NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the non-profit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, announced today that it has reopened applications for the Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund – a statewide relief fund to support Louisiana’s music community who have lost income amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The collapse of the live music industry has affected not only musicians, but thousands of music industry workers and culture bearers who work alongside them. The pandemic has triggered a “domino effect” in the music sector with cancelled music events disrupting income for so many.
The Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund was first created in March 2020 by the Foundation to support Louisiana musicians whose livelihoods had been adversely impacted by COVID-19. During the past year, relief fund grants have been awarded to 2,500 musicians, music industry workers and Black Masking Indians with distributions totaling just more than $1,000,000. An additional $800,000 has since been raised with thanks to community partners and advocates: Spotify; Greater New Orleans Foundation, Inc.; Miller/ Crescent Crown; New Orleans Business Alliance; Bentson Foundation; Give Back 2020 Tulane Fund; Michael Murphy Productions; Goldring Foundation; R.C. Baker Foundation and more than 1,500 donors from across the world.
