G.M. Pulls Out of Jazz Festival
The New York Times
My Alerts: NY Times Jazz
December 19, 2008 1:43 AM
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Arts: G.M. Pulls Out of Jazz Festival
By BEN SISARIO; Compiled by Dave Itzkoff
General Motors will withdraw as the lead sponsor of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world, because of the crisis in the auto industry. G.M. has contributed about 10 percent of the festival’s $25 million annual budget but will not renew its current five-year sponsorship contract, which expires after the 30th-anniversary season next summer, said Alain Simard, president of the festival’s parent company, L’Équipe Spectra. “We have a year and a half to find a new lead sponsor,” Mr. Simard said. “It’s not easy in these times, but in 30 years we have never been without a sponsor.” With more than 500 concerts, about two-thirds of them free, the festival regularly attracts more than a million visitors to the city. The lineup for next summer includes Buddy Guy, Chucho Valdés, Madeleine Peyroux, Patricia Barber, Dave Holland and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
