On November 17, 2021, we honored the 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellows with our pre-recorded “The Culture of America: A Cross-Country Visit with the National Endowment for the Arts 2021 National Heritage Fellows.” Emmy-Award actor Jimmy Smits hosted...

2022 NEA Jazz Master Stanley Clarke’s bass-playing, showing exceptional skill on both acoustic and electric bass, has made him one of the most influential players in modern jazz history.

Donald Harrison, Jr., 2022 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy recipient, is known for his dedication to preserving the music and culture of New Orleans, which has been crucial to assuring its important legacy survive.

2022 NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart is one of the most sought-after jazz drummers of his generation, able to perform in diverse contexts ranging from straight-ahead to avant-garde to pop.

2022 NEA Jazz Master Cassandra Wilson has used her distinctive voice and fascinating arrangements of standards, in not just jazz, but blues, country, and folk as well, to create a body of work that has expanded the definition of jazz.

A video tribute to Hill Country blues musician and songwriter Cedric Burnside, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to filmmaker, documentarian, and media curator Tom Davenport, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to Rondalla musician Tagumpay Mendoza De Leon, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to Osage ribbon worker Anita Fields, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to Mexican American band Los Lobos, recipients of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to Irish flute player Joanie Madden, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to tap dancer Reginald “Reggio The Hoofer” McLaughlin, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to Mundillo master weaver Nellie Vera, recipient of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

A video tribute to Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble, recipients of a 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

Terri Lyne Carrington has remained a powerhouse drummer in jazz since the 1980s but has also vigorously turned her attention over the last 15 years to empowering the next generation. With outstanding versatility, she excels as a composer, bandleader,...

Phil Schaap’s encyclopedic knowledge of jazz music and history has served him well: outside of hosting jazz programs on Columbia University’s WKCR station in New York since 1970 (a labor of love as he is not paid), he has won six Grammy Awards for hi...

The youngest of the three Heath Brothers, Albert “Tootie” Heath is the consummate jazz drummer, playing with seemingly everyone from John Coltrane to Ethan Iverson and performing on more than 100 recordings. Well-versed in various styles of jazz—incl...

Since the 1960s, Henry Threadgill has been on the leading edge of avant-garde jazz with his original compositions. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2016, one of only three jazz artists to win the prestigious award.

On Friday, September 28, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. ET, the National Endowment for the Arts honored the 2018 NEA National Heritage Fellows at a free concert, featuring music, demonstrations, and conversations with the 2018 Fellows and other special guests.

Born in 1939 and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, William Bell was among a small group of musical artists who signed with a fledgling Memphis record label named Stax Records in the early 1960s, shortly after it was established in a shuttered movie theat...

Onnik Dinkjian is one of the most beloved and influential Armenian singers in America. Four generations have listened to his recordings and have treasured his singing at Armenian concerts, dances, weddings, and church services throughout the United S...

Dr. Zakarya Sao Diouf and Naomi Gedo Diouf are culture bearers and artists from Senegal and Liberia, respectively, who have contributed to the practice and performance of West African dance, drum, and culture in African diasporic communities for more...

Karen Ann Hoffman has been beading peace, beauty, and meaning through her Haudenosaunee Raised Beadwork since the 1990s.

Los Matachines de la Santa Cruz are a ritual dance troupe whose origin can be traced back to a festival on the feast day of the Holy Cross during the Colonial period in Real de Catorce, a mining town in Central Mexico.

Cultural heritage and radio shaped the extraordinary life of Hugo Morales, recipient of the 2020 Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship, for his lifetime of work opening spaces for Latino voices in media.