BACKGROUND

The New Quorum (TNQ) Artist Residency represents the fulfillment of a long-held dream for Executive Director and Founder Gianna Chachere, a New Orleans native.

Working for over two decades producing, curating and fundraising in the arts in New York and Los Angeles, Chachere was inspired by New Orleans musicians' resilience after Hurricane Katrina. This led her to establish an artist residency that truly supports artists.

Named after The Quorum, a 1960s New Orleans artist collective, TNQ is a deeply personal project. Chachere’s great-grandfather, Manuel Perez, a renowned New Orleans bandleader and cornet player, was a jazz pioneer. He returned to New Orleans after a stint in Chicago, unable to live without his family and city.

TNQ aims to provide vital support for New Orleans artists through cultural exchange with visiting musicians, enabling them to thrive in their cherished city. Informal residency activities began in January 2013 when Chachere hosted Rebecca Solnit and Rebecca Snedeker, authors of Unfathomable City:  A New Orleans Atlas. Hamid Drake, one of the top percussionists in jazz and experimental music, accepted a residency invitation at TNQ in November 2013. November 2013 also brought Parisian author, music historian, and jazz musician Dan Vernhettes and Toulouse, France jazz band to New Orleans Fiesta for a TNQ residency. Vernhettes is co-author of Jazz Puzzles, Volume 1, which includes a chapter devoted to the life and art of Manuel Perez. TNQ acquired its 501(c)(3) status in June 2015.

TNQ’s monthly public Salon events began in October 2015, and the first full artist residency launched in January 2016 bringing five international artists to New Orleans for a month of direct engagement with our city. Please periodically check the website for ongoing workshops/performances.

The Quorum

Opened in 1963 at 611 Esplanade in the Marigny, the Quorum coffee house was the only integrated locale in New Orleans. A haven for open-minded individuals who supported freedom of speech and free association, the Quorom was a successful model for multicultural exchange amid the politically and racially charged atmosphere of the 1960s.  It quickly became a gathering spot for artists, writers, actors--from the “Free Southern Theater”-- and musicians including country blues singer Babe Stovall and composer Jerry Jeff Walker. As an integrated established, The Quorum was a frequent target of segregationist harassment. In 1964 police raided The Quorum taking 73 people to jail and accusing them of things like "playing guitars out of tune."