World-renowned trumpeter, composer and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis dazzled and inspired his audience with a moving lecture mixed with performance titled The Ballad of the American Arts.

On March 30, 2009, the 22nd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy was presented to a capacity crowd at the Kennedy Center on the eve of Americans for the Arts' Advocacy Day. Marsalis’s lecture addressed the essential value of culture in the recalibration of American identity. After two standing ovations Marsalis wrapped up the evening with a lively performance with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Chris Crenshaw, trombone; Victor Goines, saxophone; Carlos Henriquez, bass; Ali Jackson, drums; and Dan Nimmer, piano). 

You can get updates about other programs like the Nancy Hanks Lecture that promote the value of the arts by joining the Arts Action Fund. Membership is free and provides you with timely information as well as access to tools to make your voice part of this powerful movement in support of arts and arts education.