Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) representative Catharine Collins AND MPP Liz Sandals announced Nov. 26 that a $134,800 grant is being awarded to the partnership between the Guelph Jazz Festival and the Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice (ICASP) project.
The three-year grant will allow the partnership to provide ongoing community outreach activities that include the Improviser-in-Residence program, to enhance their Nuit Blanche programming, and strengthen their overall capacity by hiring staff.
Ajay Heble, Artistic Director of the Guelph Jazz Festival, said, “A commitment to diversity, collaboration, and rootedness in the community have long been hallmarks of the Guelph Jazz Festival, and with the generous support of this recent Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, we’re excited to have the opportunity to enlarge on these commitments as well as on the success of our existing outreach initiatives.
“Through partnerships with a range of community-based organizations, we will use the funds we’ve received from OTF to develop innovative strategies to put improvising musicians in direct, meaningful, and sustained contact with the broader communities in which they live and work.”
Sandals said, “I am pleased that this Ontario Trillium Foundation funding will support our outstanding Guelph Jazz Festival in expanding their programming, especially the Nuit Blanche event which was introduced so successfully this past year.”
Over its 16 year history, the Guelph Jazz Festival has sought to celebrate performance practices that challenge and expand understanding of the music’s defined limits. The Guelph Jazz Festival is committed to providing opportunities for all people to be excited by and engaged in improvisational jazz and experimental music.
