Doris Duke Artist Awards | Sally Ember, Ed.D.

This year’s (2025) Doris Duke Artist Awards honorees are:

Trajal Harrell: “Trajal is an American dancer and choreographer best known for a series entitled Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at The Judson Church. He is considered to be one of the most important choreographers working in contemporary dance today.”
Raja Feather Kelly: “Raja is a Brooklyn-based choreographer known for his surrealist productions. He’s worked on shows like Fairview and A Strange Loop, and he serves as artistic director for The Feath3r Theory and the New Brooklyn Theatre.”
Aya Ogawa: “Aya is an award-winning Brooklyn-based playwright, director, performer and translator. Their work explores cultural identity and the immigrant experience, challenging traditional notions of American aesthetics. They use a collaborative process and incorporate diverse perspectives and languages into their performances.”
Kassa Overall: “Kassa is a Grammy-nominated musician, emcee, singer, producer and drummer who melds avant-garde experimentation with hip-hop production techniques to tilt the nexus of jazz and rap in unmapped directions. He previously released four critically acclaimed projects: I THINK I’M GOOD, Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz, Shades of Flu and Shades of Flu 2.”
Kaneza Schaal: “Kaneza Schaal is a New York City–based artist working in theater, opera and film. Her notable work Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now was The Met’s first live performance as an integral part of a major exhibition.”
Brandee Younger: “Brandee is an American harpist who blends classical, jazz, soul and funk influences into her music. In 2022, she became the first Black woman nominated for a Grammy® Award for Best Instrumental Composition and won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album for Brand New Life.”

What is this award? It is similar but more narrowly focused than my long-time favorite awards, The MacArthur Foundation Genius Grants (awarded annually in October). Read further below:

“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.

“Including the 2024 recipients, the foundation to date has provided 141 artists with just over $40 million through the Doris Duke Artist Award. The unrestricted nature of the award allows artists to use the funds for either personal or professional needs and enjoy the freedom to pursue projects of their choosing.

“Last year, the foundation doubled the amount of the award to signal the power of sustained support for individual performing artists and to celebrate the immense shared benefits to society when artists are invested in as whole people and as creative laborers.”

The 2024 winners were: (L to R) esperanza spalding, Miguel Zenón, Acosia Red Elk, Nataki Garrett, Shamel Pitts, Chay Yew

https://www.dorisduke.org/funding-areas/performing-arts/performing-artists/doris-duke-artist-awards/

Read about all the previous years’ winners here:

https://www.dorisduke.org/grants/what-weve-funded/?1=1&GrantProgramID=1&GrantInitiativeID=31&GrantDate=0&GrantShow=12&GrantSortBy=0&page=1

The first year, 2012, the winners were:

The Foundation skipped the awards in 2022 due to the pandemic, but resumed in 2023.

I am woefully inadequately informed (or interested, really) in who the luminaries and/or rising stars are in Jazz or Dance. I don’t know much about those doing live Theatre any longer, either.
But, many of YOU will be interested in who the winners are/have been and will recognize their names, I’m sure. Go visit the site and check out each year’s honorees!

Read about Doris Duke, an excellent example of how one could utilize inherited wealth by being generous, creative, kind and strategic. Also, find out how her foundation and legacy started this award here: https://www.dorisduke.org/who-we-are/our-founder/