2016 Doris Duke Artists Include Four NEC Musicians
NEC Jazz Alumni and Faculty among Final Group of Doris Duke Artist Awards Recipients
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) announced yesterday the recipients of the fifth annual Doris Duke Artist Awards. Appointed in recognition of their creative vitality and ongoing contributions to the fields of dance, jazz, and theater, awardees will each receive $275,000 in flexible, multi-year funding as well as financial and legal counseling, professional development activities and peer-to-peer learning opportunities provided by Creative Capital, DDCF’s primary partner in the awards. With the 2016 class, DDCF will have awarded approximately $27.7 million to 101 noteworthy artists through the Doris Duke Artist Awards.
Among the recipients are four NEC jazz musicians: faculty member and pianist Jason Moran; alumnus and former faculty member, pianist Fred Hersch ‘77 B.M.; and two other alums: trumpeter Dave Douglas ’83 and saxophonist Matana Roberts ’03 M.M. Roberts received a Doris Duke Impact Award in 2013.
“I was extremely pleased to hear that four members of the NEC family were chosen to receive Doris Duke Artist Awards,” said Ken Schaphorst, chair of NEC’s Jazz Studies department. “I can’t think of four more deserving musicians.”
Many of the artists took to Twitter after learning of their awards.
From Dave Douglas @davedouglas (retweeting @ddpaa):
"Touched by the company! Thank you @ddpaa Will continue to make music as part of a community of musicians."
From Jason Moran @morethan88:
"And this!!!!!! Thank you @ddpaa Doris Duke Performing Arts Awards for this tremendous honor. I reflect the village."
From Matana Roberts @matanaroberts (retweeting @vijayiyer):
"thank you, still in shock"
This will be the final group of Doris Duke Artists to receive these awards under the umbrella of the foundation’s Doris Duke Performing Artists Initiative, a larger $50 million allocation by DDCF above its existing funding to the performing arts. However, having witnessed the tremendous value of the program over the past five years, DDCF is pleased to announce plans to extend the life of the Doris Duke Artist Awards by incorporating the program into its annual grant-making budget at a more sustainable scale for the long term. In the future, the foundation will continue to yearly give Doris Duke Artist Awards to three artists.