Tomorrow’s Warriors: Talent Development Fund 2020
Tomorrow’s Warriors support young, emerging and established jazz artists to unlock and fulfil their musical potential by providing inspirational, immersive talent development programmes and outstanding creative performance opportunities. We champion diversity and inclusion in the music industry and have a primary, though not exclusive focus on black talent and female musicians.
When lockdown hit in March 2020, we moved swiftly to transfer all of our year-round weekly learning programme online (bar Youth Orchestra sessions) in order to ensure all of our students could continue their development, be supported by our music leaders and office team, and safeguard employment for all of our creative delivery and office team. We were able to deliver around 90% of our overall programme, and 100% of the weekly development sessions funded by PRSF. Our creative home, Southbank Centre, has been mostly mothballed over lockdown, but when restrictions were lifted in August, we were able us to deliver a very limited amount of socially-distanced activity in Covid-safe spaces.
The performance programme designed to support the progression of our Advanced Development Group was decimated and we lost more than 115 confirmed gigs between March-November, at least 12 of which were slated to be shows for our Advance Development Group supported by PRSF. We were only able to bring 3 shows to fruition for them in 2020/21: Royal Albert Hall’s ‘Royal Albert Home’ online stream; an outdoor show for London Design Festival at NOW Gallery; and the Jazz Café premiere of our I AM WARRIOR alumni PRSF commissions which eventually took place on 23 October having been postponed three times. Given the reduced venue capacity at Jazz Café (down to 150 from 425), we sought to extend the reach of the commissions by producing a professional HD video and studio recording of the I AM WARRIOR commissions which also provided the musicians with an additional performance opportunity and recording experience. As 2020 drew to a close we broadcast our first livestream – a joyous Christmas cracker celebration with live music from a cross generational Tomorrow’s Warriors band.
‘Tomorrow’s Warriors are proud to be a Talent Development partner and to be part of this supportive and creative network. In particular, we have greatly appreciated PRSF’s swift response to Covid in shoring up the sector, and their determined action to address inequality and racism in the industry.’