the Executive committee
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JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK
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JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK
ADVANCING EDUCATION. PROMOTING PERFORMANCE. DEVELOPING AUDIENCES.
JEN is committed to representing and cultivating diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in all areas of its operation including staff, board members, volunteers, presenters, clinicians, performers and audiences. This commitment is present in all programs and decision making.
José Antonio Díaz, founder and artistic director of Díaz Music Institute (DMI), is a Grammy Nominated Top 10 Finalist for the Music Educator, winner of Berklee College of Music’s John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award and a recipient of the Mayor’s Hispanic Heritage Award. Recently Inducted into Down Beat Magazine’s Jazz Education Hall of Fame, Díaz’s has groups have performed with such Candido, Pete Escovedo, Jon Faddis, Eddie Palmieri, Danilo Perez, Poncho Sánchez, and Arturo Sandoval to name just a few.
Jose is also co-author of Middle School Music Expressions™ (Alfred Music Publication) and composed the music forFreddie the Frog and the Invisible Coquí(Mystic Publishing, Inc.), which was selected as Creative Child’s Magazine’s 2016 book of the year. Currently Diaz is developing a new jazz curriculum entitled “About That Jazz.”
Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin has dedicated her career to performing and developing resources for teaching jazz, gospel/Christian, R&B, rock, country, and pop singing styles in an applied/private voice lesson setting. In addition to releasing her debut album, All Or Nothing, she maintains a busy schedule as a singer in a variety of styles while holding a faculty position at Princeton University as the jazz voice instructor, lecturer, and director of the
Jazz Vocal Collective Ensemble. She serves on the National Faculty in the academic division of Gospel Music Workshop of America, serves as the Executive Director of the African American Jazz Caucus, Inc., serves as a Board of Director for the Jazz Education Network, serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Singing, and is a member of the distinguished American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Dr. Trineice created Soul Ingredients®, a teaching methodology for developing a singer’s musical style/interpretation in African American folk-based music styles (i.e., jazz, gospel, R&B, blues, etc.). This methodology shows students how to take their personal experiences, musical influences and models, and execute the different components in a manner that is personal to the singer/performer’s own personal expression.
Born in Landstuhl, Germany, Davis has proud 300-year-old Louisiana Creole roots in her home of New
Orleans.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Davis and her family relocated to Charlotte, NC, where she became
President/CEO and Co-founder of the 501(c)3 education and presenting organization, JazzArts Charlotte
(JazzArts).
Davis has a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in music and additional graduate work in Urban and Regional
Planning. She is a flutist, arts advocate, and community leader, currently serving on numerous
committees and Boards. These positions include volunteer leadership roles with both Arts NC and the
National Association for Music Educators (NAfME), as well as Jazz Education Network (JEN) where she
serves as current Board President.
Davis has led the development of a thriving jazz audience in Charlotte, NC, cultivating enrichment in the
lives of many and the transformation of the city’s culture through her vision and work at JazzArts, now
recognized as having the region’s “most diverse arts audience” in a recent research study.
Under her leadership, JazzArts now operates with budget of over $1 million annually and serves
thousands of students of all ages and audience members each year through various educational and
performance-based programs and partnerships.
Davis has been recognized with the receipt of numerous awards over the past decade, including the
recent Jazz Journalists Association “Jazz Heroes Award” and the 2022 Charlotte Center City Partners
Vision Award.
Chair of the National Association for Music Education’s Council for Jazz Education, Kauffman is the NAfME Liaison to JEN and serves on the JEN Board of Directors as Secretary and Chair of the Education Committee. In addition, he is currently the Senior Manager of the Performing and Visual Arts Magnet program in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Kauffman has served in various roles as an educator, clinician, adjudicator, guest conductor, performer, promoter, businessman, and elected official for over thirty years. Performance credits as a saxophonist include Aretha Franklin, Louie Bellson, and The Dells. He was the founder of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra, a collegiate honors band whose performance credits include Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Jazz Education Network National Conference in New Orleans. For eight years, he hosted a weekly jazz radio program, “Searching for Birdland” on NPR Affiliate WFWM.
