Tomorrow’s Warriors invites young musicians interested in learning jazz and pursuing a career in music to join our Young Artist Development Programme.
We are looking for enthusiastic young musicians who are confident on their instruments to join our programme. Our sessions are completely free, so there’s no need to worry about the cost.
We run sessions every weekend during the school term and additional rehearsals throughout the week (see details below). To check if we can offer you a place, just fill in the details on the form below. Due to high demand we currently have a waiting list to join our programme, but we are still accepting musicians on certain instruments and are keen to accommodate for talented musicians.
New to Tomorrow’s Warriors?
Our award-winning Artistic Director, Dr Gary Crosby OBE heads our Young Artist Development Programme supported by a fabulous team of inspirational music leaders who are themselves active professional jazz artists. They’ve all been there, seen it, done it, got the T-shirt, the postcard, and a bag load of first hand experience to pass on to you about life as a jazz musician (they’re living it every day of the week after all)! All of our core music leaders have themselves come through the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme and will do their best to help you feel right at home from day one.
We meet in the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Development sessions
Junior Warriors – Led by Dian Gasper
Open to musicians of Grade 5 standard (or equivalent) or higher and between the ages of 11 and 15. Musicians study the basics of jazz, learning jazz ‘standards’ and getting hands-on experience of improvising.
Youth Development Group – Led by Ben Burrell
Open to musicians of minimum Grade 7 standard (or equivalent) and between the ages of 15-19. Sessions will focus on learning jazz repertoire and building confidence soloing. Chords, scales and improvisation techniques will all be covered.
Jazz Hang – Led by Binker Golding
An open space to jam, experiment and learn with your fellow Warriors. Aimed at 16 – 25 year olds, led by what you want to learn.
Advanced Development Session – Led by Denys Baptiste (until mid-November) and Alex Davis
For Warriors aged 15 -25 years old of minimum Grade 8 standard (or equivalent). Working with advanced improvising concepts of jazz harmony and improvisation, and more challenging repertoire. This is our most advanced session.
Female Collective – Led by Aleksandra Topczewska
A creative development session run for and by female musicians ages 14-25, offering a space for creating new compositions, exploring how jazz can work with other contemporary genres, and encouraging female musicians from all backgrounds to work collectively.
Jazz Strings Development Group – Led by Rhiannon Dimond
For accomplished strings players, aged 16+. Experience of jazz is not necessarily required, although this session is designed for advanced players. Focusing on improvisation and jazz performance techniques. Cellists, double bassists, violin and viola players are all welcome.
Other sessions throughout the week are by invitation only and this is when we concentrate on our flagship groups – Tomorrow’s Warriors Soon Come Septet; Tomorrow’s Warriors Female Frontline, StringTing, Junior Band, or Tomorrow’s Warriors Soon Come Orchestra. Spaces in these groups are offered to those excelling and showing commitment to the development sessions.
As well as the Development Sessions, Tomorrow’s Warriors offers other fantastic opportunities for young musicians including:
- Ongoing support and progression routes during your musical journey, right through to adulthood.
- The opportunity to learn alongside other committed young musicians from across the UK.
- Access to masterclasses delivered by visiting guests and stars from the international jazz scene.
So, don’t be shy, and don’t be a stranger! If you think Tomorrow’s Warriors is the place for you then go to the Join Us page to complete the online pre-enrolment form.