Relevance and need for Manifesto Jamaica initiative affirmed by participants and music industry

Non-profit educational organisation Manifesto Jamaica has released a new mixtape featuring graduates of its inaugural Music Mentorship Programme.

The programme is an intensive course for aspiring music industry professionals designed to teach, through practical experience, the fundamentals of conceptualising, recording and releasing a body of recorded work. It introduces participants to music theory and songwriting principles, playing techniques and music business basics.

NEXT GENERATION OF JAMAICAN MUSICIANS

Character and entrepreneurial development are also core elements of the programme. Manifesto Jamaica is a non-profit, educational organisation that leverages arts and culture to help young people become the best version of themselves imaginable. The organisation aims to develop the next generation of Jamaican musicians.

The pilot programme launched in 2019 with an open audition attended by 60 young people, some as young as 12 years of age, vying for a place in the programme. A cohort of 20 writers, vocalists, producers and instrumentalists were ultimately selected to spend 10 weeks under the tutelage of Nyron Creary, teaching artist in residence, and music industry professionals including Lila Iké, Tandra ‘Lytes’ Jhagroo, Jeremy Ashbourne and Naomi Cowan, among others, at the legendary Tuff Gong Studios.