2022 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist and Yamaha Performing ArtistBethany Robinson currently serves as the Director of Jazz at Purdue University (July, 2024) after serving as a Jazz Director in the Noblesville (IN) School District.
In 2011, Bethany received her first Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant, and traveled to New Orleans and New York City, exploring the current trends of jazz in those two cities. She experienced dozens of jazz shows, attended the Band Director Academy at Jazz at Lincoln Center, composed her first piece for big band, and came home to Noblesville High School with a whole new concept of jazz pedagogy at the secondary level. Upon returning from this experience, her jazz program at Noblesville expanded from 1 to 6 high school big bands, and the top band made regular appearances at the ISSMA Indiana Jazz State Finals, placing first in 2023, first place finishes at both Ball State and Purdue University Jazz Festivals, and was a 2-time finalist for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Festival and Competition.
In 2014, Bethany was named “Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year” by the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation. In 2015, she was named “Teacher of the Year” for Noblesville Schools, the 11th largest public high school in Indiana. In 2016, Bethany was a Semi-Finalist for Indiana Teacher of the Year. She is a 2022 Grammy Music Educator Award Finalist, 4x nominee, and was named one of the 2022 Jazz Heroes by the Jazz Journalists Association, which honors advocates who have had a significant impact in their local communities. Bethany was also recently named the 2023 “High School Music Educator of the Year” by the Indiana Music Educator Association.
Bethany currently serves as Chair of the National Association for Music Education Jazz Council (NAfME), Jazz Education Network NAfME Liaison Board Member, and President of the Indiana Jazz Educators Association. During her time as IJEA President, she spearheaded efforts to create the All-District Jazz Program, a Junior All-State Jazz Ensemble, began a partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, and partnered with IJF Artistic Director Rob Dixon to feature the Indiana All-State Jazz Combo at the annual Indy Jazz Fest.
In 2018, Bethany was a part of the inaugural Indiana Jazz Girls Day, traveling around the state playing bass at concerts and workshops with New York City Musicians Leni Stern, Jamie Baum, and Austria-based Monika Herzig. She continues to travel with this group annually in the spring, playing bass and serving as a clinician at workshops around the state of Indiana, inspiring young jazz musicians to be leaders on the bandstand.
Bethany received her second Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant, and spent the summer of 2019 exploring the Brazilian cities of Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, taking in the sounds of choro, Bossa nova, and samba while exploring her mother’s childhood home, creating music for her students, and collaborating with local Brazilian musicians.
Bethany has been a featured presenter for music education students at Ball State University, Butler University, Vanderbilt University, for community members at the Center for Performing Arts/Palladium (Carmel, Indiana), and has adjudicated events including the Benny Golson Jazz Festival at Butler University, the Clark Terry Jazz Festival at Southeast Missouri State University, and the Western Australian Schools’ Jazz Festival, and the Elizabeth City State University Max Roach Centennial. She has also adjudicated the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Newark Academy New Jersey Essentially Ellington Regionals as a representative for Jazz at Lincoln Center. In September 2021, Bethany was a keynote speaker for the Australia National Band and Orchestra Conference, speaking on topics like building jazz culture, teaching jazz for those new to jazz, and building leaders through the Jazz Girls Day Event. Bethany was also a presenter at the 2022 Indiana Music Educators Conference, the 2022 International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL, the Oklahoma Bandmasters Summer Convention, and was the keynote speaker for the 2023 New York State Summer Music Conference. In 2024 Bethany led workshops at the Music For All National Concert Band Festival and workshops and clinics in Perth, Western Australia. Bethany also served as the chief adjudicator for the Victoria Schools’ Jazz Festival in Melbourne, and in December will be the Guest Conductor for the 2024 New York All State Jazz Ensemble.
