Vital Jazz Musicians Development Programme Under Threat

Tomorrow’s Warriors has launched a go fund me campaign in a bid to ensure its Young Artist Development Programme can continue to help young jazz musicians in 2019, after the arts organisation revealed that its’ free training and activities are under threat of closure.

The pioneering programme aims to remove the financial barriers to music education by providing comprehensive learning and training at the Southbank Centre in London. Tomorrow’s Warriors has been celebrated for it’s work championing and supporting young people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, girls and those whose financial or other challenging circumstances would tend to lock them out of opportunities to pursue a career in the music industry. The training provided has also been widely credited with launching the careers of some of the UK’s biggest and most acclaimed up and coming jazz stars, an extensive list spanning the likes of Moses Boyd and Binker Golding to Ezra Collective and Shabaka Hutchings.

Bassist Gary Crosby OBE, Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors says: "I know there are young people from a similar background to me who, if given the opportunities, can create great art. It’s not curriculum style, because what we’re dealing with is art. The individuals are artists, and I want to hear what they have to say about the world."

Tomorrow’s Warriors as an organisation is funded by Arts Council England, but all of their free educational activities have to be funded separately. There is currently no funding secured from the programme this year, and the organisers are campaigning to raise money to make sure their vital work can continue. They are aiming to raise £100,000 in donations, a figure which will be matched by Arts Council England to fund their 2019 activities.

If you want to help to keep jazz education free, head to gofundme.com/iamwarrior to donate, find out more about the campaign and even join the fundraising team yourself. You can also help raise awareness but sharing the campaign using #IAmWarrior on social media.