Jazz Sudbury is beginning its annual search for talented up-and-coming Ontario jazz musicians ready to play the main stage of the Jazz Sudbury Festival this September.
Jazz Sudbury’s Emerging Artist Program opened for submissions April 5 and the organization will accept submissions until midnight May 3.
Since 2009, Jazz Sudbury has been presenting its Emerging Artist Showcase. To date, thirty groups of young musicians have had the opportunity to participate in the competition for the chance to perform on the Jazz Sudbury Festival main stage.
In the past year, Jazz Sudbury expanded the program to provide more opportunities for emerging musicians and grow the initiative from a competition into a career development program.
Emerging musicians who play around the jazz genre (soul, funk, blues, swing etc.), whether they are a band, a duo, or a solo act are invited to showcase their talent and submit a three to five minute video performance to www.facebook.com/JazzSudbury.
Three finalists will be chosen by a panel of industry experts to compete in the Emerging Artist Showcase at La Fromagerie in Sudbury May 30. Following a final decision based on a combination of video submissions and live performance, the winner will be announced.
Finalists will be invited back to experience the festival in September and provided opportunities to network with professional touring main-stage artists. In partnership with Music and Film in Motion, emerging musicians will have the opportunity to participate in a career development masterclass, providing them with the tools to navigate the music industry.
The winning musicians will receive a $1,000 paid a performance on the Jazz Sudbury Festival main stage, and the opportunity to participate in one-on-one mentorship provided by Canada’s Music Incubator focused on publicity, budgeting, royalties, contract negotiations, marketing and everything in-between.
“The appearance at the festival has really created a bunch of momentum for Nick, Evan and I as the three of us are wrapping up our degrees and are planning to jump directly into careers as professional musicians in Toronto,” said Anthony D’Alessandro, from the winning trio of Jazz Sudbury’s 2018 Emerging Artist Program, in a press release.
“Since the visit to the festival in September, we have been blessed with a great number of gigs in the city... the momentum the festival has created is really incredible.”