As an avid performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals Bethany has performed over the years at the Indy jazz Fest, Indianapolis Jazz Kitchen, The Center for the Performing Arts, Carmel Jazz Fest, the Indianapolis Zoo Jazz Series, Zoobliation, and Irish Fest with many artists including Everett Greene, Sarah Scharbrough, and Katherine Nagy, and has opened for YAMAHA Artist Dave Koz.
Doug DuBoff, together with his brother, Rob, own and operate ejazzlines.com. This company is both a music publisher for classic jazz repertoire, as well as a retail outlet for many other music publishing companies. He deals with jazz educators ranging from grammar schools in Australia to high schools in Germany to colleges and universities all over the US and the world, as well as private instructors and bands everywhere. In Doug’s words, “Jazz education is THE nexus of jazz’s popularity and its future.” Doug has a passion for furthering jazz education, the future of jazz, and jazz in general.
Grammy-nominated artist, Tia Fuller works hard to balance both worlds of performance and education. She is a full-time professor at the Berklee College of Music, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, (Magna Cum Laude) and a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder (Summa Cum Laude). Tia was selected to be a member of the all-female band touring with R&B star, Beyoncé.
As a Professor at Berklee College of Music, she also shares her expertise teaching over 70 students per week; directing the Rainbow Big Band and All Stars, the Esperanza Ensemble, repertoire class, jazz improvisation, two jazz combos, and the Christian Mcbride Ensemble. In addition, she produces and directs large production ground-breaking ensembles such as the Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande Ensembles. Between balancing her teaching and tour life, Tia feels that she is fulfilling her purpose here on this earth, that is to “serve as a light for others.”
Born and raised in Seattle, WA, GRAMMY Award® winning jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek reigns as one of the most creative voices of her generation, and one “who may well turn out to be the next important jazz singer” (Los Angeles Times). Collaborating with jazz legends Fred Hersch, Billy Childs, Kurt Elling, and more, and with 6 critically-acclaimed albums under her belt at the age of 42, Gazarek often tours internationally as a soloist/band leader, and as a co-founder of the vocal collective, säje, whose debut album earned a GRAMMY Award® for Best Arrangement Instruments and Vocals. Sara is a 2023 Chamber Music of America New Jazz Works grant recipient, serves as National Trustee for the Recording Academy, and works as an Associate Professor of Jazz Voice at the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) where she designed and now leads their brand new jazz voice program. Sara’s full length nonet project, an expansion of her critically celebrated EP Vanity, is set to release in Fall of 2025.
Dr. Roosevelt Griffin III MA ’11 believes “being an educator is not a career, it is a lifestyle.” His approach to teaching is one that is intentional and full of care and love. He believes music education should be a vehicle to promote not only musical excellence, but also unity and diversity.
The Owner and Operator of GI Music LLC, Griffin specializes in curriculum, program, and professional development. In 2017, he founded the Griffin Institute of Performing Arts NFP, where the transformative abilities of the arts are used to lift the lives of students and families throughout southern Cook County and beyond. In addition, Griffin leads as band director for Harvey School District 152 – where he attended schools from grades K thru 12 – and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic’s Youth ensemble. He co-directs and is a student mentor for VanderCook College of Music’s One City Program.
Griffin worked with some of the world’s greatest musicians, including Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Ross, and Jimmy Heath, before becoming a full-time teacher. He is often invited to present at conferences and workshops for music education including the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinics, National Association for Music Education, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Jazz Educators Network, Illinois Music Educators Association, Utah Music Educator Association, and others. He also serves on the National Association for Music Educators Council for Jazz Education, Jazz Education Network’s Education Committee, and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Education Committee.
