The Jazz Fellowship awards four $7,500 Luminarts Fellowships to jazz musicians through the performance of original, creative, and spontaneously improvised jazz music. The competition includes a two-tiered jury process, with preliminary auditions held at the Union League Club of Chicago, and final round auditions held during the 2021 Jazz Finals at an offsite location.
Of the Jazz Fellowship applicants, eight finalists will be selected to advance to the final round of judging and perform live at the jazz finals on Thursday, February 25, 2021. Each finalist performs with a professional jazz trio, and four winners are selected based on their improvisation skills during the event. An award is also awarded for People’s Choice.
The deadline to apply is Tuesday, February 2, 2021.