FELLOWSHIPS
**Applications closed until 2025**
We promised at our founding to hold a few things as core values: to lower barriers of entry, to amplify marginalized communities, and to lift as we climb. It’s been the guiding light of our education, the driving force behind our programs, and the impetus to our fellowship programs: The FEMME HOUSE Foundation Fellowship for BIPOC Creators and the Theresa Velasquez Memorial Fellowship for LGBTQIA+ Creators.
Visual representation is one of the first signals human beings synthesize as affirmation that they can do or be something. It’s also one of the driving forces behind every FEMME HOUSE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative. These fellowships even the playing field for creators from underrepresented and marginalized communities by amplifying their voices, and ensuring they have all the tools and resources to reach their highest heights.
What Is a Fellowship?
Our fellowship programs were created to provide equitable access to the resources and skills necessary to start a music career. Our fellows receive one on one music training, personalized mentorship, lifetime platform support, financial assistance, gear, and more throughout their fellowship year, as well as in-person opportunities at major music events like Miami Music Week.
Each year, we choose six (6) fellows, three (3) for each fellowship [three BIPOC creators + three LGBTQIA+ creators]. We encourage all skill levels to apply.
Each fellowship program is six (6) months long. Each fellow receives one (1) hour per week of 1:1 instruction via Zoom for the duration of their fellowship, scheduled in accordance with their schedule and that of their educator. Professional development and networking opportunities are available during the fellowship and beyond; these are scheduled based on fellow demand and availability.
The application is meant to assess your passion, not our opinion of your "worthiness" to make music. Our goal with the fellowship program is to lower barriers of entry for historically marginalized and overlooked groups. To that end, there are no wrong answers.
Fellowship FAQ
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BIPOC is an acronym for Black + Indigenous People of Color.
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LGBTQIA+ is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual.
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We offer two main fellowships:
The FEMME HOUSE Foundation Fellowship for BIPOC Creators
Theresa Velasquez Memorial Fellowship for LGBTQIA+ Creators
Miami Music Week:
In March 2024, we created a fellowship just for Miami Music Week, where a small group of Artist Fellows with burgeoning careers had the opportunity to network directly with established industry leaders, pitch their projects, and build relationships to take their artist profession to the next level.
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Theresa Velasquez was a barrier breaking, LGBTQ woman in music. Her undeniable talent for music helped lift people’s spirits, and her DJ sets brought joy and light to everyone’s hearts. She had the unique ability to pick up any instrument and make it sing. At only 36, she had risen through the ranks from DJing festivals to becoming an executive at Live Nation, working tirelessly to make the music industry more inclusive for queer artists, and being named on Billboard’s ‘2020 Pride List of Industry-Shaping LGBTQ Executives.’ In honor of Theresa’s memory we proudly launch the Theresa Velasquez Memorial Fellowship, designed to empower and inspire the next generation of queer creatives continuing Theresa’s legacy of passion, and ensuring that it lives on forever.
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SPRING/SUMMER 2024
MARCH 18 - Applications open
APRIL 15 - Applications close
MAY 10 - Final round fellows notified
MAY 24 - Selected fellows notified
JUNE 3 - Program begins
DECEMBER 2 - Program ends
Meet the Fellows
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LALIN ST. JUSTE
She/Her/They/Them
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC Fellow“I started to make music as a child. By the time I was in middle school I had started playing piano by ear and also had an acoustic guitar. I started to write songs throughout high school and college. As an adult I started a band called The Seshen and have been making music with them for years. I've started to produce my own music and have released two EPs - behind my eyes and Vertulie. I write across genres using guitar, synths, and voice.”
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LILICAY
She/Her
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC Fellow“The beginning was thanks to Femme House She Is The Producer, the first course in 2022. Something that I was so discouraged by turned into a growing passion thanks to mini bear's patience and way of explaining things. Since then I have joined SITP II and III as well and now I am practicing producing almost every day, trying to find a work flow and style that I identify with. I am still struggling with finishing tracks, but the ideas I am now able to work on, feel more like what I hear in my head then before.”
