The Bob Dylan Center (BDC) and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) have revealed the inaugural Bob Dylan Center Songwriter Fellowship. The fellowship will be awarded annually to two songwriters.
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Along with a $40,000 project stipend, songwriter awardees will also receive presentation opportunities, roundtrip airfare and accommodations in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They’ll also get recording time at Leon Russell’s Church Studio in the city, access to the Bob Dylan Archive, mentorship from Universal songwriters and executives, and more.
Each fellowship will be awarded by BDC and UMPG, in addition to an international panel of artists including John Mellencamp, Patty Griffin, Nas, French singer and songwriter Juliette Armanet, and Mexican singer/songwriter Carla Morrison.
“The Bob Dylan Center Songwriter Fellowship is core to our mission of educating, motivating and inspiring visitors to engage their own capacity as creators, and we cannot wait to hear the entries from undiscovered talent around the world,” said Steven Jenkins, BDC director, in a statement. “We are grateful to continue our partnership with UMPG—the world’s leading music publisher is already such a great supporter of the BDC—and we know that this panel of extraordinary songwriters will select deserving Fellows for our inaugural year.”
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Added Marc Cimino, COO of UMPF: “This is an unprecedented opportunity to connect developing talent with the works of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Beyond access to meaningful mentorship and special resources, the archives at the Bob Dylan Center are indescribable and I can only imagine how much creative inspiration they will draw. With the support of the fantastic BDC team and panel of world-class artists, we look forward to developing a new group of songwriters in this unique environment.”
Songwriters must be at least 18 and unsigned and can apply through October 18. The fellowship is set to run from May 1, 2024, through April 2025.
Fellowship awardees will also have access to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, a museum and archive center that opened in May 2022 and features 100,000 pieces, including Dylan’s personal notebooks and correspondences, handwritten manuscripts, and instruments, along with unreleased studio and concert recordings, films, videos, artwork, photographs, and more.
Songwriters interested in the fellowship can apply HERE.
Photo: Fred Tanneau/AFP/GettyImages
