NATCHEZ — Mayor Darryl Grennell announced a new tourism partnership with a group of New Orleans musicians Sunday at the Natchez Grand Hotel.

Grennell and musician Damon J. Batiste announced the Partnership for Enhancing International Tourism for the City of Natchez, a partnership formed to draw attention to the Mississippi River’s oldest town.

“Natchez is very rich in history,” Grennell said. “We cover the spectrum. Great things are going to continue to happen here.”

Batiste founded the New Orleans & South African Connection, NOSACONN, which fosters education through international cultural exchanges.

Through the partnership, Batiste said he hopes to spread the unique history and culture of Natchez during his trips abroad in order to foster more tourism for the area.

The NOSACONN website details a similar music and cultural partnership Batiste helped create between the Crescent City and South Africa, a country he has visited more than 74 times since 1998.

NOSACONN also sponsors after-school programs and summer camps that introduce New Orleans musicians to students.

“A lot of great New Orleans jazz artists started out on the Mississippi River,” Batiste said. “We want to explain to kids that music is a gateway to entertainment and economic development.”

Batiste said he would begin to implement similar programs in Natchez as a part of the partnership.

David Batiste, Damon’s father and vocalist for David Batiste and The Gladiators, leads many of these after-school programs and said learning music is a gateway to strengthening reading comprehension in students.

“We believe in education first,” David Batiste said. “If you help a child read, they become a whole different child. You can save hundreds of kids through music.”

After making the partnership official, Grennell surprised David Batiste with a key to the city.

“We are happy to engage in this project for the city of Natchez,” Grennell said. “Natchez is very rich in history.”