American Prairie Reserve is proud to announce that Wynton
Marsalis has been named the recipient of the 2020 Ken Burns American Heritage
Prize. The award will be presented May 6, 2020, at the American Museum of
Natural History in New York City. The evening's festivities will include
remarks by Ken Burns, Wynton Marsalis, Rosanne Cash, Board Chair George E.
Matelich, and American Prairie Reserve CEO Alison Fox.
Named in honor of America's most revered visual historian
and filmmaker, the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize recognizes individuals
whose achievements have advanced our collective understanding of America's
heritage and the indomitable American spirit of our people. Nominees for the
annual Prize consist of visionary artists, authors, educators, filmmakers,
historians, and scientists. The candidates are chosen by a National Jury of
distinguished leaders who represent communities across the country and share a
common appreciation of America's heritage.
"It's a privilege to lend my name to a prize honoring
individuals whose accomplishments reinforce the nation's understanding of all
that is possible. And as one who has been irrevocably changed by the majesty of
the American West, I am inspired by American Prairie Reserve's historic mission
to return a vast swath of Montana to the spectacular natural beauty first
enjoyed by Native Americans and later by Lewis and Clark. The Prize we will
present together to Wynton acknowledges the historic role that the Great Plains
played in helping to shape America's character. It's that same character,
courage, and fortitude that Wynton's tremendous work elucidates. This
indomitable American spirit is alive and well today, in Wynton and in the men
and women in many arenas whose work reminds us that our lives serve a greater
purpose." – Ken Burns
Wynton Marsalis is the Managing and Artistic Director of
Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC), which he helped found. Marsalis grew up in a
musical household in New Orleans and studied classical trumpet at The Julliard
School in New York City, and pursued his love of jazz by joining Art Blakey's
band. Aside from overseeing Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis continues to
perform, compose, and participate in educational workshops. Marsalis created
the companion soundtrack recording to Ken Burns's documentary Unforgivable
Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson and appeared in Burns's Jazz and
Country Music documentaries. In addition to his musical talent, Marsalis has
written six books.
"The momentum of folly leads us to embrace an
intellectual and spiritual corrosion that confuses commerce with cultivation,
remuneration with regeneration, and money with meaning. I love the term
"rewilding" because it is at once innovation and conservation.
American Prairie Reserve's rewilding of our nation's landscape reintroduces us
to our natural instincts. Ken Burns's rewilding of our collective memory
illuminates the hidden corners of our humanity. Jazz is a music that rewilds
the soul with every listen. I am deeply appreciative to receive this prize from
an institution I respect, bearing the name of a genius I admire and on behalf
of a music that defines us at our best," said Mr. Marsalis upon being
notified of his selection as the 2020 Prize recipient.
American Prairie Reserve, which created the
Prize, is a modern-day embodiment of America's optimistic and boundless
approach to accomplishing the unprecedented — in this case, by creating the
largest nature reserve in the continental United States, located on the Great
Plains of northeastern Montana.
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