Jazz Stars Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Stefon Harris To Perform On Final Day of Gift of Fifth Holiday Open Streets

Grammy and Tony Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater and Grammy Award nominees Ambrose Akinmusire and Stefon Harris will perform live as part of the Gift of Fifth Holiday Open Streets closing celebration on Sunday, December 17th at the Doris Duke Foundation Stage located on Fifth Avenue between 55th – 56th Streets, Manhattan.

Each iconic jazz musician will perform two 30-minute sets during the last day of New York City's Open Streets initiative that transforms Fifth Avenue from 48th Street to 59th Street into a vehicle-free holiday wonderland.

Performance Schedule:

·       Ambrose Akinmusire: 1:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

·       Dee Dee Bridgewater: 1:50 p.m. and 4:05 p.m.

·       Stefon Harris: 2:25 p.m. and 4:40 p.m.

The performances are presented by the Doris Duke Foundation in partnership with the Fifth Avenue Association for their Holiday Open Streets Gift of Fifth event. Each of the performers is a recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award, the largest national prize dedicated exclusively to individual performing artists. The Doris Duke Foundation seeks to foster a strong and vibrant arts and culture sector through supporting and promoting art as a public good that everyone should be able to experience and enjoy.

“At Doris Duke Foundation, we believe that when artists thrive, we all thrive — and there's no greater city for artists and the performing arts than New York City,” said Sam Gill, president and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation. “We are excited to partner with the Adams administration, the Fifth Avenue Association, and so many others to ensure that this holiday season our city's most iconic street — Fifth Avenue — is a global beacon of all that makes New York City great, including the performing arts.”

The mission of the Doris Duke Foundation is to build a more creative, equitable, and sustainable future by investing in artists and the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, child well-being, and greater mutual understanding among diverse communities. Visit www.dorisduke.org to learn more.

Established in 2012, the Doris Duke Artist Award is the largest national prize dedicated exclusively to individual performing artists. Each year, the Doris Duke Artist Awards support select performing artists across the fields of contemporary dance, jazz, and theater with unrestricted individual grants. The goal of the award is to propel leading performing artists and to demonstrate the creative possibilities that emerge when artists themselves are able to define—and provide for—what they need to thrive. The 2024 Doris Duke Artist Awards will be announced in February.  

Grammy-nominated Jazz composer and acclaimed trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has paradoxically situated himself in both the center and the periphery of jazz, most recently emerging in classical and hip hop circles. During his 15-year career, he has performed with the likes of Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Esperanza Spalding, Jason Moran, and is featured on the last track of Kendrick Lamar's 2015 release To Pimp a Butterfly. He has won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. He has received grants and commissions from the Doris Duke Foundation (both the Doris Duke Artist and Doris Duke Impact Awards), the MAP Fund, the Kennedy Center, The Berlin Jazz Festival and the Monterey Jazz. Recognition in the DownBeat Critics Poll has included Jazz Artist of the Year (2011) and winning the trumpet category every year from 2013 to 2020.

Vocalist and jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater is a triple Grammy Winner, Tony Winner, ASCAP Champion, NEA Jazz Master, co-founder of The Woodshed Network—a non-profit partnership with 651 Arts created to mentor, connect, support, and educate women in Jazz—and a producer and record label founder. Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics. She is a Memphis Music Hall of Fame Inductee and a Doris Duke Artist Awardee. As a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bridgewater continues to appeal for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight against world hunger. 

Stefon Harris has earned four Grammy nominations and has been named Best Mallet player eight times by the Jazz Journalist Association. He was chosen Best Vibes by Hot House, Jazz Mobile, Downbeat Magazine Critic's Poll, Jazz Times Expanded Critics Poll, and Jazz Times Critics Poll. He has recorded and performed with many of music's greatest artists, including: Joe Henderson, Wynton Marsalis, Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Dr. Billy Taylor, Max Roach, Cedar Walton, Mulgrew Miller, Benny Golson, Bobby Watson, Chaka Khan, Kurt Elling, Buster Williams, Dianne Reeves, Ry Cooder, Charlie Hunter, Common, and Pablo Zeigler. Harris is a recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award and the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center. He is a Professor at Rutgers University-Newark and served on the jazz faculty of New York University for the past decade. As a thought leader, Mr. Harris leads transformative presentations on corporate leadership development and team empowerment to Fortune 100 companies using jazz as a metaphor.

The Fifth Avenue Association (FAA) is non-profit 501(c)3, that works to ensure Fifth Avenue and 57th Streets are an exceptional experience for everyone who visits. Since 1907, Fifth Avenue has been a leader in matters of civic policy, commerce, and urbanism in the City. Today, the FAA partners with New York City as a Business Improvement District and is dedicated to the promotion of Flagship retail, five-star hotels, gourmet restaurants, and renowned cultural institutions and landmark attractions in the heart of Midtown, between 46th and 61st Streets.