Jen Shyu & Sara Serpa's Season Concludes With Six Virtual World Premieres By Womxn Artists

After nearly six months working together as part of the Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³) initiative, co-founded by Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa to foster creative partnerships among womxn musicians worldwide, the project's inaugural group of artists reconvenes virtually for the world premieres of their new, collaborative M³ commissions on Sunday, December 6 at 7:00 p.m. ET and Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 p.m. ET via the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Hosted by M³ Editor-in-Chief Jordannah Elizabeth, each premiere will be followed by a Q&A with the artists, who will answer questions from the audience about their creative process. The performances are streamed via Zoom and may be accessed for free with RSVP. Reserve at JazzMuseumInHarlem.org.

M³ launched in spring 2020 with 12 participating musicians: Romarna Campbell (UK), drums; Caroline Davis (New York), saxophone; Eden Girma, (US / UK), voice, multi-instrumentalist; Val Jeanty (Haiti / New York City), percussion, electronics, turntables; Maya Keren (Philadelphia), piano; Erica Lindsay (Rosendale, NY), tenor sax; Lesley Mok(New York City), drums; Tomeka Reid (Chicago / New York City), cello; Sara Serpa(Portugal / New York City), voice; Jen Shyu (New York City / East Timor), voice, multi-instrumentalist; Anjna Swaminathan (Brooklyn), violin, voice, multi-disciplinary theatre artist; and Sumi Tonooka (Philadelphia), piano.

The works to be premiered were created by pairs of the above musicians:

• Romarna Campbell + Val Jeanty
• Caroline Davis + Maya Keren
• Jen Shyu + Sumi Tonooka
  (works on December 6)
  
• Eden Girma + Anjna Swaminathan
• Erica Lindsay + Sara Serpa
• Lesley Mok + Tomeka Reid
  (works on December 12)

Each collaboration marks the first time that the two artists have worked together, reflecting M³'s mission to foster creative growth through new, mutual models of mentorship. With the goal of empowering and elevating womxn musicians around the world-including BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, and musicians of all abilities across generations-M³ encourages the reciprocal, intergenerational exchange of knowledge and experience; formation of new collaborations with musicians outside of one's inner circle; and cultivation of new ideas and formats for solo and collaborative performance, whether live or virtual. M³ meetings and workshops take place over several months and culminate each season in a performance of the newly created collaborative commissions.

For more information about the M³ model, see the original announcement of the project, as well as MutualMentorshipForMusicians.org. Inquiries about the initiative may be directed to info@MutualMentorshipForMusicians.org.

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