Guelph - For the second consecutive year, the Guelph Jazz Festival - started by a University of Guelph professor - has been shortlisted for the 2009 Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. The awards, administered by the Ontario Arts Council, will be announced June 23.

The festival was started in 1994 by U of G English professor Ajay Heble, who has served as artistic director since its inception.

“It’s very exciting that the Guelph Jazz Festival’s unique artistic vision continues to be recognized,” said executive director Derek Andrews.

The winning arts organization will be awarded $50,000, and finalists receive $2,000. Others finalists in the arts organization category are Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, the Harbourfront Centre, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto Artscape Inc. and VTape.

“This year’s finalists for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts showcase the enormous impact artists have on our province’s economy and our quality of life,” said Aileen Carroll, culture minister. “Our artists help us exchange ideas, images, stories and experiences that are uniquely Canadian.”

Over the years, the Guelph Jazz Festival has evolved into a world-class venue for jazz performance and education. It has been hailed as “one of the most visionary” musical events in Canada by the Globe and Mail and received the prestigious Lieutenant-Governor's Award for the Arts.

U of G's schools of Fine Art and Music, Languages and Literatures, and English and Theatre Studies, as well as the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, the Central Student Association and various other U of G departments, are among the festival's sponsors.