GRAMMY®-nominated Recording Artist Jidenna Performs at SoundExchange's Summer Music Celebration

"This event celebrates all music creators, current and future. We are pleased to support The Duke Ellington School of the Arts and honored that Jidenna, who is deeply committed to education and the arts, helped us support the next generation of music genius," SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe said.

This year SoundExchange partnered with Jidenna, a GRAMMY®-nominated artist who blends music from multiple genres to form his own unique sound. Jidenna's double-platinum Billboard Hot 100 song "Classic Man" was featured in the 2016 Academy Award winning film Moonlight.

Before launching his music career, Jidenna worked as a teacher in the New York public school system, and then continued as an advocate in his work with former First Lady Michelle Obama on her higher education initiatives.

Students with Duke Ellington School of the Arts' Radical Elite Band performed at a reception prior to the event. All sponsorship funds from the Summer Music Celebration will benefit the Ellington Fund, a 501(c)(3) created to support the arts programming of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, which has offered an arts curriculum for public school students in the District for more than 40 years and boasts many famous graduates.

"We are thrilled to be selected for the second year in a row as the beneficiary of the SoundExchange Summer Music Celebration," said Ari Fitzgerald, president of The Ellington Fund. "Our partnership with SoundExchange has provided tremendous exposure for our students and helped us to continue providing them with a high-quality arts education. As we return to our newly renovated, state-of-the-art school building, we must be prepared to provide the best teachers, art supplies, instruments and enrichment opportunities available for our talented, hard-working and deserving students. The funds raised at this event will help ensure that these students, many of whom reside east of the Anacostia River, receive the education and support they need to become flourishing, productive and well-trained artists. The Ellington Fund and Duke Ellington School of the Arts are grateful to SoundExchange for hosting this event and to the many businesses that have joined with them as sponsors."

A bipartisan honorary Congressional host committee supported SoundExchange's efforts to put on the Summer Music Celebration.

Sponsors of the event included: ACG Advocacy, Acumen Solutions, Billboard, City National Bank, Comcast NBCUniversal, Jenner & Block, KPMG, National Music Publishers' Association, RIAA, Sodexo Magic, SAG-AFTRA, T-Mobile, The Meltzer Group, ten mile SQUARE and Wells Fargo.

About SoundExchange
SoundExchange works at the center of digital music, developing business solutions to benefit the entire music industry. The organization collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of more than 130,000 recording artists and master rights owners accounts and administers direct agreements on behalf of rights owners and licensees. To date, SoundExchange has paid out more than $4.5 billion in royalties. In May 2017, SXWorks, a subsidiary of SoundExchange, acquired the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA). CMRRA represents music publishers and administers the majority of songs recorded, sold and broadcast in Canada. For more information, visit www.SoundExchange.com or www.facebook.com/soundexchange or www.cmrra.ca  

SOURCE SoundExchange

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