1998 Monterey Jazz Festival Presented By MCI WorldCom: The Tradition Continues for 14th Consecutive Year.

MONTEREY, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1998-- New Two-Year Agreement Ties MCI WorldCom to Musical Event Through 1999

MCI WorldCom Continues Financial Support of

Festival's Jazz Education Fund

For its 14th consecutive year, MCI WorldCom is jazzed to return to the Monterey Peninsula as the host of the Monterey Jazz Festival Presented By MCI WorldCom (Sept. 18-20).

In April of this year, MCI WorldCom announced a historic two-year agreement with the Festival, the longest-running jazz festival in the world, that ties the company to the musical event through 1999.

As has become the tradition at Monterey, the 41st annual edition of the Monterey Jazz Festival Presented By MCI WorldCom offers its international audience an unparalleled variety of the traditional, contemporary and emerging styles of the genre -- performed by critically acclaimed professional artists and California's finest high school jazz musicians and vocalists.

While this eclectic blend of performances ensures an incredibly diverse weekend of entertainment to audiences at each of the festival's six stages, it also allows the Monterey Jazz Festival Presented By MCI WorldCom to play an important role in the preservation and popular growth of this uniquely American art form.

"At its heart, the Monterey Jazz Festival is an organization of volunteers dedicated to sharing their appreciation of this special music with students in and around Monterey County and across California and the West," said Bob Hartnett, president, MCI WorldCom Business Sales and Service.

"At MCI WorldCom, we believe that jazz is an important part of our cultural heritage, and that the arts are an important part of every student's education. We appreciate the Festival's commitment to providing a portion of that education and are proud to support their efforts."

Since becoming the Monterey Jazz Festival's title sponsor 14 years ago, MCI WorldCom, through its MCI WorldCom Foundation, has contributed a total of $420,000 to the Festival's Jazz Education Fund. The Jazz Education Fund underwrites jazz music education programs for middle school and high school students throughout Monterey County.

The program provides instruments, sheet music, curricula, lectures, workshops and a year-round clinicians program with professional musicians teaching students how to play jazz, and supports international tours by student musicians.

The MCI WorldCom Foundation is committed to enhancing and improving the education of adults, children and families by providing cutting-edge technology -- in classrooms, libraries, museums and in communities across the country -- to prepare individuals with the necessary skills for success in the 21st century.

In conjunction with the sponsorship this year, MCI WorldCom will again be demonstrating its long distance phone service at calling booths located on the Festival grounds.

MCI WorldCom is a global telecommunications company with revenue of more than $30 billion and established operations in more than 65 countries encompassing the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. MCI WorldCom is a premier provider of facilities-based and fully integrated local, long distance, international and Internet services.

MCI WorldCom's global networks, including its state-of-the-art pan-European network and transoceanic cable systems, provide end-to-end high-capacity connectivity to more than 35,000 buildings worldwide. For more information on MCI WorldCom, visit the World Wide Web at http://www.mciworldcom.com or http://www.wcom.com.