The Music Performance Fund not only addresses the needs of our local communities but also takes pride in supporting our national treasures: the veterans, the forgotten jazz greats, ethnic diversity. We celebrate the achievements and look with awe and gratitude at the sacrifices and triumphs of our heroes and icons and continue to support the ongoing efforts of national programs bringing our diverse cultures together under one canopy of song. Here you will find samples of some of the National Programs that received MPF support through our National Reserve Fund.

Jazz Foundation of America

Jazz Foundation of America

Founded in 1989, the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) is the first and, so far, only organization of its kind devoted to assisting jazz artists undergoing crisis. Irregular employment and lack of health benefits have been a common experience for jazz musicians - even those with illustrious careers. Hence the mission of the JFA: to provide crucial assistance to jazz artists in need, and to promote a wider interest in jazz, the uniquely American art form. JFA with support from the Music Performance Fund has been a vital force in assisting hundreds of musicians and their families.

National Veterans Creative Arts Festival

National Veterans Creative Arts Festival

MPF is proud to provide the orchestra for the annual National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, presented annually by the Veterans Administration. The Festival showcases and honors the unique, creative talents of our nation's hospitalized veterans. Regional competitions begin early in the year and end with more than 200 finalists participating in the Festival exhibiting their talents in both the performing and visual arts. The Festival is held in October of each year in a different city across America. As with all programs in which MPF participates, the public is admitted free to the both the stage performance and the crafts exhibit.

Festival of American Folklife

Festival of American Folklife
(Washington, D.C.)

For 33 years the Music Performance Fund has supported the Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- the largest annual cultural event in the U.S. capital - held on the National Mall. The Festival includes daily and evening programs of music, song, dance, celebratory performance, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling, illustrations of workers' culture, and narrative sessions for discussing cultural issues from around the world. The programs encourage visitors to participate-to learn, sing, dance, eat traditional foods, and converse with people from the diverse cultures presented in the Festival program. One of the few remaining FREE events in Washington that attracts more than one million visitors.

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History announced the Jazz Appreciation Month initiative at a press conference in July 2001 with the help of noted producer-musician Quincy Jones and Branford Marsalis, officially making April JAM month. Since its inception, the MPF together with the American Federation of Musicians annually sponsor over 250 FREE, LIVE, JAZZ performances in schools, libraries, community centers and other venues throughout the United States and Canada during the month of April. To assist teachers, librarians, and others educators and performers in celebrating JAM, the Smithsonian has published a brochure How to Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month as well as promotional materials, all free to sponsors of JAM programs.

The Kennedy Center Program: Millennium Stage

The Kennedy Center Program: Millennium Stage
San Antonio, TX

Performances on the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC feature an eclectic series of musical events, ranging from the National Symphony Orchestra performing classical music to a program of traditional and modern music of indigenous people of Alaska and everything in between. MPF has been supporting programs at the Kennedy Center for more than ten years.

National Public Radio's Performance Today

"It was through the support of the MPF that National Public Radio was able, for the first time in 20 years, to share with the nation live recorded performances of the New York Philharmonic," said Benjamin Roe, Senior Producer of Music and Social Projects for NPR's Performance Today series. Due in part to MPF participation the 217 member NPR stations have reached 1.6 million listeners with broadcasts of various symphonies throughout the country.