BNP Paribas celebrates jazz music

One of the rare companies to act as a patron to jazz musicians, BNP Paribas is delighted to be joining forces with the 2011 North Sea Jazz Festival, which will be held from 8 to 10 July in Rotterdam. Created 35 years ago, it is now one of the largest jazz festivals in the world. As well as backing the event, BNP Paribas, with the help of its Foundation, will be supporting the North Sea Jazz for Kids program and the Paul Acket Award, initiatives that aim to open up music to children and to encourage developing artists.



Assisting the careers of jazz musicians and helping them to develop their projects by providing support for recording, promotion and broadcast of their concerts, is one of the main aims of the BNP Paribas Foundation. For 16 years now, it has strived to give these musicians a higher profile and to broaden their audience, by developing exchanges with the Bank's networks in France and abroad. Many musicians have already benefited from its support. This loyal commitment can also be seen in the support the Foundation has been giving to the prestigious Martial Solal Piano-Jazz Competition since 2006 and in the partnerships forged in France with the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Jazz Festival and the Jazz à L'Etage festival in Rennes.

Lastly, as with the North Sea Jazz Festival, the BNP Paribas Foundation is supporting the commitment of BICIS, a BNP Paribas subsidiary in Senegal, by giving additional aid to the development of the Saint-Louis Jazz festival. The BMCI, a BNP Paribas subsidiary in Morocco, and its Foundation are sponsors of Morocco's TanJazz festival.