At 83, George Wein hoped the future of his Newport folk and jazz festivals would have been set. But the founder of the annual Newport events and the New York jazz festival has been working harder then ever to keep the events alive.
Yesterday at a New York press conference, Wein announced that he’d received a lifeline from CareFusion, a planned spinoff of Cardinal Health’s clinical and medical products businesses. The company outlined an expansive sponsorship deal for what will be called the CareFusion Jazz Festival Series; the kickoff event will be George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55 at Fort Adams State Park in Newport. The company will also help Wein revive the New York jazz festival next June, and it will sponsor jazz fests in Chicago, Monterey, Calif., Paris and Australia.
“This is a great boost for jazz,” Wein told the Herald by phone before the press conference. “JazzTimes magazine is going under. No one can find sponsors for festivals. The arts are in trouble. And then CareFusion walked in the door. It’s more than a light at the end of the tunnel. We are out of the tunnel.”
In 2008, Wein sold rights to his festival business to Festival Network, which lost its right to the annual Fort Adams State Park events when it failed to pay outstanding bills. With the festivals in limbo, Wein stepped out of retirement to keep the institutions alive.
Yesterday at a New York press conference, Wein announced that he’d received a lifeline from CareFusion, a planned spinoff of Cardinal Health’s clinical and medical products businesses. The company outlined an expansive sponsorship deal for what will be called the CareFusion Jazz Festival Series; the kickoff event will be George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55 at Fort Adams State Park in Newport. The company will also help Wein revive the New York jazz festival next June, and it will sponsor jazz fests in Chicago, Monterey, Calif., Paris and Australia.
“This is a great boost for jazz,” Wein told the Herald by phone before the press conference. “JazzTimes magazine is going under. No one can find sponsors for festivals. The arts are in trouble. And then CareFusion walked in the door. It’s more than a light at the end of the tunnel. We are out of the tunnel.”
In 2008, Wein sold rights to his festival business to Festival Network, which lost its right to the annual Fort Adams State Park events when it failed to pay outstanding bills. With the festivals in limbo, Wein stepped out of retirement to keep the institutions alive.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
