User:Rebcat w/Tomorrow's Warriors

Tomorrow's Warriors

Tomorrow’s Warriors was founded in 1991 by Gary Crosby OBE and established as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee in 1998 by partner and Managing Director, Janine Irons MBE. It is a Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) of Arts Council England. The company is acknowledged as a leading organisation in the UK for music education and professional artist development in all aspects of jazz. It is a multicultural organisation that has built its reputation through inspiring, developing and mentoring gifted and talented young jazz musicians. It continues to achieve this by providing a range of high quality education programmes in the form of workshops and performances in schools, arts venues and community centres.

Tomorrow’s Warriors has a special but not exclusive focus on young people from the African diaspora. Its aims are:
 * To develop talented young jazz musicians in to professional artists
 * To enhance young musicians’ personal and professional development
 * To increase the profile of jazz music among young people, their friends and family
 * To raise the standards of music education

Tomorrow’s Warriors focuses on the ongoing development of five groups:
 * Teenie Warriors (8-13 yrs)
 * Junior Warriors (13-15yrs)
 * Youth Warriors (15-19 yrs)
 * Tomorrow’s Warriors Small Ensembles (19-25 yrs)
 * Tomorrow’s Warriors Jazz Orchestra (TWJO) - professional touring orchestra consisting of past and present Warriors.

The Teenie and Junior Warriors are a relatively new edition to the Tomorrow’s Warriors family, they consist of approximately 10 musicians who rehearse weekly with Assistant Artistic Director, Abram Wilson. The Youth Warriors meet on a weekly basis at the Southbank Centre and are mentored by Gary Crosby. The Small Ensembles meet on a monthly basis at Southbank Centre and are also mentored by Gary Crosby. The Tomorrow’s Warriors Jazz Orchestra is also a new edition and an increasingly important progression route for the Youth Warriors and Small Ensembles. They rehearse once a month at Southbank Centre, and are led by members of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Young Composers and Arrangers Programme.

The Tomorrow's Warriors are a weekend resident at Southbank Centre. They aim to offer aspiring young jazz musicians a space and environment in which to learn and develop. They hold regular rehearsals, skills development workshops and cross-arts jam sessions for core groups of young jazz musicians. In addition, they also actively seek collaborations with other youth arts organisations and young musicians, with the aim of creating a network of young artists working together to develop the jazz scene.

Tomorrow’s Warriors has a varied and diverse approach to working with other jazz organisations in England in both the voluntary and profit-making sector. They have worked with a mixture of local, national and international organisations including Mayhem Company, SE1 United Forum, AfroReggae, BiggaFish and Kummba Youth Music, Jazz Vehicle, and the Barbican Centre.

They are partnered with Trinity College of Music to provide skills, technique and audition workshops for young musicians, particularly those from the African diaspora. The aim of the project is to encourage more music applicants from the African diaspora as well as ensuring their success.

They have been creating links nationally in Liverpool, Manchester and Southampton where they are working together to continue building the jazz profile and raising community participation in jazz.