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CHARMY
She/Her
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC Fellow“As a kid I’ve always listened to music and hearing all the little sounds in the background and found it very fascinating. At the time I was already a musician and playing instruments. I've always had an affinity for music and I love writing new melodies on the piano, but I've never thought about pursuing music seriously. Once I fully dove into music, I started thinking about pursuing it seriously. Music is my one true love and that has always been a constant.”
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CELESTIAL DREAMERS
She/Her
Theresa Velasquez Memorial LGBTQIA+ Fellow“A few years ago, already having been a DJ duo for a while - we started coming up with track ideas in conversation, with lyric ideas, and what the music could sound like. We would listen to tracks others made and could have a discussion about what the track could be or what we would do if we remixed it.”
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YELRIHS
She/Her
Theresa Velasquez Memorial LGBTQIA+ Fellow
YELRIHS (Shirley backwards) is a dynamic DJ and producer who seamlessly fuses house music with disco and techno. Her signature style blends driving progressive basslines with dynamic vocal tracks, captivating audiences internationally. YELRIHS passionately advocates for gender equity within the electronic music industry. As a DJ instructor at NVMA Studio, she promotes inclusivity in a safe learning environment. She actively mentors emerging artists from diverse backgrounds and connects them with more performance opportunities to support their DJ journeys. -
Eva Gonzalez
They/Them
Theresa Velasquez Memorial LGBTQIA+ Fellow“My parents bought a standup piano in the early 90’s, but I wasn’t allowed to play it. One of my earliest memories was standing behind the glass door separating the piano room from the rest of the house. I would stand there, wishing I could play and that my parents would let me. With enough begging, they signed me up for piano lessons. But literally one of my first memories was of wanting to make music!”
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GEEXELLA
They/Them
Theresa Velasquez Memorial LGBTQIA+ FellowGeeXella is a Black Latinx , Non-binary and Queer multidisciplinary artist. They are currently located in Muscogee Creek Land also known as Atlanta, GA. They see their work as an extension of cultural organizing for the liberation of Black and marginalized people. They founded Duval Folx in 2018 , a dance party that was a direct response to Jacksonville at the time being a focal point for Black, Trans and GNC violence. They are dedicated and committed to using arts & culture to bring awareness to the intersecting difficulties that Queer/Trans and BIPOC communities face in the South.
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SEVYN
She/They
Theresa Velasquez Memorial LGBTQIA+ FellowSevyn is a Washington DC-born, LA based DJ, who uses music intentionally to heal. Sevyn draws inspiration from the energy of deep house, techno, and drum & bass, with an underbelly of R&B and soulful vocal tracks to make you move. Their monthly show “FLUID” on dublab Radio is a space where dance holds the utmost importance.
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neni
She/Her
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC Fellowneni is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Fairfield, CA. Her music can be characterized as acoustic guitar-based R&B with Jazz and Soul influences that blend her profound and sensitive voice into a melodic dreamscape.
Singing, neni’s first love, led to writing poems, picking up piano and guitar, buying her first loop pedal, and later learning how to record and produce music in college. Of her music, neni says, “I hope that my music will inspire listeners to be honest, raw, and vulnerable with their own creations, that their stories are worth telling, and that we are all creators.” She is currently working on recording and producing her debut EP.
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HAI-LIFE
She/Her
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC Fellow
Miami Music Week Artist FellowHAI-LIFE is a marketing/brand strategist by day, and DJ and music producer by night. As a Brooklyn-based artist, she is driven by her love for dance music, and her signature sound embraces groovy and energetic House and Disco tunes that get any dance floor going. You can catch her spinning at some of Brooklyn’s most popular venues, notably Elsewhere and Jupiter Disco, and the upcoming Countdown NYE festival in LA.
She is also a cofounder of Floor It - a dance party that connects New York’s existing club scene with the new wave of upcoming artists that are shaping its future. She and her co-founders pride themselves in inviting a diverse array of electronic acts and creating an inclusive dance floor that welcomes all.
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JETMFBLACK
She/Her
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC FellowJETMFBLACK is a singer, songwriter, rapper and producer from Los Angeles, CA. She taught herself to sing at a young age, wrote poems and songs to develop her voice throughout high school, and interned at a recording studio in college to learn engineering and producing. Her production style is characterized by chaotic, abstract drum patterns and heavy hitting bass. Her vocal musings range from soft and seductive to gritty and full of rage, commanding her listeners ears on all sides. She has performed extensively throughout LA and is currently there working on her self-produced punk EP, Trigger Warning, aimed to release in Spring 2022.
