The Lesher Center and Diablo Regional Arts Association are thrilled to present 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient Miguel Zenón on April 11, 2025. This prestigious award recognizes his exceptional artistry and influence in jazz.
About the award:
The Doris Duke Foundation believes that the most effective illustration of the power of the performing arts to positively impact our society is found in the vital work of artists themselves.
The Doris Duke Artist Award was established in 2012 to unlock the power of creativity and to shape our society for the better, recognizing artists for their established record of achievement within the disciplines of contemporary dance, jazz and theater. The award and associated programming are designed to create conditions in which artists can thrive. In addition to providing a cash prize of $525,000 in unrestricted funds and an incentive of up to $25,000 to save for retirement, the foundation also gives the Award winners support including professional development, financial planning and management services, enhanced networking and performance opportunities.
About Miguel Zenón:
Miguel Zenón (New York, NY), a 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient, is a jazz artist who represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists and composers of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between jazz and his many musical influences. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has built a distinguished career as a leader and has released 16 albums under his own name. In addition, he has honed his artistic identity by collaborating with both established jazz masters and the music’s younger innovators, irrespective of style and genre. Zenón has toured or recorded with artists including the SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden and Doris Duke Artists Fred Hersch and Danilo Perez. He has given hundreds of lectures and master classes worldwide and serves as a faculty member in the music and theater arts department at MIT. In 2011, Zenón founded Caravana Cultural, a program that presents free-of-charge jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico.
Buy Tickets to Miguel Zenón (April 11, 2025)
Learn more about the Doris Duke Artist Awards