[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ width=”100%” max_width=”100%” custom_padding=”|0px||0px|false|false” custom_css_free_form=”selector .et_pb_text {|| padding-left: 10%;|| padding-right: 10%;||}” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” custom_css_main_element=”width: 100% !important;” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=”4.23.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text admin_label=”Intro” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
From Sept 21 \u2013 23, Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M\u00b3)<\/strong><\/a> held its 2nd annual M\u00b3 Festival<\/strong> at Roulette Intermedium<\/strong><\/a> in Brooklyn, NY. The event brought together musicians from around the world from M\u00b3’s 3rd and 4th cohorts, many of them meeting and performing together in person for the first time. One of two public events that M\u00b3 held this year, the festival provides a showcase both for its cohort participants and for the organization itself and its mission.<\/p>\n Co-founded in 2020 by vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu<\/a><\/strong> and vocalist and composer Sara Serpa<\/strong><\/a>, M\u00b3 provides a platform to empower, elevate, normalize and give visibility to musicians of historically underrepresented gender identities (including cis women, trans women, trans men and non-binary) in intersection with race, sexuality, or ability across generations in the US and worldwide, through a radical model of mentorship and musical collaborative commissions.<\/p>\n Before founding M\u00b3, Shyu and Serpa came to realize that there are many shortcomings and pitfalls in the music business, particularly for female artists and artists of historically underrepresented identities,\u00a0and they committed to working together to do something about it without having any idea where that might lead them. Looking back at their own careers, they knew that music institutions in many cases failed to hire female and BIPOC artists\/instructors who could provide role modeling and a roadmap for how to overcome the challenges their students face.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/onlylove.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/DSC09431-2.jpg” alt=”Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa, photo by Christopher Pelham” title_text=”M3 Festival Day 3, 9\/23\/23 at Roulette” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” admin_label=”Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa, photo by Christopher Pelham” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” max_width_tablet=”50%” max_width_phone=”50%” max_width_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_margin=”|2%|0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” filter_saturate=”0%” filter_brightness=”114%” filter_contrast=”114%” custom_css_main_element=”float:left;” custom_css_free_form=”selector img {|| width: 100%!important;|| max-width: 100%!important;||}” enable_caption_text=”on” image_caption_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Intro cont’d” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n They decided to start an organization, which they named M\u00b3 (Mutual Mentorship for Musicians), that would provide commission funding and one-on-one and group mutual mentoring to cohorts of female and non-binary artists young and old, publish collections of each cohort’s writings, and produce a festival where the participants could perform together. And due to the clarity and value of that proposal and their own commitment and integrity and track records as artists, Serpa and Shyu quickly succeeded in raising the tens of thousands of dollars necessary to fund it, despite having never run such a program before. At the height of the pandemic, when so many arts organizations were closing their doors to artists and many foundations were actually reducing their support, raising this much money for a new project was something of a miracle.\u200b I should note that CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing), the publisher of onlylove.art, became one of M\u00b3’s ongoing sponsors.<\/p>\n Beginning in summer of 2020, M\u00b3 began selecting and bringing together 12 artists from different genres, countries, and backgrounds and of different generations to participate in 6 \u2013 9 month cohorts. Meeting online as a group as well as in pairs, the cohort members share experiences and encourage one another as equals, each of them, despite varied backgrounds and circumstances, working to overcome similar challenges to live a healthy life as a working artist and get their music out there.<\/p>\n These opportunities to spend time with peers of different generations and cultures affirm that the participants are not really struggling alone but rather are part of a global movement for inclusivity and empowerment, which in itself is, according to the participants, tremendously meaningful and empowering. They come away with a new network of support as well as inspiration and tools that they can use to fuel their own creations and also to introduce into their respective musical communities.<\/p>\n The $3,000 duo commissioning grants that each cohort participant receives also enable them to get paid to create new work while stretching their compositional muscles collaborating with a fellow artist of a different genre, generation, and background. The commissions and the accompanying opportunities to perform in the M\u00b3 Festival are thus a step toward addressing the disparities in opportunities, income, and mentoring that traditionally underrepresented musicians face.<\/p>\n So far 72 artists have participated in the now annual program. This growing network of artists, working independently but also in solidarity with aligned values and goals, has the potential to break down barriers and to transform the music scene to create more equitable institutions and ultimately a safer, healthier, and more inclusive world for all of us.<\/p>\n The 2023 M\u00b3 Festival boasted an exceptional roster of 21 M\u00b3 cohort artists plus numerous ensemble members, each contributing their unique talents and artistic vision. In the relentless pursuit of balance and diversity, this lineup of composer-performers was thoughtfully curated to embody innovation across genres. \u201cThis year\u2019s festival musicians from M\u00b3\u2019s third and fourth cohorts are hands down some of the most groundbreaking composer-performers in the world today, each with a stunning clarity of vision that you\u2019ll rarely if ever find gathered together in one place,\u201d said Shyu.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/onlylove.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/treble-clef.png” title_text=”treble clef” admin_label=”Treble clef divider image” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”10%” custom_margin=”|||10%|false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Day One Headline” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ admin_label=”Fay Victor and Rebekah Heller” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/onlylove.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/DSC00358.jpg” alt=”Fay Victor and Rebekah Heller, photo by Christopher Pelham” title_text=”M3 Festival Day 1, 9\/21\/23 at Roulette” show_in_lightbox=”on” admin_label=”Fay Victor and Rebekah Heller photo” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” enable_caption_text=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Fay Victor and Rebekah Heller text” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The festival kicked off with M\u00b3 second cohort member Fay Victor<\/strong><\/a> trading vocal riffs with third cohort member Rebekah Heller<\/strong> <\/a>(bassoon), each conjuring such a surprising symphony of sounds that one might question whether they were, in fact, being piped in from a full orchestra in some other dimension. International Contemporary Ensemble<\/a> Artists as well as faculty members with The New School’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA), Victor and Heller playfully stretched the bounds of what these instruments can be used to express.<\/p>\nFestival Day One<\/strong><\/h3>\n