BAN BAM Commission & Development Award 2025

Improvised Music Company (IMC) are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the BAN BAM Commission & Development Award 2025. This is the third edition of a commissioning and career development opportunity open to Irish-born or resident female and gender minority composers in Ireland making work in jazz or improvised music.

Improvised Music Company’s BAN BAM initiative began in 2017 through research and a one-day festival to address a visible gender imbalance in the Irish jazz scene.

In 2020, IMC and Moving On Music came together to launch a BAN BAM commission and development opportunity for female and gender-minority artists across the island of Ireland. The selected composers - Úna Monaghan, Sue Rynhart, & C.V. Lunny – wrote new works which, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, were developed in late 2021 into site-specific audio-visual projects.

2023 saw the next round of BAN BAM commissions, with Carole Nelson, Meilana Gilard and Bianca Gannon selected for the award. Their new works premiered in Dublin in January 2024, with further performances in Belfast, Manchester Jazz Festival, and upcoming at London Jazz Festival.

For 2025, two composers will be selected to create new work, with guaranteed performances in Dublin and Belfast during 2025. 

The deadline to apply for this opportunity is Monday 25th November 2024.

For full deatils, and to make an applications, please go to https://www.improvisedmusic.ie/whats-happening/news/applications-open-for-ban-bam-commission-development-award