Duke Fund to Give $13-Million for Jazz

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in New York, has announced a new $13-million, five-year grants program to strengthen the position of jazz on the music scene.

The grants will help artists finance the creation and performance of their work, and use television, radio, and the Internet to build new audiences for the art form.

The $1.4-billion foundation was established in 1996 by the estate of Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress.

Foundation officials said they decided to create the program in part because they believe that jazz has received too little money from foundations in the past. In addition, they said they were inspired by Miss Duke’s lifelong love of jazz.

In announcing the new program, the foundation said that it had already awarded $6.7-million in grants to five groups. Among them: $3-million to the Nonprofit Facilities Fund of New York City to establish JazzNet, a national network of 12 regional jazz presenters.

For more information, contact Olga Garay, Program Director for the Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 650 Fifth Avenue, 19th Floor, New York 10019; (212) 974-7109.