Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³), is a visionary and non-hierarchical mentorship initiative created by musicians JenShyu and Sara Serpa. Their 2nd annual in-person M³ Festival will feature 21 bandleaders across three-days – September 21-23, 2023 at Roulette.

Day 1 (Sept 21): 

1. Fay Victor with Rebekah Heller DUO Fay Victor (voice) & Rebekah Heller (bassoon)
2. Francesca Tanksley with Newman Taylor Baker – Piano/Percussion Duo: Francesca Tanksley (piano) & Newman Taylor Baker (percussion)
3. Duo Maratín: Ria Modak + Ángela Varo Ria Modak (guitar, voice) & Birsa Chatterjee (saxophone, voice)
4. BarTog + Cecilia Lopez Barbara Togander (turntables, voice) & Cecilia Lopez (synthesizer)
5. Milena Casado Milena Casado (trumpet) & Morgan Guerin (Synths, ewi)
6. Layale Chaker Layale Chaker (violin, voice), Phillip Golub (piano, microtonal keyboard) & Adriano Vincentino (drums)

See Day 2 schedule.

See Day 3 schedule.

M³ Festival 2023 co-presented with Roulette is supported by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, mediaThe foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing), and New Music USA’s Organization Fund in 2023-24.

M³ began as a labor of love and research between its co-founders, vocalist-composers Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa, who are also active composers, teachers, and performers. When the Covid-19 lockdown began in NYC in March of 2020, Shyu and Serpa began conversations about elevating women and non-binary musicians, particularly women and non-binary musicians of color, in their global music community. Based on their own experiences of limited access to female and non-binary mentors as they began their careers – the majority of their mentors being older male musicians – they combined concepts of mutual mentorship and group support to create a model that addresses the gaps and imbalances in the music industry. The project was born out of the need for greater community, opportunity, and support among women and nonbinary composers in creative music. M³ proposes a new paradigm of mentorship and collaboration guided by a deep sense of fair treatment of all M³’s cohort members, collaborators and team members, striving for just distribution of compensation, visibility and opportunities.

In just a few years, Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³) has commissioned over a very wide range of women, non-binary, and mostly BIPOC musicians to create numerous new duo music/video compositions across five cohort cycles, each lasting 6-10 months.

In the relentless pursuit of balance and diversity, this lineup of composer-performers was thoughtfully curated to embody innovation across genres. The M³ Festival serves as a testament to the power of inclusivity, demonstrating that when intentions focus on fostering a diverse and inclusive community of musicians and creators, it unlocks a world of boundless possibilities.