Chamber Music America announces 2013 New Jazz Works grants

Michael Blake of World Time Zone
Photo by Andrea Boccalini

Hurray for nonprofits that support jazz! Like Chamber Music America. Founded in 1977 by 34 musicians, CMA has included jazz musicians and presenters among its grantees since 2000. Current jazz programs support composition, performance, and career development.

CMA today announced $208,500 in awards to nine jazz ensembles through its New Jazz Works program, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. From the press release:

The 2013 grantees are: World Time Zone, a saxophone trio led by Michael Blake; the Sheldon Brown Group, a Bay Area-based quartet; the Robin Verheyen NY Quartet; the Ben Kono Group, a quintet led by Kono on woodwinds; Manuel Valera and New Cuban Express; pianist Andy Milne’s hip-hop and rock-influenced Dapp Theory ensemble; the Alan Ferber Nonet, led by trombonist Alan Ferber; the Jacob Garchik Trio, joined in its commission by the Caravel String Trio; and Sicilian Defense, a quintet led by the trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson.

Earlier this year, CMA awarded an additional $116,8975 through its Presenting Jazz Program to concert presenters that engage U.S.-based jazz ensembles. From the press release:

The 2013 Presenting Jazz Grantees are: The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, presenting the Claudia Quintet;Carnegie Hall, presenting the Vijay Iyer trio; The Flushing Council for the Arts and Culture, presenting Jason Kao Hwang and Edge+4; the Jazz Bakery, presenting the Dafnis Prieto Sextet; Outpost Productions, presenting the Mary Halvorson Quintet; Outsound Presents, presenting Kyle Bruckmann’s Wrack; Roulette Intermedium, presenting the Joel Harrison Group; the Rubin Museum of Art, presenting the Samuel Torres Group; San Jose Jazz, featuring the Vijay Iyer Trio; Stanford Live, presenting William Parker’s Special Edition; and the Walker Art Center, presenting the Craig Taborn Trio.

Each Presenting Jazz grantee also received $5,000 to support general operating expenses related to their jazz programming. Presenting Jazz is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which likes jazz a lot. Earlier this year, the foundation named the 2013 Class of Doris Duke Artists, and 7 of the 20 winners are jazz musicians and composers: Anthony Braxton, Billy Childs, Amir Elsaffar, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Miya Masaoka, Myra Melford, and William Parker. Each received an unrestricted, multi-year cash grant of $225,000, plus as much as $25,000 more in targeted support for audience development and $25,000 beyond that for personal reserves or creative exploration during (as the Foundation puts it) "what are commonly retirement years for most Americans." When do jazz musicians retire? Let's ask Wayne Shorter or Sonny Rollins.