City Of Wilmington: Cityfest Opens Application Period For Emerging Jazz Artist Residency

Press release from the City of Wilmington:

12/27/2021 1:00 PM

Photo: Bob Haynes

Cityfest announces the official open call for applications from composers/performers, ages 17 to 25, who would like to participate in the 2022 Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency to be held in Wilmington, Delaware from June 5 through June 19, 2022.

Applications will be accepted until Friday, April 1, 2022, 11:59 p.m. (EST). Applicants may submit their information or receive more information about the jazz residency by visiting cityfestwilm.com/boysie-lowery-living-jazz-residency.

Between 12 and 15 young people will be selected for a two-week residency in performing, composing, arranging, and improvisation. The Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency is in its 6th year and is designed to give participants an intense learning experience that will help them begin to find their sound, mature as a player, and make lasting connections with like-minded peers.  Participants will be introduced to a variety of harmonic, melodic, sonic, and textural possibilities, and then be asked to apply them to new compositions.

“I always look forward to watching new friendships form,” says Jonathan Whitney, the director of the residency. “It’s great to hear stories of how last year's artists have grown and to witness the many light bulb moments that come throughout their time here.”

The residency program will include numerous semi-public performance opportunities, culminating with a final concert to be performed on the main stage at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. Alumni of the program include: Jojo Streeter, Chine Chien Lu, Perrin Grace, Matt Dwonszyk, and Josh Roberts to name a few. Masterclass artists have included Warren Wolf, Aaron Deihl, Ari Hoenig, and Melissa Aldana. This year’s faculty will include Mike Boone, Tom Palmer, and E. Shawn Qaissuanee.

 About Robert ‘Boysie’ Lowery
The Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency is named after and inspired by the late Robert ‘Boysie’ Lowery. After moving to Wilmington, Delaware, in the 1940’s, Boysie began his extraordinary career as a jazz educator. For over 50 years, Boysie taught hundreds of aspiring musicians. His most noted pupil was the late Clifford Brown, considered by many to be the finest trumpeter of the time. Clifford began his study with Lowery at the age of 12 while a student in Wilmington’s public schools. Lowery’s list of pupils also includes some of the finest jazz musicians to come out of the Delaware Valley, including Lem Winchester, Ernie Watts, Abdu-Rashid Yahya, Marcus Belgrave, and Gerald Chavis. In addition, Lowery had been sought out by musicians as far away as Russia (Valery Ponomarev) and Africa (Hugh Masekela). Prior to his death in 1996, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation awarded Lowery with its 1995 Living Legacy Award.

Friday, April 1, 2022, 11:59 p.m. Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency 

Photo: Bob Haynes

COMMUNITY AND MEDIA INQUIRIES: 

John Rago
Deputy Chief of Staff
City of Wilmington, Office of the Mayor
Mobile: (302) 420-7928
Email: jrago@WilmingtonDE.gov

This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.