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Talent Development

Serious is committed to providing talent development opportunities that enable young and emerging artists to reach their full potential. We have devised and developed a suite of initiatives for emerging creative composer-performers, which enable selected artists to take time out to develop their music, build their careers and get their music out into the world.

Seriously Talented draws together Serious’ talent development programmes which, for over a decade, have supported a wide range of artists working in jazz, improvised and related music's with our most prominent being Take Five, our nationwide programme for emerging jazz musicians.

Serious is grateful to the organisations and individuals who support Seriously Talented, without whom these programmes would not be possible. To find out more about supporting Seriously Talented artists and our charity Serious Trust, click here.

Take Five

Take Five is an annual talent development programme for emerging jazz and improvising musicians/composers produced by Serious, and funded by the PRS Foundation, Help Musicians, Arts Council England, and Serious Trust.

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Celebrate 20 Years of Take Five

This year we're marking 20 years of our pioneering talent development programme, Take Five, with an almighty headline show, along with an exciting line-up of current Take Five artists and alumni!

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Equaliser Mentorship Programme

Discover our brand new Equaliser Mentorship Programme presented by Serious and Black Lives in Music (BLiM) in partnership with the Barbican Centre and Royal Albert Hall. The programme is a pioneering opportunity designed to develop the talents of the next generation of live sound professionals from global majority backgrounds.

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Serious Alumni

Over the year's we've had a suite of talent development programmes, taking artists from a crucial place in their early careers, offering practical advice and guidance on how to develop their craft, build their careers and get their music out into the world.

Discover our Alumni