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SUPERKNOVA
She/Her
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC FellowEllie Kim, aka SuperKnova, is an NYC-based transgender musician who creates Queer Pop, a unique sound that incorporates electronic drums, driving synths, and virtuosic guitar solos. She writes about identity, queerness and the struggle to be your authentic self.
A talented multi-instrumentalist, she produces and records all of her own music and builds many of her songs live on-stage through looping and live instruments.
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LOGAN FRANCES
She/They
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC FellowLogan is a Brooklyn-based designer, writer, and DJ/producer under the alias SHEBA. They began djing in 2017 in their college dorm bedroom, and from there have performed at local NYC spots, to opening shows for concerts. Production started with the ennui of the pandemic, but was also a long-standing desire for them that they finally gained the time and space to begin.
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ALIMA LEE
They/Them
FEMME HOUSE Foundation BIPOC FellowAlima Lee is a transdisciplinary artist from New York City and is currently based between LA & NYC. Their work explores themes of identity and intersectionality. They are a recent Frieze LA x Ghetto Film School Fellow and Co-Host of a monthly radio show, "Rave Reparations" on NTS. Working in an uninhibited range of mediums from video installation and performance, to printmaking and sculpture, Alima is on an ever-constant freefall from structure. Their video work is currently on view at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery Los Angeles and has been presented at the Tate Modern, MOCA, Smithsonian African American Museum, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, and ICA Boston among other global entities.
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JOANNA MAGIK
She/Her
Miami Music Week Artist FellowJoanna Magik, with the two-tone hair and athletic energy, is a DJ and producer with releases on influential house music labels and performances at iconic North American clubs and festivals including Shambhala Music Festival. Her music has been featured on Spotify’s Dance Rising, Bangers and Operator and featured on Diplo’s Revolution and Insomniac Radio. She’s an ambassador for LP Giobbi’s and Hermixalot’s ‘Femme House’ working to raise awareness of under-represented genders in dance music through DJ workshops. Joanna Magik’s background as a professional athlete and sports announcer (including the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games) explains her big energy and advocacy for health and movement. She’s a 2023 winner of the Pete Tong x Apple Music DJ Mix series and named 2023 for ‘Future of Dance’ by 1001TrackLists.
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CTRLZORA
They/Them
Miami Music Week Artist FellowCTRLZORA is a music curator, black femme event and artist collective co-founder, DJ, musician, and dance music activist from Chicago. They aim to contribute to keeping the electronica dance scene alive and soulful through house, techno, world music, and more. Paying homage to the history and liberation of music within communities of color across genres is their central focus, alongside perpetuating the tradition of house music in its originator, Chicago, and black and queer culture. They've spearheaded activism efforts to preserve historical venues of Chicago like The Post and The Warehouse, pushing to keep the integrity and history of the music's roots alive.
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Senaerya
She/Her
Miami Music Week Artist FellowSenaerya is an electronic music producer and DJ who keeps the energy high on the dance floor while tapping into the emotional side of dance music through her selections. As a producer, she blends organic and electronic sounds with different elements of genres like house, drum and bass, and breakbeat. Her DJ mixes take audiences on a musical journey through these genres.
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Chloe Battelle
She/Her
Miami Music Week Artist FellowNew York partygoers might catch Chloe Battelle behind the decks sharing her vision at Manhattan and Brooklyn's most acclaimed dance floors. A Bay Area native, Chloe later moved to the east coast to catalyze her DJ and production career. Chloe's commitment to learning from the city's diverse musical culture is evident in her craft, paying homage to her personal inspirations (Moby, Fatboy Slim, and Tinlicker) while offering tribute to the local underground scene. In post-pandemic NYC, Chloe began her journey playing with Deeproot Tribe and other local collectives. Building up to multiple shows a week, she has earned a name in the local scene and has opened for some of the biggest names in dance. Beyond DJing, Chloe has worked to promote inclusivity and representation in the industry through installations of all-women lineups at local clubs with collectives "Support Women DJs" and "Only Femmes".