ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL Wednesday MAY 1

We are accepting applications for the We Will Dance Again Music Artists Fellowship. Our cohort of Jewish musicians from Israel and the Diaspora will create music and perform at a music festival. 'We Will Dance Again:  עֵ֥ת לִסְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת לִרְקֽוֹד - a time for weeping and a time for dancing,' being held on Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah 5785 -- the one year anniversary of the October 7th massacre. 

About the Fellowship

  • Objective: Each artist will make a track that captures this moment -- in personal stories, processing grief, hoping for eternal peace.  For example, a song about Am Yisrael Chai, Hatikvah, and eternal peace. The album will be professionally mixed and mastered in advance of the festival.

  • Format: Before the festival -- 

  • A. Songwriters retreat in the summer, Date TBD. 

  • B. Artists will meet together twice a month on zoom to support each other as they progress through their creative journey. Additionally, in these sessions, artists will learn from leaders in Israel and the Diaspora. Sessions to be 90 minutes long.

  • Culmination: At the festival -- on Shmini Atzeret we will create a container for the public to grieve; on Simchat Torah we will hold the Torah, join hands, and sing 'Am Yisrael Chai!' Then following the holiday, when we can use electricity, the artists will perform their tracks. More information about the festival in the links below.

  • Fellowship Offerings: Fellows will be part of our growing network of 600 artists, upon attending the songwriting retreat fellows will receive a $1500 stipend, a percentage of ticket sales and additional funding up to $1,500 to professionally record a song on the "We Will Dance Again" album. 

Eligibility:

  • Demographics: Jewish music artists of any age and from any religious background and any country, though preference will be given to Israeli and American artists. Solo artists or groups. 

  • Genre: All music genres welcome -- Pop, Rap, Folk, A Capella etc..

Commitment:

  • Time: Artists retreat; Bi-monthly zooms; Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah (October 23-27 2024)

  • Project: Create a track; perform at the We Will Dance Again festival  

A closing note -- Raising Money for Victims and Survivors:

A percentage of the ticket revenue will go to the Tribes of Nova Foundation. For the victims of the NOVA festival, their very last day was lived  fully – singing, dancing, and being together. In knowing that there were victims of Oct 7th for whom this was not the case, nevertheless, we believe that creating the We Will Dance Again is a means to perpetuate this memory. NOVA was an annual gathering celebrating friendship and joy, we would like We Will Dance Again to be just that. To that end, we are partnering with Tribes of NOVA and Beginning to Live Again to raise $1 million for survivors and victim families.

To read more about this fellowship, click here 

To learn more about The Amen Institute, click here

This program is generously funded by: Moishe House, Dorot, Atra, and The Amen Institute