The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BKCM) announced its selection of two Brooklyn-born musicians, Goussy Célestin and Keyanna “Key” Hutchinson, as its 2024-25 Jazz Leaders Fellows.
Each will receive a $12,500 unrestricted award for their musical endeavors, in addition to free rehearsal space, performance and curatorial opportunities, according to a news release.
Now in its fourth year, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s Jazz Leaders Fellowship provides resources to Black women and Black non-binary musicians to further develop their craft and pursue projects that advance their careers. Since 2021, two musicians have been selected annually to receive a $12,500 award and access to BKCM rehearsal space.
With the addition of Célestin and Hutchinson, eight musicians have been awarded fellowships since the program’s launch.
Goussy Célestin is a Haitian-American pianist, composer, vocalist, dancer, writer and arranger. For the past two decades, she has performed both locally and nationally, reaching audiences in Cuba, England, Haiti, Wales and Japan.
In New York, she serves as a faculty member and manager for music education programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center and as a professor at BerkleeNYC. She also teaches for Bobby McFerrin’s CircleSongs School and leads music workshops for The Metropolitan Opera.
"I'm honored and grateful to have been selected by BKCM's panel for this Jazz Leaders Fellowship. 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,” said Célestin.
Key Hutchinson is a guitarist, composer and producer from Brooklyn whose influences can be traced to her Caribbean lineage, her love for popular music, her conservatory training, and a musical career supporting performers in the fields of pop, R&B, jazz, and other experimental genres.
As an artist, she channels her knowledge of guitar, composition, and electronic production into a creative exploration of original works, live performance and music education.
“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). 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,” said Hutchinson.
Fellowship winners are responsible for developing one public performance featuring the fellow as a leader in an ensemble, and for collaborating with BKCM’s Community Music School Jazz Program Director to establish a framework for engaging students with the fellow’s artistry.
