Kansas City, MO—Kansas City Jazz A.L.I.V.E. is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $10,000. This grant will support Spotlight: Charlie Parker, an annual Kansas City-wide celebration of the life and music of Kansas City’s native son, Charlie “Bird” Parker, held in August. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants.

“Projects like Kansas City Jazz Alive’s Spotlight: Charlie Parker celebration exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and the National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring people across the country benefit.”

Christopher Burnett, President of the KC Jazz ALIVE board of directors, said, “Charlie Parker changed the field of jazz music forever, rhythmically and harmonically. Jazz musicians today look to Bird’s skill and innovation as a moment whose ripples continue to influence what they do on stage every time. Jazz ALIVE’s founders recognized the importance of Bird back in 2013 when they started the August celebration in Kansas City, and we continue to celebrate today in the city where Bird was born and raised. We look forward to honoring his memory, and our gratitude goes out to the National Endowment for the Arts and to our newest partner in 2024, the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, for supporting this unique festival, by KC and for KC.”