Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival Receives $17,500 NEA Grant

Berklee College of Music has been awarded a $17,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the 2010 Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival. In awarding the prestigious Access to Artistic Excellence grant to Berklee and consortium partner JazzBoston, Inc., the NEA cited the festival as a celebration of Boston's diversity as reflected in the attendees, music, food, and crafts.

The NEA's Access to Artistic Excellence grant was created to encourage, support, and expand access to the arts, and preserve America's cultural heritage. The 10th annual Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival, September 15-25, 2010, will celebrate the music of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, on the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

"Our goal is to throw a party for the city of Boston that would make New Orleans proud," said festival artistic director Terri Lyne Carrington. "Thanks to the NEA's generous support, we are closer to making this happen." 

The ever-growing Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival had its biggest year ever in 2009, featuring 20 bands and 130 musicians on 10 stages, stretching over several days in September. While the ticketed concerts attracted large crowds, the free outdoor festival drew an estimated 80,000—a new festival record—earning accolades from the Boston Phoenix: "Berklee is a bottomless resource for the city's music scene—the BeanTown Fest has to rank as one of its sweetest gifts." For more information, visit the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival website.