ART FARMER JAZZ SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Since 1999, the Art Farmer Jazz Scholarship Fund has provided merit-based financial assistance awards to promising young students of jazz.
Named for the legendary master musician, the scholarship fund was established by Dmitri Matheny and the Friends of Matheny Music upon Farmer's passing.
From 1999 to 2009, the fund generated annual scholarships for students of the Young Musicians Program of the University of California, Berkeley. Notable recipients include saxophonist and composer Hitomi Oba and trumpeter Sean Erick. The Dmitri Matheny Group matched donations to the fund with proceeds from benefit concerts staged during Matheny's annual Bay Area Home Season.
Since January 2010 the scholarship fund has been managed by the 501(c)(3) organization Jazz in AZ, reflecting a shift of focus to youth in the Phoenix, Arizona area "where Art and his brother Addison grew up," Matheny explains.
Art Farmer, “the bebop master who defined the sound of the flugelhorn in modern jazz” [All Music Guide], was Matheny’s public champion and private mentor during the final ten years of his life. Generously sharing his wisdom, experience and influence, Farmer encouraged Matheny to concentrate on the flugelhorn exclusively, and under Farmer’s tutelage Matheny emerged as a promising new voice in jazz. “Art Farmer’s role in the early success of Dmitri Matheny cannot be overstated,” observed writer and historian Phil Elwood in 1998. “Without Art, there would be no Dmitri.”
Donations to the Art Farmer Jazz Scholarship Fund are accepted in any amount and are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. Please make checks payable to "Jazz in Arizona, Inc." adding the notation "Farmer Fund" in the memo line. Mail to Art Farmer Jazz Scholarship Fund, Jazz in AZ, PO Box 2913, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-9651.
Thank you.