BKCM’s Jazz Leaders Fellowship empowers Black musicians with $12,500 award and support

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BKCM) has named Goussy Célestin and Keyanna “Key” Hutchinson as this year’s Jazz Leaders Fellowship winners. Each artist will receive $12,500, plus rehearsal space and curatorial opportunities to support their musical ambitions.

Founded and funded by former board member Daniel DiPietro, the Jazz Leaders Fellowship program aims to empower Black women and Black nonbinary musicians by providing crucial resources to advance their careers.

“As a board, we strive to create a platform and a process to bring in unique voices that align with BKCM’s mission and to see great artists at differing phases in their career benefit greatly from the award,” said Fay Victor, the chair of the Jazz Leaders Fellowship Committee, in a statement.

BKCM’s executive director shared similar sentiments.

“We’re so proud to welcome these two brilliant, multi-talented musicians to the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s Jazz Leaders Fellowship program. Both artists have demonstrated a serious dedication to their craft and a deep devotion to bringing art into their community spaces – qualities that embody the Conservatory’s mission,” Chad Cooper said in a statement. “It has been thrilling to see the JLF artist community grow and become so integral to BKCM.”

Célestin, a professor at BerkleeNYC, teacher at Bobby McFerrin’s CircleSongs School, and workshop leader for the Metropolitan Opera, is also a Haitian-American pianist, composer, vocalist, dancer, writer and arranger. Her various works have reached both local and national audiences in Cuba, Haiti, England, Wales and Japan.

“I’m honored and grateful to have been selected by BKCM’s panel for this Jazz Leaders Fellowship,” Célestin said in a statement.” I’m excited about the collaborations that will come to fruition through this fellowship reverberating through the community of students, fellow educators, colleagues and performers through this tenure. I’m also thrilled that the award will help to fund my current recording project in progress.”

For Hutchinson, the award feels like a full-circle moment.

“I feel aligned in being a part of this community especially as a Brooklyn native — nearly a decade after graduating the nearby Brooklyn Arts High school (formerly known as BHSA),” she said in a statement. “My then adolescent self embarked on public performance through busking in Atlantic Terminal subway station after school, and now, this moment feels full circle. I have an opportunity to pour wisdom into my community as they have poured into me.”

With influences traced back to her Caribbean lineage and conservatory training, guitarist, composer, and producer Hutchinson has a strong love for music and an incredible musical career. Combining her knowledge of the guitar, composition, and electronic production results in a creative exploration of original works, live performances and musical education — and support for fellow artists in various fields.

As part of the program, fellowship winners develop a public performance in which they are the leaders of an ensemble.