An award-winning educator, Griffin has been recognized multiple times for his contributions from a hometown street in Harvey, IL renamed “Roosevelt Griffin III Ave.” to a Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Golden Apple Foundation in 2014 to achieving Semi Finalist for “Best Music Educator” by the Grammy Foundation and Recording Academy in 2017. In 2015, Griffin received the “Outstanding Alumni” award from Northern Illinois University Alumni Association. Most recently, he received the “2021 Distinguished Alumni” award from Concordia University Chicago Alumni Association.
His training and transformative approach has been highlighted in the ASCD video by Eric Jenson, “Teaching With Poverty In Mind.” He and his students have been featured in Downbeat and JazzEd magazines for obtaining an endorsement with Jody Jazz Mouthpieces. Griffin co-authored the latest addition to GIA Publication’s Teaching Music through Performance: Beginning Jazz Ensembles series and the Meredith Music publication Rehearsing the Jazz Band.
Griffin earned his BM in Music Performance (Tuba) and Illinois Teaching Certificate K-12 (Music) from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL (2001). He completed his MA in School Leadership and Type 75 Certificate from Concordia-Chicago (2011) following by an EdD in Organizational Leadership at Argosy University in Chicago, IL including a study sabbatical at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (2015).
He is proud to call Matteson home where he lives with his wife, Tasneem, and their three children.
Ayn Inserto is a groundbreaking composer who is emerging as one of the preeminent voices of her generation. She received her Master of Music degree in Jazz Composition from the New England Conservatory and is a winner of the IAJE/ASCAP Emerging Composer Commission honoring Frank Foster and the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers’ Awards. She was picked by Bob Brookmeyer to study jazz composition as his protege.
Her music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, Dizzy’s Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC), the Berklee Performance Center, JEN Conferences, Reno Jazz Festival, Billy Higgins Jazz Festival, New England Conservatory of Music, Brown University, Montreux Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, McGill University, Senigallia, Italy, Terni Jazz Festival, the Sant’ Elpidio Jazz Festival, and the Fano Jazz Festival.
Inserto has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the NYO Jazz Ensemble, The Jazz Education Network, ASCAP/IAJE, the Commission Project for JazzMN, Madison Technical College, Amherst College, Cal State University East Bay, Los Medanos College, Foxboro High School, Harvard Jazz Band, Marin Catholic High School, Fairfield High School, and Jennifer Wharton. She has given masterclasses and clinics at the Panama Jazz Festival, Brown University, IMEP Paris College of Music, International College of Music in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Seoul Jazz Academy, Tokyo School of Music, Singapore Polytechnic, Arcevia Jazz Seminar, Rossini Conservatory of Music, and the Sydney Conservatorium.
Inserto has served as a panelist for the Jazz Improv Convention with Dr. Billy Taylor, the Tribute to Bob Brookmeyer at New England Conservatory and the International Society of Jazz Composers. She also has been a clinician for the JENerations Jazz Festival, an adjudicator for the Berklee High School Jazz Festival, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship, the Massachusetts Council for the Arts Composition Fellowship, JEN Young Composers’ Showcase and the International Alliance for Women in Music Jazz Composition Contest. She also has been a mentor for the Women in Jazz Organization.
Her big band, the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, has recorded three albums with special guests Bob Brookmeyer, John Fedchock, George Garzone and Sean Jones. The ensemble has garnered many positive reviews such as Downbeat Editor’s Pick, The Boston Globe 2018 Best Jazz Albums, Top Ten Recordings of 2018 (Cadence Magazine) and the Jazz Journalists Association Best of 2018 (Large Ensemble) List. She currently resides in Boston where she is a Professor of Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music.
Mary Jo Papich, the first president of JEN, is known for her avid support and leadership in arts education that led to the co-founding of the Jazz Education Network. After serving public school education for 35+ years, she continues her work in JEN and serves as the artistic director for Jazz Festivals for students in New Orleans and Puerto Vallarta. Mary Jo’s recent honors include receiving a Lifetime Jazz Education Achievement Award from DownBeat magazine, the Arts Inspiration Award from The Art Center, Superintendent’s Recognition Award, Character Counts Award, Huespid Distinguido from the Mayor in Puerto Vallarta and the Prestigious Women in Jazz Award from the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and most recently the 2021 Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Jazz Education Award.
