Jazz Fest Foundation working to secure future of institution

The Detroit International Jazz Festival Foundation is charged with the task of raising operating funds in order to preserve the endowment it was started with. It is forming local and national partnerships and, along the way, booking some big names like Herbie Hancock for this year's festival.

Excerpt:

To weave itself deeper into the fabric of the community -- and give potential donors another reason to support the festival beyond the music -- the foundation has begun creating education partnerships with groups as varied as Wayne State University, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Arts League of Michigan and the Juilliard School in New York. The festival, for example, helped fund Wayne State's summer jazz camp, which culminated two weeks ago with performances by high school students one afternoon at Campus Martius.

"These are the kinds of things that strengthen us as an organization," said [executive director Terri]  Pontremoli. "It shows we are really getting down to what makes the art form work, develop audiences and help the city."

Read the entire article here.

Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.