowship, please email us at info@livingjazz.org