M³ co-founders Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa, along with our Board Members and Luminary Award Committee, invite you to join us on November 6, 2026, at 6:30pm for the M³ Luminary Award Ceremony & Cohort 8 Film Premieres in New York, as we honor the visionary contributions of this year’s M³ Luminary Awardee, Jessica Jones.
6:30pm Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres
7:00pm Kavita Shah introduces World premiere screenings of M³ Cohort 8 films
7:40pm Tributes to Jessica Jones: Angelica Sanchez & Ingrid Laubrock solos
8:00pm M³ Luminary Award Ceremony + $5,000 award to Jessica Jones
8:15pm Jen Shyu & Sara Serpa speak | Kavita Shah hosts M³ Raffle
8:30pm Closing Remarks & Farewell
We look forward to celebrating our 6th year with our vibrant community of artists, musicians, and supporters. The evening hosted by Kavita Shah will feature inspiring performances by Angelica Sanchez & Ingrid Laubrock and world premiere film screenings of M³ Fall Equinox 2025 Cohort 8 (Bahar Badiei, Bunga Dessri, Kim Clarke, Miranda Ingram Agnew, Mobéy Lola Irizarry, Mona Miari, Wen-Ting Wu, Zahra Glenda Baker).
Help us reach our $35,000 goal for our future M³ cohorts and artists!
Interested in joining our Luminary Award Committee? Email us at m3 (at) m3musicians (dot) org.
Early Bird Tix on sale only ’til 9/25
Move fast and guarantee your General Admission seat at $66 instead of $100!
2026 M³ Luminary Awardee: Jessica Jones
Originally from Berkeley, California saxophonist Jones’ main vehicle has been her eponymous Quartet, led with long time collaborator husband Tony, featuring their original music. As a sideperson, she has worked with Joseph Jarman, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry and several Caribbean bands. She composed an opera, is a Jerome Hill Fellow and has received grants from JazzRoad and the NEA. Jones is an innovative jazz educator, working with children on oral tradition-based improvisation and composition, for Jazz at Lincoln Center and others, and teaches at Bard College. She founded and co-directs REVA, Inc, a creative arts non-profit focusing on healing communities.
We’ll present 4 World Premieres of films by M³ Fall Equinox 2025 Cohort 8
Experience the original works from our Cohort 8 in the world premiere of their duo compositions commissioned by M³:
•Water by Kim Clarke + Miranda Ingram Agnew
•Whispers of the Earth by Zahra Glenda Baker +
Bahar Badiei
• LAND by Mona Miari + Wen-Ting Wu
• Guasábara Wira by Mobéy Lola Irizarry +
Bunga Dessri Nur Ghaliyah
Meet the M³ Luminary Award Performers & Host
(Piano tribute to Jessica Jones) Angelica Sanchez is a composer, pianist, and educator. Described as an artist who “seeks out the lyrical heartbeat within any avant-garde storm.” Her recordings Nighttime Creatures, Sparkle Beings, and How to Turn the Moon have been recognized among the year’s best by DownBeat, The New York Times, and NPR. Sanchez is Associate Professor of Music at Bard College and a faculty member of the Bard Prison Initiative.
(Saxophone tribute to Jessica Jones) Ingrid Laubrock is an acclaimed experimental saxophonist and composer whose boundary-pushing work spans jazz, contemporary classical, and improvised music. A 2026 Guggenheim Fellow and 2025 German Jazz Prize recipient, she has collaborated with leading artists worldwide, earned international recognition for her visionary compositions, and serves on the faculty of Columbia University and The New School.
(Host) Kavita Shah is an award-winning vocalist, composer, researcher, and polyglot praised by NPR for her “amazing dexterity for musical languages.” Her original music blends jazz, new music, and global folk traditions, and she has performed and recorded with Kenny Barron, Billy Childs, Sheila Jordan, Lionel Loueke, Martial Solal, and Miguel Zenon. She is the founder of Folkalist Records.
Special thanks to the Mellon Foundation, Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Nancy & Joe Walker, mediaThe foundation, New Music USA, Patrina Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Arts Engagement, Cheswatyr Foundation, Copland Fund, CRS (Center for Remembering and Sharing), Brooklyn Music School, Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, Christopher Pelham & Yasuko Kasaki, our M³ Board Members Sumi Tonooka (Chair), Jennifer Kessler, Moy Eng, Emil Kang, and all of our individual donors and supporters.