New BJA Grant Recipients

What do Rachel Winder, Ed Hrybyk, and Irene Jalenti have in common? Well besides being great Baltimore musicians, they are also BJA members, and new recipients of BJA member grants! Each of them brought a proposal to the board for consideration, and based on multiple criteria including need, value (to the requestor and to the BJA and the jazz community at large), and feasibility, we were excited to announce award grants to each of these projects.

• Rachel Winder – BJA is thrilled to support the creation of vocalist/saxophonist/flautist Rachel Winder’s debut CD “Vignettes”, a genre-mixing album of jazz, classical, R&B, and soul that is sure to appeal to multiple audiences and bring some attention to this rising star.

• Edward Hrybyk – Ed’s “Baltimore Pop-up Jazz Jam” offers City residents an unexpected, socially-distant, live music experience in public outdoor spaces throughout Baltimore City, a brilliant solution to the restrictions inhibiting jam sessions as they existed before COVID. BJA is glad to be able to help to pay the core band for these sessions and make them not only fun but also economically feasible.

• Irene Jalenti – Another debut CD from a great Baltimore talent, “Dawn” features songs of self-love, forgiveness, impossible love, resolution, and more.

More information about our member grant program can be found on our member grants page – if you are an active BJA member with an idea for a project of any kind (not only recording or performance, but teaching, writing, painting, or whatever you feel is your way of contributing to the Baltimore jazz scene), we want to hear about it!