Celebrating Toronto's outstanding breakthrough jazz artists
Deadline: Nominations for the Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award will open in September 2025.
Access the Full Eligibility Guidelines HERE
About: The Toronto Arts Foundation Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award is a $10,000 cash prize with finalists receiving $2,000 each. The award celebrates either an outstanding Toronto-based jazz* artist with two to seven years of experience in the field, or an artist who previously devoted their career to supporting other artists and are now able to focus on their own solo work. The intention of this award is to further the career of a breakthrough jazz artist. Examples of how this award could support career advancement include, but are not limited to professional development, projects, or marketing/promotion.
Established in 2014 as the Emerging Jazz Artist Award, it was renamed the Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award in 2024 and the age restriction was eliminated in recognition that many artists embark on their jazz career at various points in their life. The Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award is presented every year at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival. The recipient and finalist prizes are generously supported by Michael Bourgeois and Marilyn Legge. The award was previously supported for 10 years by Cheryl and Manuel Buchwald.
*Recognizing that “jazz” includes many different styles and artistic interpretations, this award is open to nominations for individuals who perform jazz and jazz-influenced music.
Note: Preference will be given to artists who are in the process of creating or promoting original repertoire, rather than those who perform standard material or established works in the jazz idiom.
“As a creative person you have a lot of dreams of things you would like to do, and finances often stop them. I often dream and dream big. An award like this makes those dreams possible.” – Larnell Lewis, 2017 Emerging Jazz Artist Award Recipient
Eligibility Criteria:
Individuals:
Nominees for the Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award:
- must be an artist in the early stages of their professional career (two to seven years of experience) who has produced a small body of work and achieved some local recognition and/or has limited public exhibition experience. OR: Nominees who have more experience as an artist in the jazz idiom who have not had the opportunity to pursue their own individual/solo interests.
- Nominees for the Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award will be asked to explain how this award will further their career at the time of nomination
- must have completed training (not necessarily at a formal educational institution) in their discipline.
- must have contributed to arts and culture in Toronto and have demonstrated an ongoing association with Toronto.
- may self-nominate. However, it is strongly recommended that the nominee is nominated by a nominator. Ideally the nominee and the nominator will work together to submit a nomination.
- Undergraduate and College students pursuing degrees in music are not eligible. If the nominee has already completed basic training in jazz, but is pursuing other academic interests, they are eligible.
- are not eligible to nominate or receive Toronto Arts Foundation awards while serving as executive board member or staff of Toronto Arts Foundation or Toronto Arts Council
With the exception of the Newcomer Artist Award, no person may be selected for more than one Toronto Arts Foundation award within any given year and no person may receive the same Toronto Arts Foundation award twice. This does not preclude a recipient from being considered for a different Toronto Arts Foundation award in the future.
The award recipient must complete their proposed project within 2 years of the award date, and appropriately acknowledge the support of the Toronto Arts Foundation. The recipient will also be required to provide feedback on how the award and project has impacted their career.
Full Eligibility Guidelines for the 2025 Award (PDF)
How to Apply: To nominate yourself (self-nominations are accepted for this award) or an individual for the Emerging Jazz Artist Award you must,
- Visit the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal https://tac.smartsimple.ca/welcome/taf/
- Register an account on the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal or sign in to your existing account
- Submit the nomination online, complete with supporting material
Notes:
Along with the name of the individual you are nominating, the nomination form will also ask for a biography, a nomination rationale, and accompanying support material in the form of visual, audio or text-based attachments.
Nominators can save their application at any time before submission by clicking ‘Save Draft’. Nominators can log-in and out of the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal asmany times as needed before clicking ‘Submit’.
* Please ensure you are on/ register through the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal and not Toronto Arts Council’s TAC Grants Online.
Curious about the info/questions you'll be asked when filling out the nomination? Check out this handy guide.
Selection Procedure: An award panel of up to 10 assessors selected by the Award Manager will review nominations and recommend a shortlist and a recipient for final approval by Toronto Arts Foundation’s Board of Directors. Participants in each panel include practitioners of the arts, organizers, programmers, producers, curators, critics, commentators and lay specialists. Panelists must have recognized expertise, credibility, and experience along with a sense of history and perspective.
This award is presented in recognition of a body of creative accomplishment, rather than for specific works or achievements. In addition to specific requirements for each award, deliberations will be guided by the following assessment criteria: artistic strength and achievement; strength of the candidate’s artistic goals and objectives; contribution to the development of arts and culture in Toronto; and the candidate’s overall public impact including public engagement and animation.
For question about the awards and eligibility please contact:
Liz Tsui, Coordinator, Program Outreach
liz@torontoarts.org
416-392-6802 x225
PAST RECIPIENTS
Go to our Recipients page to view bios of past Emerging Jazz Artist Award recipients, dating back to 2014.
2024: Dánae Olano
2023: Kae Murphy
2022: Andrew Marzotto
2021: Joanna Majoko
2020: Jesse Ryan
2019: Mark Godfrey
2018: Rebecca Hennessy
2017: Larnell Lewis
2016: Amanda Tosoff
2015: Justin Gray
2014: Chelsea McBride