Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³), the groundbreaking initiative dedicated to advancing professional and artistic growth for women and gender-expansive musicians, presents the 4th annual M³ Festival 2025 on Saturday, October 4 at Roulette Intermedium, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The event begins at 7 pm and diGital tixx are available. The marathon-style event features Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Becca Stevens, NEA Jazz Master & pianist Kenny Barron, acclaimed saxophonist/ composer Immanuel Wilkins, and pioneering M³ musicians and their projects including Siren Xypher (Melanie Dyer, Mara Rosenbloom, Kyoto Kitamura), Shoko Nagai and Satoshi Takeishi’s Vortex, Vertical Sounds (Kess Southpaw, Mnisibass, Melanie Dyer), Maia & Zamonda, and Devon Gates’ Ghost Stories (Gates, Victoria Awkward, Matt Greenwood), and Gili Lopes. Audience members at prior M³ festivals described the event as “innovative, nourishing, forward-thinking… shocking, heart-opening, magical… dynamic, creative and vibrant… collaborative… a beautiful collective of people really supporting each other through their creative process and learning from each other…you can see that give and take through the music that they’ve created.” The Festival will also launch the inaugural issue of M³ Magazine featuring writing from most of the artists performing at the Festival. It also includes an interview with 2025 M³ Luminary Awardee Maia who has earned renown as a longtime active member of the AACM and is giving a rare NYC performance at the Festival. The magazine springs from M³’s Anthologies of Writings which were formerly published in book format. Now celebrating its 5th anniversary, M³ was founded during the COVID pandemic in 2020 by Jen Shyu & Sara Serpa as a platform for creative risk-taking, exchange through musical commissions, peer-led mentorship, publication of anthologies, performances, festivals, and awards. In just 5 years, M3 has commissioned & supported 92 artists creating 46 new co-compositions and transforming the creative music industry around the world. Serpa & Shyu conceived of M³ through conversations about elevating women and non-binary musicians, particularly those of color, in their global music community. Having both experienced inequities in professional opportunities and financial remuneration, limited recognition and media visibility, and isolation in their own careers, they recognized firsthand the need for greater opportunity, community and support, as well as the need for women & non-binary mentors in the music industry.
I had the pleasure of catching up with the amazingly cool, Jen Shyu to get a peek behind the curtain when it comes to all that Mutual Mentorship for Musicians is about. We start by getting into each of the artists that will be making the maGic happen this year as part of the 2025 festival. We get a little flip the baseball card over and get a taste of each and this line-up is so sweet. We spend a bunch of time discussion the who & what of the why Mutual Mentorship for Musicians was born and nurtured. How many artist have been involved and just how the bridge to each other keeps on making global connections. We go through the process and rewards, the ins and outs and mostly the community that is constantly growing. Equality is something that has a definition but seems to be constantly overlooked in many scenes and environments and I am proud to be spreading the love of this festival and the important work that Jen & Sara are constantly finding time to keep the momentum moving forward. This conversation is detailed from start to finish and hopefully it wakens a bit of the ‘how can I help’ energy within others. I am so excited to get that streaming link and watch the soul changing event work its way through me. You can find out more about tixx here.
