The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) The NCTA is the nation’s oldest multicultural arts presenting organization. For over eight decades, through festivals, tours, symposia, exhibits, and media productions, the NCTA has showcased the very best of the myriad grassroots folk, tribal and ethnic cultures that comprise our diverse nation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2025
SILVER SPRING, MD – The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is thrilled to announce it is among seven organizations to receive the 2025 National Meredith Willson Award from The Music Man Foundation. The NCTA will receive $330,000 in general operating support over two years to strengthen operational sustainability and further its mission of promoting America’s rich, living multicultural heritage through dynamic programs that build community and create cultural understanding.
“We would like to thank The Music Man Foundation for recognizing the impact and importance of NCTA festivals,” said Blaine Waide, executive director of the NCTA. “The NCTA is dedicated to celebrating the artistic traditions of all Americans as consequential forces for social engagement, cultural understanding, and economic revitalization. This generous support from The Music Man Foundation will help us continue to successfully carry out our mission in the years to come.”
“As an artist legacy foundation honoring Meredith Willson, the Foundation is proud to amplify the work of the National Council for the Traditional Arts with a National Meredith Willson Award. We admire NCTA’s long history of sharing folk and traditional arts with people across the country and we have witnessed firsthand the power that the organization’s National Folk Festival has to unite and rebuild communities across the country,” said Sarah Lyding, executive director of The Music Man Foundation.
This investment reflects The Music Man Foundation’s recognition of the NCTA’s ability to act as a catalyst of community building through cities across America, and demonstrate how direct engagement with traditional music is a key underpinning of individual well-being and healthy communities. NCTA festivals represent a proven strategy for centering music as a sustainable community practice, and deliver lasting social, cultural, and economic benefits.
The Music Man Foundation, founded in 1998, is named after the Tony Award-winning musical written by Meredith Willson. Today, the Foundation donates 100% of profits from licensing royalties to organizations using music to catalyze enduring change.
