Facing the future in the digital sphere

2020 will, of course, be defined by a global pandemic and a global movement for change against racism. Both these events have had a huge impact here at Tomorrow’s Warriors, a black-founded and black-led organisation and charity that has a focus on reaching and championing young black talent in jazz.

Knocked sideways

Gary Crosby OBE and I co-founded Tomorrow’s Warriors almost three decades ago, at a time when there was no platform for young, diverse British jazz musicians to learn their craft and hone their talent and skills, no organisation or institution that understood their needs, no support to develop homegrown talent, no place to learn through experimentation or be mentored by those who went before.

A lot has happened since and today the UK Jazz scene is in rude health, with Tomorrow’s Warriors punching well above its weight. Our programme has engaged with over 10,000 young people aged 11-25 from all backgrounds, all the while focused on BAME and female musicians.

Some of the hottest names in jazz, such as Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Cassie Kinoshi and Nérija, Femi Koleoso and Ezra Collective, Shabaka Hutchings and Sons Of Kemet, Binker Golding, Eska, Zara McFarlane, Denys Baptiste, Soweto Kinch, Cherise Adams-Burnett, and so many more have made a huge impact on the scene in the UK, US and around the world. ALL of these artists have come through the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme.

But unfortunately, even this pedigree hasn’t spared us from taking a sucker punch and being knocked sideways by the Covid-19 lockdown.

There has been an immediate impact on our young people’s music education and development, the music leaders who teach on our education programme, and the professional musicians, staff, freelancers, partners and everyone else who helps to sustain our wonderful, but fragile, jazz ecosystem.

Loss

We have a responsibility to our young people and aim to give them the consistency they need. But in the lockdown, we have been forced to suspend our year-round award-winning Learn & Train programme at Southbank Centre, depriving our talented cohort of innumerable opportunities to learn, play and grow as musicians together in person at a crucial stage of their artistic development cycle.

We have also lost a massive 112 live concerts and gigs between April and September. This tally includes all of our jazz gigs and series with a number of partners, as well as our events as part of The Reggae Ticket, one of our many community outreach programmes that celebrate black culture.

There is a risk of even more shows disappearing and with the loss of these events, we have lost the opportunity to receive funding and fee income that would have contributed significantly to our programmes and the day-to-day operations of the organisation. Funding partners cannot release project-based funding for activities that are no longer happening and, in some cases, major funders have already closed their doors to new applicants. Social distancing measures have scuppered our ability to ramp up our events programme and adequately plan and fundraise for our joyous 30th Anniversary celebrations in 2021.

Thinking positively

We are acutely aware of the importance of providing stability at times of huge uncertainty, but we know it is equally important to adapt quickly and be agile to the changing circumstances facing the whole of the music sector. For these reasons, we moved swiftly to shift our weekly learning programme into the digital sphere, with virtual sessions that have ensured our Warriors continue to have access to their music mentors and the TW team throughout the lockdown period and give them the continuity they need.

In fact the lockdown has been a catalyst for innovation, as we seek fresh and smarter ways to engage with our young people remotely through digital platforms. The results have been phenomenal, and since the lockdown, we have provided nearly 700 free learning opportunities to our young people. We are also looking to launch our acclaimed Summer School this August with a virtual offering to students.

We recognise the appetite for virtual learning, which has markedly increased in these times and we are planning to extend our virtual learning offer beyond the lockdown. We are looking to develop a suite of digital resources, livestreams and other digital content for what will be a new virtual education hub for our participants.

We also aim to enrich the virtual learning and events experience and extend beyond the London audience to around the UK in order to reach more young people, sharing content and other opportunities with the wider community. Through livestreaming and virtual events, we are also focussed on continuing to provide performance opportunities to the musicians we engage with. Performance is a key part of a musician’s development, as well as the lifeblood of careers and incomes for professional musicians. By exploring how live events, even social-distanced ones, can resume in some way post-lockdown, we aim to support our musicians with the performance opportunities they so desperately need.

Towards recovery

It will be music, arts and culture that are hit the hardest and will take the longest to recover. Being on the front foot in thinking about solutions is very important, as the future of live music is a key part of the sector’s recovery.

We are here for the long haul and are planning for the lockdown and beyond. We will be ready to greet our community with a host of new opportunities for musicians and audiences to come together and experience live jazz once again with its thrill, sheer energy and unbound spirit.

Music, arts and culture are more important and valued by society than ever in times of crisis, and never more so than during the global pandemic. Black music and culture continues to be an enormous part of the music industry’s success: Tomorrow’s Warriors plays its role in the industry from the grass roots upwards and will continue to invest in the future of jazz music and the next generation of talent.

Janine Irons MBE is co-founder and Chief Executive of Tomorrow’s Warriors
@Tom_Warriors