5 things to know about Tomorrow’s Warriors

For three and a half decades and counting, Tomorrow’s Warriors have helped aspiring young artists from diverse backgrounds to discover their magic, achieve their creative ambitions and even, in a number of cases, find huge musical success of their own.

For almost half of that lifespan they’ve cultivated their community mentoring ethos of ‘each one teach one’ here at the Southbank Centre, eventually becoming one of our Resident Organisations.

So, let’s take a closer look at this nationally and internationally recognised collective and some of the artists who’ve been a part of their community.

They’ve been making (sound)waves for 35 years

Tomorrow’s Warriors began back in 1991, cofounded by Gary Crosby and Janine Irons who still guide the organisation today as Chief Executive and Artistic Director respectively. Irons had studied classical piano and sung in a funk band as a teenager, while Crosby’s musical career had seen him progress from the trumpet to the bass and become a founding member of Jazz Warriors, a London-based all Black collective of jazz musicians that also boasted the talents of Courtney Pine, Steve Williamson and Orphy Robinson.

A combination of his time with Jazz Warriors and his experience of looking after apprentices in his early career as an electrical engineer, encouraged Crosby to establish a platform to help nurture the next generation of young musical talent. It began with jam sessions at the Jazz Cafe and when some of the musicians from these sessions ‘graduated’ to become part of Crosby’s Nu Troop ensemble, other aspiring talents took their place and the graduates became their mentors. It worked so well the project became formalised, and Tomorrow’s Warriors was born.

They’ve an impressive list of alumni

Since its inception 35 years ago, Tomorrow’s Warriors has supported more than 15,000 young musicians through its young artist development programme. Their list of alumni is a veritable who’s who of London’s buzzing contemporary jazz scene, including Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, Cassie Kinoshi, Ezra Collective (who all met at the Warriors), Shabaka, Cherise Adams-Burnett, Soweto Kinch, Sultan Stevenson and so many more. All of whom honed their musical craft with the Warriors before going on to tread stages across the country and beyond.

And have earned a huge number of awards

That’s no exaggeration. As of 2025, Tomorrow’s Warriors, its directors Crosby and Irons, and its artists had garnered more than 60 awards, and that’s not including the many more won by former Warriors once they’d left the programme, such as EZRA Collective’s Mercury Prize and MOBO Awards, or Nubya Garcia’s Jazz FM and Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

Among the remarkable list – we don’t have the space to detail them all here – are a Parliamentary Jazz Award for jazz education, a Jazz FM Impact Award, a Worldwide Award for Community. Plus OBEs for Crosby and Irons for their services to music, and the music industry respectively, and a Queen’s Medal for Music for Crosby.

Their support for musicians doesn’t end with Tomorrow’s Warriors

Saying that Tomorrow’s Warriors go beyond Tomorrow’s Warriors might not make grammatical sense, but it is a fitting description of the lengths they continue to go to support young musical talent; gradually establishing their own expanded universe. It began in 1996 when Irons and Crosby established their own artist management company and record label, Dune, in order to, as Irons explained, ‘give young Black jazz artists the opportunity of getting the same breaks as their white counterparts’. Something they achieved more, putting out releases by a number of Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni including J-Life, Denys Baptiste and Soweto Kinch, as well as signing other jazz artists such as Abram Wilson.

And in 2008 the Tomorrow’s Warriors empire expanded further still with the creation of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Jazz Orchestra. Initially set up to enable Warriors’ protégé, pianist and composer Peter Edwards, a means to perform Duke Eliington’s The Queen’s Suite, it proved such a hit, among musicians and audiences that it became a permanent ensemble under the name of Nu Civilisation Orchestra, with Edwards as musical director.

But despite this success, their mission remains the same

‘We believe in a world where opportunities for participation, ownership and leadership in music and the arts are available to all, regardless of background,’ states the Tomorrow’s Warriors website; something they’ve undoubtedly done a huge amount to facilitate since those Jazz Cafe sessions back in 1991. Offering a genuine pathway into music for aspiring jazz talents, Tomorrow’s Warriors – now a Southbank Centre Resident Organisation – continues to support 11 – 25 years olds, with ‘particular focus on Black musicians, female musicians and those whose financial or other circumstances might lock them out of opportunities to pursue a career in the music industry.’ Without them, the next big thing might never have made it.