Mary Jo’s efforts have reached people all around the world. As a former student stated, “Mary Jo Papich continues to inspire those around her to pursue the arts and arts education with passion, making a positive difference today and in the generations beyond.”
Randal Rosman is a veteran nonprofit leader with several years of extensive experience in the sector. As the vice President of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable foundation, Randal has significantly expanded the organization’s impact and reach. Randal is passionate about jazz in the nonprofit space and continues to inspire others through his unwavering dedication to America’s original art form.
Ashley Shabankareh (she/they) is a musician, music educator, and arts administrator. Ashley supports music education and nonprofits in New Orleans and currently works with Trombone Shorty Foundation, New Orleans Jazz Museum, Artist Corps New Orleans, and Upbeat Academy. She previously served as the Director of Programs for Preservation Hall Foundation for 13 years. Ashley is a proud board member of the Jazz Education Network, and also serves on the board for Folk Alliance International, Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans.
Todd Stoll has spent nearly thirty years as an educator, performer and leading advocate for jazz. He currently serves as Vice President of Education for Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City where he oversees programs that reach more than 200,000 people each year. His leadership at JALC has revived the institutions commitment to the underserved while embracing 21st century technology as a means for greater access to the music. Since his tenure began in 2011, the education department at JALC produced nearly 20,000 individual events both in its home at Fredrick P Rose Hall, throughout the US, and abroad.
Pharez Whitted is a performer, educator, composer, producer, clinician and was nominated for Independent Jazz Artist of the year in 2011. Pharez was named Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz for 2016 and inducted into the Shortridge High School Hall of Fame 2017. He is the coordinator of the Chicago division of the JALC Jazz in Schools program. He has taught at prestigious colleges and universities such as Wabash College, The Ohio State University and most recently Chicago State University. He is currently the Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO)Jazz Orchestra. Whitted has performed with such notable musicians such as Branford Marsalis, George Duke, Elvin Jones, Kirk Whalum, John Mellencamp, Nancy Wilson, Meshell Ndegeocello, Chaka Khan and Slide Hampton.
Dan is an Executive Vice President and head of litigation at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., a leading entertainment company focused on the production and distribution of film and television content. Prior to joining MGM, he practiced law at Gibson Dunn where his clients included major record labels, motion picture studios, television networks, literary publishers, video game developers, and other intellectual property rights holders. Dan received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. in Music from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas.
Swiss/Dutch saxophonist Charlotte Lang was born in 1996 in Basel and studied the bachelor and master program at the JAZZCAMPUS Basel under the guidance of Domenic Landolf and Daniel Blanc. She is currently studying the Master of Music in Global Jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston under the artistic direction of Danilo Pérez. In addition she is part of Terri Lyne Carrington’s Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
From 2015 to 2018, Charlotte she was a member of the Swiss National Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Christian Muthspiel. Since 2020, she became a member of the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Bundesjazzorchester Deutschland), under the direction of Niels Klein and Ansgar Striepens. She also plays is the Austrian FJO (Frauen Jazz Orchester→Women Jazz Orchestra of Austria).
In 2021, Charlotte founded her own Quintet the „Charlotte Lang Group“, for what she is composing, arranging and booking. In the fall 2023, her first album will be recorded and hopefully released by a renowned label.
Charlotte plays in the “Swiss Jazz Orchestra” and the “Zurich Jazz Orchestra”, the two professional Big Bands of Switzerland.
Charlotte recently got the unique opportunity to write a monthly blog for the Swiss Jazz & Blues Magazine called JAZZTIME, to tell readers about her time at abroad and specifically her time at Berklee. Her graduate program lasts only until the summer of 2023. She hopes to stay in the United States to enlarge her network and build her musical career.
